The focus of November is the Thanksgiving holiday. Giving thanks is more than just a casual ?thank you?. We all tend to thank people without thinking: ?Thank you for the referral?; ?Thank you for returning my call?; ?Thank you for stopping in?. When was the last time you really gave a gift of thanks to those who have put you where you are today, something personal, specific, and heartfelt? That?s what it really means to give thanks.

I?ll go first. To my clients, thank you for sharing your dreams, your fears, and your ideas. You have given a gift to people you haven?t even met because what I have learned from our experience allows me to be a better coach. To my readers, thank you for your support and feedback because it validates, improves and energizes my efforts.

Now it?s your turn. How can you give a meaningful ?thank you? to your customers? First, how thankful are you? Make your thanks relevant. If more than 50% of your revenue is from just a few clients you should be very thankful because without them you would be lost. Next, what would they really enjoy? Is it a card, a calendar, a gift basket or something even more unusual? Finally, how will you make it more personal and significant? Putting your name on it might help them remember your name. A handwritten note makes it even better. But, picking something they would truly appreciate will help them remember your service. And, delivering your thanks in person gives you an opportunity to reinforce the message. Above all, make sure this is something heartfelt. Don?t do it just because you should, do it because you truly enjoy it.

Happy thanks giving!

You might think from my articles that my focus is on relationships. It is. But we measure success in business with numbers. Think about these different ways of measuring, and improving, your success:

• Customers per contact - How many contacts do you need to make to land a customer? Are you making the right contacts?
• Revenue per customer - Are you focused on the right customers? Can you grow the revenue from existing customers?
• Retention - What percentage of your customers are you able to retain?
• Lifetime value of a customer - What is the total value of an individual customer based on revenue plus the value of referrals less the cost of maintaining that relationship over time? How important are referrals to your success?

From now through the 1st of next year we'll spend a lot of time at parties. For those of us who are optimists, that means more networking. How can you transform yourself from disinterested participant to extraordinary player? Do what any good host would do. Try to make sure the other guests feel welcome, comfortable, and have an opportunity to meet interesting people. What's important to your success is not so much who you know, but who knows you and how they remember you. Can you think of a better way to impress the people you meet?