Thank you - two little words that pack a big punch

Never hurts to be reminded of the value and effect of simple common courtesy.

“Feeling appreciated and believing your spouse values you directly influences how you feel about your marriage, how committed you are to it, and belief it will last.” (UGA research)

In many ways, the same is true when it comes to our relationships with clients. How committed you are to one another, and how long it lasts is undeniably linked to the effort you invest in making one another feel valued and appreciated.

As trivial as it may sound, a simple thank you really does go a long way to creating a happy and productive agency team. It puts a spring in our step and makes us feel loved. That’s when we’ll happily go the extra mile – not just to make ourselves look good. But to make our clients look good, and hopefully make your day a bit more enjoyable.

Many moons ago someone told me… “this is meant to the be fun part of our client’s day – if we’re making it a chore, we’re doing something wrong”

Now don’t get me wrong, just because it’s ‘creative’ doesn’t mean it’s always fun, and certainly doesn’t mean it’s easy. But genuinely rewarding and fulfilling things seldom are. Working in an agency where client relationships span continents and time zones, a job that has never been 9 to 5 is now even less so.

And (most of the time) we don’t complain, because we’re lucky enough to be working with clients we trust and respect. Clients we like – who we’ll happily go out and grab a glass of wine with. Clients who know how to say ‘thank you’. Seems simple, and it is really.

Picture the scene… a super tight timeframe to turn around creative concepts for the Board of a multi-billion dollar global firm. A team under pressure to deliver. Strings were pulled, the team worked together and sh*t got done. At the end of a stressful 48 hours, in came the email we’d been waiting for – the meeting had gone well and the leadership team were happy.

But the most important part of the email was how it was signed off:

“Hope you can feel how thankful we are all the way across the Atlantic. You rocked it. Ready for round 2??”

And you know what? Yes we were. Because in my experience, a team that feels appreciated will happily go the extra mile for a grateful client.

So, in working life as in love life, never underestimate the power of a simple ‘thank you’!