Using gratitude helps you treat people as you want to be treated.

It is amazing what can happen when you use gratitude. By simply saying thank you, sometimes in advance (as I did with Tic Tacs) of a transaction, can win you business and friends.

Dale Carnegie backs this up in his book How to Win Friends and Influence people.

One thing that Carnegie and the Bible have in common is that it pays to treat people as you would like to be treated.

By getting a thank you in first can prove you mean it. This means those you interact with will warm to you and what you say.

According to the Radio 4 programme The Bottom Line, successful companies like Tesco and Aggreko have the principle of treating others as you want to be treated at the core of their business ethics.

In this age of austerity, being grateful for small things and being kind to others can really pay dividends.