How Gratitude Can Reshape Your Business

During the crispy, cool fall months, businesses prepare to close out the last quarter of the year and get ready for the holidays. It’s easy to lose sight of where we began and what matters most with the hubbub of the season. And especially given the challenging year we’ve all had, it can be difficult to highlight the good things that have happened.

It’s important as a leader, though, to take the time to pause and reflect on your business. Gratitude is an essential mindset for running a business. It helps you frame the past with a sense of opportunity, looking at what was done and what can be done better. Mistakes become areas to grow. Clients become a supportive community. Challenges become chances to improve. Choosing gratitude positively reshapes your business. Here’s how.

Strengthen Customer Loyalty

Gratitude is also an excellent way to nurture relationships with your customers. As a business, you have to take initiative towards establishing loyalty with your customers. In “The Power of Gratitude in Marketing”, content strategist Nicole Kohler explains that her brand grew because of her intentional thank-yous. When you express gratitude to your customers, you make your brand more personable. People like to do business with companies that respect them and take the extra effort to authentically show interest in their lives. When clients know you value them, they are more likely to come back.

Gratitude also helps create a warm space for your clients, which helps strengthen your brand. When you take the time to express appreciation for your clients, you’re framing a positive relationship. You’re showing your customers that you care about them and want to look out for their best interests. When a company actively, genuinely, and authentically seeks ways to serve their clients’ best interests, it’s hard for irate reviews and smear tactics to gain a foothold. More likely than not, you’ll have a vocal community of supporters willing to defend your company’s reputation and protect your brand.

Become More Resilient

If you’re making gratitude a habit and regularly taking the time to show your team and your customers appreciation, you’ll also be able to navigate better around major obstacles. A team that feels appreciated has a greater ability to set aside personal concerns and work side-by-side to figure out a solution. A loyal customer base is the greatest asset you can hope to have when your business is struggling (just think of all the stories about thousand dollar tips left to restaurant curbside staff during lockdowns earlier this year).

Beyond improving team morale and customer loyalty, though, a thankful attitude helps you find opportunities. No one likes to face challenges, but it’s far easier to approach them with an attitude of opportunity than one of defeat. Gratitude helps you remember how far you’ve come and how you’ve conquered other challenges. When you remember the past, it’s easier to have hope for the future. That hope fuels optimism and energy to pursue opportunities.

Improve Productivity

On a practical level, expressing gratitude to your team improves engagement and cohesiveness, both of which are necessary for good productivity. When you take the time to genuinely thank someone for the work they have done, you help validate that person’s work and value within the company.

Gratitude reinforces positivity and promotes the continuation of good work. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you don’t correct underperforming employees or you ignore mistakes. You want to maintain standards of quality and excellence in your team’s work. Gratitude establishes an environment in which your team can feel safe to learn from mistakes, instead of fearing for their job security. When your team knows they’re appreciated, it’s easier for you to help them move past mistakes and focus on ways to improve.

Find ways to meaningfully thank your team so you can help them feel appreciated and seen. Do you remember a meaningful thank you that valued your work effort and time? Boosting your work relationships with gratitude communicates a level of intentionality and thoughtfulness that is increasingly rare but always necessary.

Take Time to Reflect: What Do You Appreciate?

Incorporating gratitude into your business starts with your personal decision to vocalize the ways your team, company, and clients have helped you move forward. 2020 has undoubtedly been a difficult year for everyone. What better chance to practice gratitude than to reflect on the past year?

Focusing on the good ways you and your team have pulled through this year will help you all move toward a stronger and healthier internal community. Showing your client base thankfulness for supporting your company in good and bad times helps them see the impact they have on your business. Gratitude puts you, your team, your customers, and your business in a better position to move past difficulties and focus on the future.