Saying Thank you... so much more than two words

Can people say thank you too often? It has been our experience that one can't say thank you often enough. The personal touch: a call, an email, a note, a sincere thank you for all you do.

Saying thank you not only makes people feel great, these two words motivates everyone to do even more, to excel, to go the extra mile.

Consider the results you would receive from every co-worker, supplier, colleague if a genuine thank you was offered; if great work and the extra effort was recognized.

I recall a CEO years ago questioning why I said thank you so often. I remember thinking to myself, "I wonder why you don't".

My reply was that I appreciated the hard work that our employees, vendors and suppliers gave us each and every day, and I felt that saying thank you was a simple, inexpensive way of acknowledging that effort. I truly appreciated my team and my colleagues.

He replied they were paid, that should be thank you enough.

His next question was how to combat his high employee turn over and low staff morale.

Saying Thank you - often - for work well done - is more than two words. This heartfelt sentiment is motivating and often inspirational.

More so, the lack of a thank you is truly noticed and very powerful. Team members, suppliers, colleagues notice the lack of these two words when they don't hear them often enough, or in some cases, don't hear them at all.

Lack of appreciation is felt. Not hearing thank you is demoralizing and impactful to the human spirit. People lose the desire to inspire. In some cases people stop caring about the work, the results, and the performance.

Saying thank you to a vendor or supplier - especially one that supports your business with intangibles, will make a big difference in results.

Is being paid enough?

In a tough business world, yes, remuneration should be enough. However, I believe the thank you note or the thank you phone call makes a big difference to the bottom line. I know our team add value when they feel appreciated.

We just finished a fundraising event - exceeding expectations by 200%. The charity was over the top complimentary, the thanks received were often and in several ways from the charity. At the event flowers were presented to the team and a public thank you was offered for hard work and great results.

Everyone walked away feeling respected: thrilled that we had gone the extra mile and stopped keeping track of hours months before the event. We knew we could make a difference and chose to do so.

However, the individuals involved in the event, the ones that could say thank you to the team for a job well done, for going the extra mile, chose not to. That lack of acknowledgement is preying on the team, wondering what they did wrong when the results were so right.

People work better when they are appreciated, happy, inspired, and respected.

Brian Tracy wrote an article on 7 Ways to show gratitude, say Thank you and boost motivation. I read it often. I hope I never forget to say thank you, every day, to someone. I believe our lives are better with a thank you.

Thank you Brian Tracy.