Submitted by JulieGeek on
in
Forums
BLUF: When I sent a gift basket to my out-sourced, off-shore application support team, I found out I was the first client in 8 years to have done so--and it was communicated up to their US VP.
Over the last year I've asked a lot of my out-sourced application support team. A year ago they were a mess; now they're a pretty snappy group. I thought, "I would like to express my appreciation. I think I'll send them one of those gift basket thingies. I know how to do that for the on-shore team--can I do that for my off-shore team, too? Is there an Indian equivalent to Wine Country Gift Baskets?" So I hit up some of my Indian-born colleagues for advice and, sure enough, there are several. I successfully ordered one and let the team lead know it was coming.
A couple of days later I received a very gracious thank you note from the team lead. "That's nice, " I thought. Then the on-shore manager stopped by my desk and let me know that the off-shore team wasn't just pleased--they were ecstatic. No other member of my company in the 8 years for which they've been our out-source provider has done anything like send a gift basket to an off-shore team. Ever. News of my magnanimity has reportedly made it to the VP over all of their US operations. I'm, quite frankly, embarrassed.
Gratitude. Appreciation. A gift basket, maybe. Treat others how you want to be treated. Share the love.
Julie
DiSC 5751
Congratulations!
I love it when I see people putting thought into creating and nuturing relationships. I think it's great that you solicited advice from people as well. All too often attempts to do things like this fail. Such as the time my wife's supervisor gave her a gift card to Starbucks despite the fact that my wife does not drink coffee and has never set foot in one of their stores.
But there's plenty of room out here for thoughtful thank you's such as the one you gave, be they material, verbal, or just written.
Well done! And thank you for sharing.
Glenn