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February 14, 2018

Do you celebrate your successes?

I went to a party last night. It was the one-year anniversary of the opening of a small business – the place where I get my hair cut. Lots of food & beverages, nice decorations, live music (it is Nashville, after all). It was great!

And it got me to thinking… do we (as businesses and business owners) do enough celebrating of our important moments? Do we recognize our employees and their achievements? Do we boast (a little) about our successes?

Think about all the things we have to celebrate as businesses…

  • Picking up a new client. Every client is important – even the small ones… so, celebrate them all. Years ago, I worked for a company that produced conferences and expositions. When one of our sales team sold a booth space, they got up from their desk, walked to the middle of the office and literally rang a bell. It let everyone know that we were that much closer to achieving our goal (it also led to a lot of high-fives for that sales rep!).
  • Reaching a new level of revenue. Think about the first time a small, growing business eclipses the $1 million mark (or $2 million or $5 million…). How exciting for everyone! It’s important that all of your employees share in this news… it will fill them with a sense of pride that they helped their company to achieve that new level of success.
    • You probably won’t share your revenue numbers with your clients… so, be sure to celebrate your anniversaries instead. Longevity is also proof-positive of success.
  • Operational excellence. Do you conduct a Customer Satisfaction survey after each project? Celebrate the results internally to recognize employees for a job well done. Then, track them over time and celebrate the trends externally. Imagine a bold statement on the homepage of your website page that reads, “The survey results are in… 95% of our clients rate us Very Good or Excellent!”
  • Testimonials. Yes, testimonials from your clients should be posted all over your website. But they should also be celebrated internally, recognizing the employees who earned those complimentary words from your clients.
  • New additions to the company. Whether it’s a new employee, a new office opening or the launch of a new product or service, when clients & prospects hear about these new additions, their perception is that you’re a growing, successful company… and everyone wants to work with successful companies.
  • Personal items of note. Not all celebrations have to be business-related. When you celebrate internally, share the good things happening in the lives of your employees – birthdays, wedding anniversaries, employment anniversaries, the birth of a child, a graduation, etc. It shows your employees that they work for a company that cares and values the things that are also important to them.

The business celebrations – those things you want your clients and prospects to see – should be showcased on your website, in social media posts and through your monthly e-newsletter.

For your employee-only celebrations, don’t forget to occasionally gather the whole team together and publicly recognize specific employees for their success and achievements. Virtually nothing else you do will mean as much.

Bottom line: A minor achievement or a big deal… remember to celebrate and share your successes with clients, prospects and your employees. Doing it with live music is an extra-nice touch!


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