When is the last time you said, “thank you” and looked directly at that person and described the exact act for which you wanted to show appreciation? Hopefully you do this daily.
“Thank you’s” said as a habit have little to no impact on others. However, expressing sincere appreciation and acknowledging the task done well, or the timely save, goes a long way to supporting your fellow humans. Recently there was
a post on a Facebook page from a manager asking people how they wanted to be supported at work. One respondent replied, “every evening before we leave our boss thanks us individually for the hard work we did that day, and it is so nice to
know that it is seen and appreciated. It is a positive end to some very challenging days.” What a great way to leave work – with an affirmation that your effort mattered and was noticed.
It goes without saying that appropriate wages and benefits are the starting point but even well compensated people will quit jobs where they are not shown appreciation. I tried to share my appreciation with my staff by observing their work and pulling them aside to simply say… “Wow, you handled that so well!”. I have never believed you could manage from inside the four walls of your office.
I’m thankful for you
Other “thank you’s” should be offered to our clients. We may have some difficult clients and we certainly know who they are, but we also have excellent clients who listen to our recommendations, offer support with admiration and gifts and refer their friends to us with high praise. These clients deserve recognition.
Our practice offered a referral gift of a free pet limousine ride for sending a new client, prior to having our limo service we offered a discount on the next visit. Some hospitals offer a progressive referral with one referral starting with a small gift card and escalating in value up to a significate gift or dollar amount for hitting 10 or more. I have never believed in bribing clients for referrals but I do believe in thanking them for being a supporter and raving fan. All practices should have a system in place for recognizing referrals and saying, “thank you”.
What about positive reviews? We tend to react to negative reviews and let the good ones stand on their own. But people have invested time and thought into sharing the “love” for us and we should certainly offer online responses with a personalized reply. Not only should you reply on the social platform but you can go further to reply with a simple text message using #VitusVet to give a more intimate show of gratitude. Automate your surveys through the app and let the “thank you’s” flow!
Finally, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I personally would like to thank #VitusVet for sharing my blogs on their platform and being generous with their audience. Thank you all who take the time to read my thoughts and hopefully take away something to help you with your work. Thank you to my clients who take the brave step in engaging a stranger to help them reach their practice goals and thank you to those who come to hear me speak online or in person. I promise to keep trying my best to share valuable tools, my years of experience, my obsessive self-education about all thing’s communication and culture, and even my goofs so you can learn what to do and what not to do to have a great practice and a great life in veterinary medicine. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being there and taking care of the animals.
Happy Thanksgiving! Wishing you blessings, abundance, health and joy!
As always if I can help please reach out.
Best Wishes,
Debbie Boone, BS, CVPM, Fear Free Certified
www.dboone2managevets.com
