The power of ‘Thank You’

Have you seen any company, multinational or local, having a huge customer base, organizing a ‘thank you conference’ in Bangladesh? We have quite a few telcos operating in this country, hundreds of manufacturers selling their products to consumers, but none whatsoever is seen to thank their customers. If we think of our future expansion of business and interpersonal relationship, a simple ‘thank you’ is likely to take us further for many years.

In our personal life, while communicating with others, the practice of thanking others works wonders. When I’m buying a product from a shop, do we ever thank the shopkeeper for making the products available to us? I have seen very few people doing that. We think that paying for the product is our ‘thank you’ for them. But it goes much deeper than that. Of course, I’ve met a few shopkeepers thanking me whenever I buy something from them. They thank me for choosing them for my shopping. And interestingly, that’s the reason I go back to them every time I need to shop.

When I was working with the BBC World Service in Dhaka, I used to thank the liftmen every time I used the elevator. And the amount of respect I earned from them was immense. Can’t be expressed in words. Last year, I went to a seventeen-story office building at Matijheel. Just before getting off the elevator at the seventh floor, I thanked the liftman. He was sitting on a small stool, but he sprang up, saying ‘thank you; you’re first person in my professional life to thank me for what I’m doing; God bless you, sir.’

See the magic! This man is likely to remember me and my face, perhaps, for years.

A few days back at around three in the afternoon, I needed to go somewhere on a rickshaw. I found one close to me residence. The rickshaw-puller was quite old, but well-built, resting on his rickshaw. He gave me an unwilling look. But I asked: ‘Bhai shaheb, jaben [Brother, would you give me a ride?’ He changed his attitude in a fraction of a second! He said: ‘come, sir. Where to’? When he dropped at my destination, when I was thanking him, he told me that my approach had inspired him to give me a ride even if it was his rest period.

The same thing had happened when my mom used to serve food for the family. On many occasions, a few members of the family used to make negative comments about her cooking. For them, the food was always ‘too salty’, ‘too hot’. And they were never satisfied. On the other hand, I never said anything about the taste of the food she was cooking. Rather, I always showed gratitude for getting the food ready for us. This worked like a magic. She still praises me for my thankfulness. This has led me to express gratitude for my partner who actually gets the food ready for my family.

How many of us have thanked our parents for being our parents, for being there for us all the time, at any situation? How many of us thank our children for listening to us? The number wouldn’t be big.

Saying thanks to co-workers has several benefits. We can build their loyalty. And we increase productivity, which leads to customer greater satisfaction.

The power of ‘thank you’ is better understood when there’s a huge lack of it. Take the case of our ICE Today, for example. We have highlighted activities of so many organizations in our magazine, but how many have thanked us for the service we have rendered for them? Similarly, how many of our patrons as well as partners have we thanked? How frequently do we pick up the phone and express our gratitude for them? Let me take this opportunity to thank all those who have been associated with us, helped us that kept our spirits high.

Whatever is the medium, saying "thank you" always works. The only time it may lose its lustre is when we would pretend the gratitude that we don’t feel. We have to be sincere when we thank others.