This is the time of year when we all think about thanking the people around us. As we enter the new year, we begin to make plans for how we will be better in the upcoming months. While we are in this mood, we need to seriously consider thanking the other people that make our businesses possible: the customer.

I know some of you are thinking that this is a ridiculous concept. You feel like you appreciate and thank your customers every day. My challenge for you is to really think about the thanking that’s happening in your company. We thank customers after they book a call with us. We thank them after we sell them something. We even thank them after they provide us with a good review. When was the last time we thanked them when it wasn’t related to providing us with something?

We are always looking for the people who have used our services to rave about us and recommend us to friends and family, yet we do very little to drive their opinions outside of our normal interactions. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about being thankful — and I am talking about appreciation without asking for anything in return.

The new year is here, and for most of us January is not a terribly busy month. So why not try calling everyone in our customer database and wishing them a happy and prosperous new year? Call the person, identify yourself and your company, thank them for being a customer, and wish them well. It is a simple thanks for the sake of expressing appreciation.

These are easy calls for you and your team to make, and they are great for your image with your customers. Who knows? You might book a few leads without even trying.