Show Gratitude, Stand Out

Here’s a simple way to stand out in the crowd in the business world: When somebody helps you out, take a minute to say thank you. It’s free, easy, quick.

And very wise.

I oversee the Republican newspaper’s Voices of the Valley column (want to be featured in it? Email me and let me know.)

The column runs every Monday in the Republican’s Business tabloid, and it offers a unique opportunity for free promotion in one of the largest print publications in circulation in western Massachusetts.

Yes, I said free. (Better email me.)

Recently, I featured Julia Mines, the owner of Life and Performance Coaching of West Whately. After her feature ran, Julie sent me a handwritten thank you note, letting me know that her Voices entry triggered her phone to start ringing—with all the right people on the other end of the line, she said.

I will always remember Julia now, and I think of her with admiration. I have heard from others who have worked with her as clients that she has helped them feel more successful, and I will work to help her make more new connections.

Showing gratitude will thus help you grow your business, and it will make you feel good, too.

There are many reasons to say thank you in business, such as when a friend or a colleague passes you a referral; whether or not it evolves into closed business doesn’t matter. A referral means someone thought enough of you to recommend you, and that’s a gesture that deserves a pat on the back.

Thank colleagues who have the inclination and take the time to write a recommendation for you—for a job, entry into grad school or in a post on a social media platform. Thank the person who invites you to come along to a networking meeting.

An email will suffice as a means for communicating your thanks, but notes like Julie’s add a higher level of class. Sending a small gift—such as a plant or a gift card—also will make an impression. And if you get a gift card that can be used in downtown Northampton or Easthampton, you will win friends there too as you support your community and its locally owned operations.

I saw Julie recently at an Arrive @ 5 event held by the Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce, and I thanked her profusely for her note. She said she sends thanks such as that all the time to folks and was surprised to hear from me that everyone I feature in Voices of the Valley doesn’t send me a hearty thank you.

Take your business or organization to a new level and start taking the time to give thanks when it’s due and when it might simply be a pleasant surprise that raises your profile a notch—or 10.