The power of the little words

Happiness is infectious. If you make someone else happy, you'll make yourself happy too.

Mark Lee tells how an accountant made his/her client's day by writing to that client to thank them for being such a great client.

Everyone loves a pat on the back. Just think how bucked you felt the last time someone whose opinion you value wrote you a recommendation on LinkedIn.

But it doesn't have to take the form of even that many words to brighten someone's day.

Try the effect of these few little words:

"Thank you."

"Well done."

"Good luck."

Look into the person's eyes as you say it, if you can (obviously you can't do that if you're Tweeting them), and watch their whole face light up as they smile.

It'll brighten up your day.

Twitter is a great vehicle for that. Thank someone for RT'ing you. Wish someone good luck. I was in the hot seat for an accounting webchat at the end of January and I will admit to having had presenter's nerves that morning. A tweet arrived from my mentor to wish me luck, my confidence levels shot up and suddenly I felt "yes, I can do this". And no, I didn't forget to tweet back to thank him!

One of my other favourite techniques is, if I've received good service in a store, to ask to see the manager and pass on my thanks to the individual who served me. That not only brings huge smiles to both their faces, but I always walk out feeling very happy. And I know that some chains reward staff who are thanked by customers, so you could be earning them some vouchers too!

The little words can be so powerful!