What's the Most We Can Do?

The Lead - What’s the Most We Can Do?

It’s the day before Thanksgiving, so gratitude is on my mind as I suspect it is for you. I wrote last week about referral relationships, and rethinking the way we approach them. I want to continue that theme this week, in the spirit of the day we’ll celebrate tomorrow.

This time of year, it’s not uncommon to think about how we can express gratitude for our clients and partners. The question is, how do we go about that?

Most commonly, you’ll see social media posts expressing this sentiment. You may even get emails from folks within your network, or that you’ve worked with. But even these well intentioned gestures risk falling into the category of “noise”. We’re bombarded by these messages this time of year. They tend to be generic, unpersonal.

Here’s an example - we last purchased a house in 2019. Ever since then, our mortgage broker has sent us a card in the mail for major holidays. It’s a nice move, but it’s a canned message. I’ve grown accustomed to it and appreciate the gesture. There’s nothing personal about it, and I don’t read it.

We can all understand and appreciate what he’s trying to do. He wants to stay top of mind with his clients, in the event that we have a future need. Given the nature of that business, it probably makes sense for him. His client list from the last six years could be hundreds of people.

When we think about expressing gratitude, our minds tend to go towards what is scalable for us. We could write one email, and send to a large group for instance. Write up a holiday card that goes out to our mailing list. Quick and easy, I get it.

I’m not going to fault anyone for this approach. But I want to challenge you to think differently. While those generic approaches clear a basic bar of appreciation, I don’t think we should be content to stop there.

I’ve felt this more keenly since I started my business this year. Those who have hired me have literally put food on the table for my family. They’ve made BrightReach a real business, not just some side hustle or hobby. They are indispensable.

When we think about our clients that way, something that’s half-hearted or convenient for me feels like an insult. While it probably wouldn’t to our clients, it should to us. If we really care, we should desire to make them feel how much we really do value them and not in a “I want something in return” sort of way.

We’ve talked about the “scalable” and “effecient” ways to express gratitude. So now let’s think in the opposite direction. I want you to consider two words here -personal and meaningful.

Let’s start with personal. There is a level of time and attention that personalization requires. Rather than a canned message easily replicated, taking the time to create something personal does not scale well.

Have you ever sat down and wrote a bunch of handwritten notes? It doesn’t take long for you to get physically and mentally tired of it. But when that person receives and reads it, they can see that it was written just for them. You took the time, made the effort. Hopefully you were able to share something specific about that person too.

Taking an expression of your gratitude to the next level, is to make the gesture meaningful. To me, this is a step beyond personal. A meaningful gesture shows that you’re paying attention. You’ve made the effort to remember something important about that person.

We’ve all given a gift card right? It’s sort of an easy way out if we’re being honest. Not always. For instance, I love Starbucks. I’d love to receive a Starbucks gift card, but it’s also safe play in general because most people enjoy coffee (or tea, etc.).

How much more meaningful is it to receive a gift that is really something you love? Especially when unexpected, it shows that someone has really thoughtfully considered what you might appreciate and enjoy.

The challenge is, you have to take the time to know someone and then actually make that mental note. It doesn’t have to be extravagant or expensive. You’re showing that you paid attention, that you cared to know them and what’s important to them.

Obviously I’m not necesarily advocating that you get personalized gifts for each of your 300 clients. But maybe you have 10 you want to make the extra effort for. Maybe you don’t know enough about them to do something really personal and creative. I bet you could write a handwritten note though. I bet you could make a phone call just to say thank you, and for no other reason.

It doesn’t have to be elaborate. My encouragement to you though is to not settle for the least you could do. Simple gestures go a long way, especially because today it feels so out of the ordinary. Most people will take the easy way, the most scalable and efficient way.

I’ll leave you with one story. A couple years ago, I took a client to play golf while at a conference. Pretty normal thing for vendors to do for your clients, right? A couple weeks later, I had a handwritten note arrive in the mail. He just wanted to thank me for the round of golf, and express gratitude for the time together.

I can tell you honestly that had never happened before. Crazy right? This person took a few minutes to write a message expressing their gratitude. That was over a year ago, and the note still sits on my desk. This is the real start of long term relationships. It goes beyond transactions. It’s not convenient, it’s not scalable, and that’s why most won’t do it.