It Wouldn't Hurt to Say it Once in a While!

Recently, I recommended a group of accountants in an outsourcing project to start making nice calls. They didn't understandwhat I meant, as they were too busy writing e-mails to remind clients to pay outstanding invoices, and reminding the sales depatment to finally send missing documents. One exasperated soul told me "It's difficult to talk nice to someone when I have to phone him later and complain that he still hasn't paid 11 thousand pounds from last quarter. I don't even know if he's read my e-mails!" This last sentence made me suspicious. "Have you ever spoken to this guy on the phone?" I asked. "No", was the reply. Whether he liked it or not, my accountant friend already had a relationship with this indebted client. It turned out that the client, although late by three months with a five-figure amount, was on time in other ways, returning statements, documents, and answering other questions and queries the accountant had. In other words, the first ever time he would hear his colleague's voice was to be berated about a late payment. I agree that money is important, and I agree that the accountant should call the client about the outstanding sum. I do not agree that it should be the first phone call between the two. I checked with some of the others. Nobody ever picked up the telephone to just say "Thanks for that". Few of them regularly sent an e-mail longer than two words to say it, and yet it is one of the strongest tools in relationship-building. It is difficult to imagine asking a child to give you something, and not to say "Thank You." When a stranger opens a door for us, we say "Thank You". When our dog brings us back a muddy stick we have thrown away, we praise the dog for doing what we wanted. The result is that Fido wants to do something to please us again. Here, people are not so different from our four-leggeed friends. How much would it mean for you if you answered a call at work and were told "Hi, it's Steve from the Marketing Department, here. I'm just calling to let you know I got the files I asked for. Thanks a lot, it'll really help me prepare a great report. Keep up the good work!" As corny as this example sounds, we would all appreciate it if our efforts were acknowledged more often. The next time you get something you asked for, pick up the phone and say "Thanks". You -ans someone else- will be glad you did!