I was thinking about thank yous the other day. My husband and I went shopping for a new suit (for him). Side note: guys have it so easy: jacket, slacks, shoes, maybe a pocket square and some cufflinks if you want to be especially dapper, and you’re good to go. If you travel, all you need is 4 extra shirts and an extra tie and BOOM! You’re set for the week. When I travel, I need a new outfit for every day, including shoes. If I had a time machine, I would time warp my way to 1795 (which is apparently where women’s Western fashion continued to be ridiculously complicated and men’s fashion began the simplification process ) and I would switch it up. Men would retain their lace jabots, high heeled shoes and hose and the women’s style de rigeur would become a plain black pant and white oxford shirt with exceedingly elegant jewelry to spice it up.
But I digress.
ANYWAYS, so back at the shop, my husband and I were shopping for a suit. And the saleslady who worked with us was just fantastic. Aside from having the patience of Job, she gave her honest opinion and made several suggestions. Yes, some of them were upsells, but the fact remains that they looked good and evoked the polished look my husband was going for, so in essence, she provided a valuable service.
As we were leaving with 2 suits, some ties and 4 shirts (enough for a week–ha!), my husband asked for paper and an envelope and wrote a short note to the saleslady’s manager, telling him how great the she was to work with and how helpful she had been. It took all of 90 seconds, but you could tell she was floored that anyone would take the time to do write a note for no other reason than to acknowledge a job well done.
I once did that for a guy who worked in customer service at an appliance store. I never actually met him in person and we never could find whatever it was that I needed, but he was so great to work with–he’d proactively email me when he thought he had found something over the course of our 2 month search (I didn’t even have to follow up!!! WHAT?!?!?!?)–that I wrote him a thank you letter to give to his manager. He sent me an email several weeks later to thank me for thanking him–he’d gotten a bonus and the president of the company had read the letter aloud at the town hall. Pretty cool.
A very savvy person once told me
“They may forget what you did or what you said, but they’ll never forget the way you made them feel.”
I think that’s so smart. Life is long and circuitous (and sometimes even circular), and no matter how hard you try, you just forget the details. (Did anyone see Inside Out? Remember the Forgetters? The ones who throw away phone numbers–“why does she need them? they’re in her PHONE!”–and keep the TripleDent Gum Song at arm’s reach?) But no matter how many phone numbers you forget or how many details dissipate into the ether, when someone mentions a specific person, you’ll immediately have a positive or negative connotation directly tied to how that person made you feel. There are individuals I’ve not seen in 10 years whose very name increases my blood pressure. There are people long gone whose name brings a sunny glow and a smile. That has less to do with the minutia than it does with the personal interaction.
Now, in both the suit-buying story and the customer service guy anecdote, the only commodity spent was the time that it took to write a quick note, and it really didn’t take that much of that. I think we can all find 90 seconds or so in our day to thank the people who help us along the way. Or how about taking 5 minutes each Friday afternoon to think through your week and mentally thank the folks who made your week a little bit better?
So as you finish this post, take a minute or two to send a thank you to someone who has made your day or your week a little easier. A little gratitude can go a long way. And if you need a little bit of inspiration, find yourself some upbeat music to listen to as you write. In fact, here’s some Benny Goodman to get the weekend started.
Happy Friday all!
