Gratitude and How It Affects Your Business
“Thank you, have a nice day!” How many times do those words leave your mouth each week? Running a business requires a polite and customer service orientated attitude, but how often do you really mean it? Our world is a hustling, bustling, beautiful, crazy place and while we may feel connected to others through social media outlets and our daily interactions it’s easy to become distracted and disconnected. Feelings of distraction or isolation can lead us to feel stressed, depressed and downright sad. Even the most professional business owners experience self-doubt and to be quite honest, it shows. Fear, worry, anger and resentment may just be blocking the things you are trying to attract (money, more clients, a strong team), but love and gratitude can open the floodgates, bringing you exactly what you want.
When was the last time you thought about gratitude? We often forget about it altogether, until November rolls around and Thanksgiving is approaching. What if practicing gratitude daily could not only better you personally, but your business as well? Paying more attention to the feeling or emotion of gratitude is a great way to improve social behavior, thus improving your business and drawing clients to it.
A study done by neuroscientists at USC showed the researchers that when our brains feel gratitude, areas responsible for feelings of reward, moral reasoning, fairness and economic decision making (to name a few) are activated. The study also indicated that those who habitually practice the act of gratitude can be more empathetic to others. This can make a ginormous difference in understanding your customers and team, allowing you to improve your business in ways you may not have noticed before. For instance, inside knowledge of your team can help you to better coach them. And really understanding your clients will put you on the right path for the products they want to purchase. But, what if you aren’t happy with how things are going within your business overall?
When you focus on what is working, it’s easier to create more of it. We understand, there are going to be things that really aren’t working in your business. So, why not focus on changing what you can while remaining appreciative for the things that are going well.
Each time a situation arises you have a choice. You can focus on the positives about the situation and the things you’re grateful for or you can choose to focus on the negative and complain, bringing more of those negative thoughts into action. We aren’t saying there’s no room to be unhappy, experiencing all emotions is healthy. What we’re saying is, the practice of gratitude can completely alter your business…for the better. If you are in touch with how your staff and clients feel and have a good pulse on your business you can easily attract more clients, grow your revenue and feel pretty darn good about it in the process.
Ready for an exercise? What are you thankful for? Your clients, staff, business, family, friends, pets? Your health, knowledge, freedom? Now, let’s get a little more granular, could you come up with a specific sentence about why you are thankful for a specific person, place, feeling or thing? Be precise and write it down, that way, it’s easier to spark those warm feelings of thanks. Whenever you’re feeling down do this exercise again, take note of how you feel afterwards.
Ways to show your gratitude:
- Listen Carefully. Clients have all kinds of interesting things to say, they may even tell you exactly which services would benefit them without even knowing it.
- The Law of Attraction. If you want more clients to come in for a specific service start by practicing gratitude for the ones that already do come in. Then, create a promotion based off said service.
- Act with Intention. Take steps to reach your goals and desires by treating others with respect and kindness. Those you help may be the ones who help you.
So, the next time you’re speaking with a client or team member let them know why you are grateful for them. Kind words can greatly impact someone’s day and if you practice showing love and thanks, you will attract and gain more customers with gratitude. Want more on gratitude? There are tons and tons of great books on the subject as well as studies, podcasts and blogs you can enjoy. Thank YOU for reading!
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