​Thank You Fruit Baskets 

Thanking people for what they do for you is powerful. The simple act of reaching out to someone and making your gratitude and acceptance felt by giving a gift – like a fresh fruit basket – really establishes a connection and makes your feelings present. The best gifts are those that arrive completely unexpected – and hold the happy, healthy benefits of fresh colourful fruit and your personal message.

Let’s not confuse the point – the only reason to give a gift is because YOU get the supreme pleasure in giving it! You heard right – giving a gift is actually about you giving to yourself the appreciation, graciousness and thanks of the person receiving the gift. Sharing a fruit basket with supportive people in your network – or acknowledging valuable clients – is a delightful surprise for your receiver – and you yourself will feel terrific also.

Too often we feel grateful and wish to connect in a thankful and gracious way – but then lose sight of what to actually do and the moment is lost amongst the other things to do. And losing that special moment to say thank you means you have lost an opportunity to engage and make a meaningful connection with the person you had in mind.

​It is also important to realize that just picking up the phone and calling the person is not the ideal way to connect. Often you will reach the person in the midst of some other project and your interruption might completely take away the moment of thanks that you intended. Making a phone call to a busy person might not be the way you want to connect – you will call with all good intentions but the person answering the phone may not be feeling the same way. Far better to send a gift basket for delivery – so that you are not imposing on them and they can read your personal thank you message at a time convenient to them.

A handwritten thank you note holds immense power and is a tangible object that the recipient can hold in her hands. Just reading a note gives pause for reflection and makes the meaning and depth of what you are saying that much more memorable.

I know myself that written things are more appreciated – just compare a “thank you sooo much” with a similar though committed to pen and paper. People are much more likely to remember and feel the depth of empathy in a written note and actually see the words written there in front of them.

There is a reason we commit rote learning to memory! And also, a written note can be saved and hold pride of place in a special drawer of momento’s and cards. We all know how long we keep thank you cards and how the mere though of re-reading the notes can bring back the flood of emotions and thoughts connected with the deed that has been thanked.

When you compose your note, take time to specifically mention the act and how it impacted on your life. By drawing the attention of the reader to the exact act you make the direct connection between the person’s thought and deeds and your feelings of empathy and gratuity.

Your personal message doesn’t have to be long-winded or paragraphs of detail – often a brief to the point message with relevant points will elicit a desired response from the recipient. And this is all the more powerful when given in the context of a fruit basket – just think – fresh fruit and the positive vibe of thanks is more then enough to have anyone thinking that they are special and appreciated.

A self-help book suggestion is to actually sit down and write a list of the people who offer you help and assistance in your everyday life. It might sound far fetched, but you can quickly come up with a list of a half dozen people who make your life easier and more pleasant in doing the little things everyday to help you.

Stepping outside your comfort zone and making a thank you note really engaging works wonders to cement a business relationship. I know it is expected that people who offer services simply do their job and do not expect thanks – but what if you were to go the extra mile and make personal thanks for some little extra they did for you in a recent exchange? Wouldn’t it make the person that much more likely to do you a big favour in future if you recognised and thank them for a small favour today?

Positive feedback is so rare these days – just looking on social media you can see the lengths and time people go to to publicly name and shame vendors who have not met their standards or failed in some way. On the other hand – the number of glowing thank yous and positive reviews are relatively scarce. It actually is quite controversial to step outside the norms and offer thanks for a job well done.

Your standard way of saying thanks may be to take people out for a drink or shout them a sandwich or coffee – which is all very well but also completely mundane and forgettable in the bigger picture. By sending a thank you note, you can draw attention to the person’s great work – but also to the synergy you have with that person in the work environment and how well you perform together. Yes, this is controversial and a little outside the box – so you have already created a memorable event and the act of thanks holds just that much more power for doing so.

And here’s a final thanks to you for reading – I truly appreciate that you took the time.