Posted on 2015-05-13 00:00:00 +0000

“It’s a People Business”

We’ve heard that expression used in many different circumstances. It has become a cliche. Like most cliches though it has some essential truths and lessons that are well worth extracting.

At its core, this phrase reveals a fundamental truth about all business: Success is predicated on both employees and clients. A company cannot exist in a vacuum. Strong leaders recognize the importance of acknowledging employees and thanking clients. How can we leverage this information to make sure we’re taking care of the people whose efforts and support take care of our business?

Research on happiness reveals that the frequency of pleasant events impacts our sense of well being more so than the intensity of pleasant events. To simply that thought, the more often something nice happens to you, the more it means to you. While events like Mother’s Day generates tremendous good will for mothers, we can extrapolate that a mother would feel better hearing from her children on a regular basis than having a big event in her honor only once a year.

People have intense loyalty to those businesses that get the small details right. When walking into your favorite cafe, it makes a difference when your barista knows your name and drink order. That acknowledgment, that level of personalized service, creates brand loyalty. That small exchange is crucial in transforming a simple business transaction into a meaningful personal experience.

We all understand the desire to be appreciated and thanked. We know how wonderful it is to be told we’re doing a great job or when someone takes the time to say “thank you.” For businesses, a new strategy would be to approach employee acknowledgment and customer appreciation as they would advertising, making frequency their primary concern.

This isn’t to suggest that we should inundate others with emails or cards so that the impact of the gesture is lost. We all know that our email inboxes and mailboxes get overloaded with too much inessential information. But a well thought out campaign that allows you to reach employees and clients on dates that are significant to them will create tremendous impact. Thanking people on their birthdays, anniversaries, and the holidays will always get noticed. Also, the occasional spontaneous recognition is recommended. You can create a schedule where once each calendar sees you in touch via and e card or printed card. The time and expenditure is minimal compared to the lasting good will that gets generated.

In the end, we can see why the cliche exists. No matter what it is we’re engaged with, our success is always dependent upon people. They deserve our thanks.