Friday, April 07, 2006

Thanks Giving!!

This is the most common thing but still ignored by most of us "Thanks Giving". The literal meaning of Thanks is to express our gratitude. How many of us thank or express gratitude to every small things that we encounter in our day to day busy life? Do we thank Auto wala or taxi wala after we get down from auto? Do we thank the hotel servers or cook when we face them? Most of the times the answer is "No".

The Thanksgiving holiday celebrated each November in the United States is known worldwide as an American custom, but its roots extend far back into human history. According to research conducted by The Center for World Thanksgiving at Thanks-Giving Square, the first Americans observed rituals and ceremonies to express gratitude to a higher power for life itself. A Seneca Indian ritual, for example, states, "Our Creator ... Shall continue to dwell above the sky, and this is where those on the earth will end their thanksgiving." Another quotation attributed to American Indians before Columbus is, "The plant has its nourishment from the earth and its limbs go up this way, in praise of its Maker ... like the limbs of a tree."

It is very important that we thank God for everything he has given us, its also equally important to thank every human we encounter in our day to day activity for all they do.

Isn't it nice when someone sends you a short note thanking you for the lovely dinner you shared, or the weekend you spent together? Doesn't it make you feel good - even great?
Sure it does.

If, I am asked to pen down the advantages of thanking, I would say it is tough to do that but some of the important advantages are:
  1. You make the person feel very good and happy
  2. You acknowledge the work in a very positive manner (you motivate them).
  3. Thank You notes are thought of as gracious and well mannered
  4. Thank You notes build trust
  5. Thank You notes demonstrate your commitment to service. (In Business or work)
  6. Thank You notes are the perfect way of introducing new products and services to your customers (and sleepy distributors). In other words, Thank You notes build relationships - the cornerstone of your business.

Every time someone buys something from you, send them a Thank You note. Every time someone gives you a referral, send them a Thank You note. Every time a new person signs up in your organization, send them a Thank You note. Every time some one does a seemingly insignificant task for you send a thank you note (The task may be server serving a cup of tea in a hotel e.t.c)

Here's the sweet story, I got from a reputed business magazine:

Tracey, a personal fitness trainer and friend of mine, sold a box of chewable vitamins from her Networking company to one of her clients. She sent a Thank You note as a follow up and included three business cards for possible referrals.

About a week later, during a baby shower at Tracey's client's house, one of the other moms there picked up the box of vitamins and asked about it. This prompted a conversation and the client passed out the rest of Tracey' s business cards.

Two moms bought vitamins, not only for their kids but for themselves as well.
Tracey sent out more Thank You notes to them. One of her new customers referred her sister, who bought a box, too. And on and on...

At the end of just one month, Tracey had eight new customers. One of them was seriously looking at joining her business!

Tracey didn't know these people from Eve.

The power of a Thank You note is awesome. It's one of your ultimate secret weapons. And isn't it great to live life and work with a sense of appreciation, anyway? As a side perk, you may even find that writing Thank You notes makes you feel great.

Don't prejudge this process, just do it. Please send me feedback on how the Thank You note process is working for you.

Truly yours,

Raghavendra Hunasgi (Raghav)

Thursday, April 06, 2006

The Future Googlers with DP Rule!!!





It had been a long time desire for me to start a blog, which will consist of all the useful stuff (Technical and Non Technical). This idea turned into an action on April 3, 2006 after, I told sunya (My cute chaddi dost Sunil) about my plans to fly to New Zealand.

I want my first post on the blog to be very impressive (coz, I believe first impression leaves a deep impact).

I would love to introduce a concept called DP Rule (which is been coined by Vineetha Athrey and Swaroop my blog friends with very good blog's)

"The DP Rule:

The concept is "Determined about being determined, passionate about being passionate". Punch the next 6 months with the very best focus we can ever conjure up, and to hit upon exactly the kind of work we would want to do for the rest of our lives... In short planup the heighest things you want to achive and work towards it (Initially chosse the short term goal’s 6 months may be).

Here are the 3 best things about DP Rule:

  1. First of all: DAP would stand for Determination and Passion.
  2. Secondly, I love the meaning that "Dapper" stands for; which is, being elegantly stylish without being overtly flashy or ostentatious about it. It spells sophistication, and a sleek appearence.
  3. Thirdly: If a person who blogs is a blogger, a person who DAPs ( Follows the DP Rule for success: Patented by Swaroop and Vineetha) is "Dapper"!!! :)

”We even thought, that 7 months down the line when we succeed in achieving our targets, we could even go out and market this 'DP Rule for Success' and start an "Art of Dapping' cult and that will be a religion in itself. And you never know, we might even be the Larry Page and Sergei Brin( Google) of the success-mantra genre! ;)And the members of this 'Dappers' Corner' would be known as 'Dappers' . So that makes the two of us, 'The GodDappers' ;)

And it looks like Dapping is gonna work.... I have been able to consistently achieve all the small-term targets I've been setting for myself. Mom commented this morn' saying,

"Vini, you are acting like your life depends on this. Chill!

"But I realised that if I chill now, the rest of my life will be frozen!!

PS: What exactly is my plan for the next 7 months will be discussed, after 7 months. In the meanwhile, keep watching this space. Sometime later you all will be able to say, "We got to watch the growth of Dappers from scratch!" ;)” By Vineetha Athrey

Truly your's

Raghavendra Hunasgi