Manners Pianos Tables and Chairs…

All belong to the lady upstairs…  Did your mother ever roll out this expression when she was trying to impress the importance of manners to you when you were young? Maybe it was just me (and if you know of the origin I would love to hear from you) but I had it drummed into me as a child that you had to ‘mind your manners’ always be polite and keep to certain standards that today can seem somewhat lacking. That is why I found it so refreshing to read this week that David Cameron had left a thank you note to the staff at Chequers to acknowledge his appreciation of their service. It is a bit sad that this made the newspapers, shouldn’t it be the norm? Apparently his predecessor barely acknowledged their existence let alone said thank you.

When was the last time you said thank you? Among friends it is probably more common to drop a card round to say thank you for the birthday gift, or a nice evening but in business do we ever formally write to say thank you?

By remembering your manners in business it turns out to be a win/win situation. If you write a testimonial (or thank you letter) it has several knock on effects:

1. the person who receives it is pleased because:

• they did a good job
• they can show others that they did a good job
• they are likely to get repeat business as they have a satisfied customer
• they have the feel good factor – who doesn’t like reading great comments about their company

2. the third person who reads it is pleased because:

• they have confirmation that the person they are about to do business with has done a good job for others
• their risk is therefore minimised by taking on a new supplier

3. the person who writes it is pleased because:

• they received some good work
• they are advertising their brand – always write it on your headed notepaper
• the person you are writing to may feel inclined to reciprocate the kindness

And finally people like me who believe manners are an important part of society and are what makes the world go round will think you are a lovely person because you took the time to write, and therefore might consider doing business with you too. I know I have a more favourable view of David Cameron because he took time out (and no one can deny he must be a pretty busy man) to thank those who make his life easier. What might it do for your business? Let me know what you think.

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