A different kind of thanks. Yours.
As the commercialism of Thanksgiving fades into the commercialism of Christmas (or whatever name you’re allowed to call it these days), several thoughts have occurred to me that will impact you as a person, you as a salesperson, and your business.
People try so hard to express good cheer in the holiday season they often miss the mark. “Don’t eat too much turkey!” or “Don’t drink too much eggnog!” is your way of saying, I have nothing new to say.
My bet is your “thank you” is somewhat like your mission statement. It’s there, but it’s relatively meaningless, and no one can recite it. (Most employees, even executives, can’t recite their own mission statement, even under penalty of death.)
HARD QUESTIONS:
• Why is this the only season we give thanks?
• How sincere is your message, really?
• Why do you find it necessary to thank your customers at the same time everyone else is thanking their customers?
• If you’re thanking people, what are you offering besides words to show them you value and care about them?
• Why do you have a shiny card with a printed message and foil stamped company signature – and NOTHING personal?
HERE’S AN IDEA: Why not start by thanking yourself? Thank yourself for your success, your good fortune, your health, your family, your library, your attitude, your fun times, your friends, and all the cool things you do that make you a happy person.
If you’re having trouble thanking yourself, that may be an indicator that things aren’t going as well as they could be. In that situation, any thanks you give to others will be perceived somewhere between “less than whole” and “totally insincere.”
I don’t think you can become sincerely thankful to others until you have become fully thankful TO yourself and FOR yourself. And once you realize who YOU are, your message of thanks will become much more real, and passionate, to others.
NEWS REALITY: The good news is this is the holiday season. The bad news is it’s so full of retail shopping incentives, mobs of people, and “today only deals” that the festivity of Thanksgiving is somewhat lost in the shuffle.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday – or wait, is it Cyber Tuesday, or Small Business Saturday, or Throwback Thursday? Whatever it is, it’s a strategy for advertising and promoting. And I’m okay with it, totally okay with the free enterprise system, I just think the hype of it has become more dominant than the giving of thanks and the meaning of the season.
Call me old-fashioned, or call me traditional, but I don’t think you can call me “wrong.” I want our economy to be strong, but not at the expense of celebration, family time, and personal time to thank yourself for who you have become, and who you are becoming.
TRY THIS: Sit around your dinner table this Thanksgiving and have each person at the table make a statement as to what they are grateful for and who they are grateful to. Then have them say one thing about themselves that they are thankful for.
This simple action will create a sense of reality around your table that will be both revealing and educational. It also wipes away all the superficial undertones often associated with family holidays.
Why not ask people to recall their best Thanksgiving ever, or the person they miss the most, or the most important thing they’ve learned as a family member – and to be thankful for them or that.
BACK TO YOU: Sit down and make a list of your best qualities. Your personal assets, not your money or your property. The assets you possess that you believe have created the person you are. Your humor, your friendliness, your helpfulness, your approachability, your trustworthiness, your honesty, your ethics, and maybe even your morality. (Tough list, eh?)
And as you head deeper into this holiday season, perhaps next year’s intentions and focus (not goals and resolutions) will be more about building personal assets and building capabilities you can be thankful for and grateful for.
For those of you wondering, “where’s the sales tip?” Wake up, and smell the leftovers! I’m trying to help you sell you on yourself.
Once you make that sale, once you become the best you can be for yourself, then it’s easy to become the best you can be for others, and present yourself in a way that others will buy.
It’s the holidays baby, go out and thank yourself!
Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of twelve best-selling books including The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling. His new best-selling book, 21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling, is now available. For book tour dates and information about training and seminars, visit www.gitomer.com or email Jeffrey personally at salesman@gitomer.com.
