Take care of your people.
Duh - but do we really? Both our team & our clients? Does it really matter? Most certainly. Without them, we have either no business or a drastically worse one, right?
February is the month of love (per Hallmark, of course) where we focus on communicating love to those we care about.
One of the best books I’ve ever read on this is Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages which explores the different ways people give and receive love. It helped my marriage immensely & also in raising kids.
According to Chapman, the 5 primary Love Languages are:
❤️ Words of Affirmation
❤️ Acts of Service
❤️ Receiving Gifts
❤️ Quality Time
❤️ Physical Touch
But can this same concept be applied to business? Yep.
I read some articles, pondered it against my own experiences…and here’s what I came up with:
Why Love Languages Matter for Business
By recognizing your team member’s & client's love language, you’ll be able to:
✅ show them you care in the way they want to receive it.
You’ll be speaking their language. Golden Rule here - treat them as they want to be treated.
✅ better understand and connect with them
✅ experience their increased satisfaction & loyalty
3 Ways to Know their Love Language:
1. Ask them - - many people know Chapman’s book & use it personally; they can just tell you if you start a conversation
2. Observation:
❓How does this person treat others?
❓What do they complain about?
❓What do they request?
You might not get it right immediately, but purposeful observation is a great teacher.
3. Ask them to take the 5 Love Language quiz (not all will be up for this - just sayin' so be ready to default to observation)
Applying the 5 Love Languages in Business
Since it feels a little weird to say "love" languages in business, perhaps rethink them as "appreciation" languages. We all have a need to feel loved and appreciated.
Words of Affirmation (feedback & mentorship)
✅ Verbal acknowledgments:
"I’m really thankful to have you on our team."
"Your presentation to the client today was great."
"This is a difficult project & I can see how much you're putting into it."
"We love working with you as a client."
"Your business is really valuable to us."
✅ Including shout-outs as part of team meetings (from you & others)
✅ Shout-out team members & clients on social media, as appropriate
✅ Private or public feedback - based on what works for the person receiving
✅ Thank you notes
Acts of Service (support & care)
✅ Offer your help on a difficult project
✅ Do something small to help - like offer to make a cup of coffee for a team member
✅ "Just checking in" email to a team member or client
✅ Ask how you can help & then make it happen
✅ Go the extra mile for a client doing something you know will help them, but unexpected
✅ Ask your clients how you can help them
✅ Offer exceptional client service
Receiving Gifts (gifts & opportunities)
✅ Unexpected coffee/cookies/lunch just because – for your team or your client
✅ Send a helpful resource (or even a tip) to a team member or client
✅ New office supplies for the office supply lover
✅ Give a higher level opportunity to someone who is working hard to advance
✅ A free service
✅ Send personalized gifts to top clients
✅ Refer clients to others (my fave to receive - I get amazing clients through referrals!)
✅ Gift on a work anniversary or working together anniversary with a client
✅ Celebratory day off
✅ Offer mentorship to a junior team member
✅ Money - always a happy bonus for a team member :)
Quality Time (workplace bonding)
✅ Ask about a team member’s or client’s outside interests/hobbies AND LISTEN!
✅ Celebrations for wins & anniversaries
✅ Taking time for 1:1 meetings & lunches
✅ Team meetings & lunches
✅ Offer workshops on topics your team and clients care about
✅ Schedule in person face to face time - unexpected these days
✅ Put your phone & other distractions away and give your undivided attention
Physical Touch (encouragement & touchpoints)
✅ Great eye contact & smiling at someone when speaking or praising them
✅ Firm handshake
✅ Fist-bump or high-five
✅ Upgrade their physical space with aromatherapy, candle, music, etc
(Yepjs-022-5-love-languages-applied-to-businesss, this one is the hardest to translate to work!)
- - - - -
TL;DR:
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman shows us how to express love to a person in the way they want to receive it.
1. Love languages apply in business as appreciation to team members and clients.
2. Learn your team member's & client's love language (ask, observe & have them take the quiz)
3. 5 Appreciation/Love Languages can be applied in business
[Words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, receiving gifts, physical touch]
By applying the love languages to your business, you can show your team members & clients that you appreciate and value them.
Wowza. Aren't all these examples of ways to apply this so simple?
And yet can't you see how they might work in showing appreciation?
So why not give it a try and see how the love languages can benefit your business? Let's do it, my friend!
- - - - -
Let me know, please!
❓ What’s your love language?
[Mine is quality time followed by acts of service.]
❓ What’s another cool idea you have for expressing your appreciation in the business world? I’d love to hear.
Send me a DM on LinkedIn to let me know!
Thanks for reading.
See ya next week, my friend!
Whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
1. Ready to increase profit & have your stress melt away? Schedule a call to see if we'd be a good fit to work together. I have availability for a few additional clients.
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3. Want more like this? I post on LinkedIn every weekday at 7:15a CST. I'd love to connect. Find me here!
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