"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” –John Donne
If you’re like me, there are days when I feel like a lone hamster running on a wheel that somehow has to make the world go round. But when I take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I realize there are so many other things making that little wheel turn. It’s easy to go through both your personal and professional life forgetting to thank those who got you where you are (your “continent” as John Donne calls it).
During awards show season, we all anxiously wait to hear who won Entertainer of the Year, Best Actor, Song of the Year, etc.. Most (if not all) of these award recipients thank their families, management teams, labels, studios, and their fans. Sure, you see Luke Bryan all over magazines and in the headlines but he’s one man. He didn’t wake up one day and decide to be famous. He has a continent of people who help him reach his fans who in turn buy his music and concert tickets.
As business men and women, it’s vital that we keep this idea in mind so we can be mindful about who, when and how we thank those who are vital to our success and create our continent. Imagination Branding is great about acknowledging the team effort it requires to operate our company. Just a few weeks ago we were each given an allowance to spend on company gear. This does a couple of things. First, it acknowledges and rewards hard work which yielded results. Second, it puts branded products in each employee’s hands. When I wear the jacket I ordered, every person I walk past will see our company logo. It gets our brand out there. We also have a list of items we send to clients to say “thank you” for being a client and partner in our business.
My boss and I had a meeting a few months ago where she urged me to take on the same mindset. She told me I could send small tokens of gratitude for people I work with all the time, especially those who go above and beyond. With each order, Imagination can either hit a home run or strike out – and it all depends on the relationships we have with our key stakeholders (vendors, clients, employees, etc.). Just like John Donne said, no man is an island and neither is any business. These key stakeholders make up our “continent” and determine our success or failure.
I work with one rep pretty much every single day. Her name is Tia and she’s a rep for one of our biggest vendors. We work together so much that now, when we talk on the phone we typically discuss the order and even make small talk about our weekend plans or how our day is going. She saved the day on one of our orders a while back, so I wrote her a thank you note and sent her a book with Imagination’s branding and the word “hero” on the front. It was filled with quotes about being a hero, so it fit the situation well. She recently sent me a thank you note and a box filled with notebooks she had printed for our companies’ logos on them. The note thanked me for being a friend and for continuing to have a great relationship with her company. I won’t lie – I felt like Santa or Oprah passing out the notebooks to my co-workers (“You get a notebook! You get a notebook!”). It made my day!!
It’s so important to understand who makes you and your business succeed, and even more important to be intentional about acknowledging the role they play. When is the last time you thanked your continent for the role they play? Your employees work so hard to keep the lights on, but do they know you see that? And what about your vendors? Or your clients? If your clients are anything like ours, they have so many options when they’re deciding who to do business with. It’s essential to acknowledge those options and let them know you appreciate their choice to do business with you. One great way to do this is to send gift baskets to your clients, vendors or employees (or all three!).
At Imagination Branding, we appreciate the importance of saying “thank you” and practice doing so often. We’d love to partner with you in thanking your continent too! We have so many options to help you reach out to your clients, employees and vendors. We can help you design custom thank you cards or gift baskets! Let us help you say thank you!! www.imaginationbranding.com