“Thanks for your business.”

It’s probably the No. 1 ice breaker Mike Bloomberg uses when he greets clients for the first time.

It’s disarmingly straightforward and unusually effective.

It’s a simple tactic any leader could adopt to make an impact.

Like many CEOs, Mike meets a lot of people, often on short notice. Sometimes they are visiting the office and other times at events or dinners or when he’s giving speeches.

Like anyone, he’s evolved greetings that work for him.

What I like about the phrase “Thank you for your business” is how it immediately conveys an element of gratitude and places the emphasis on the person he’s meeting.

It also grounds the conversation and keeps it focused on the business at hand.

The most valuable thing a CEO can get from these types of interactions is feedback. General chit chat about the weather or a recent sporting event doesn’t help much.

I was reminded of this verbal tic by John Kirk, a former Bloomberg colleague who spent 17 years at the company in sales. (I spent 32 years at Bloomberg before leaving in 2022.)

John shared a story about how Jeff Cohen, then head of New York sales, asked him to escort Mike to visit JPMorgan. This was just before Mike was elected mayor of New York City.

They walked the trading floor so Mike could shake hands with the sales people and traders who use the terminals on a daily basis.

Not surprisingly, the visit was one of the more memorable events of John’s career. It’s not every day that you take the founder and CEO out on a client visit.

But when I asked John what Mike told the traders, he said: He thanked them for the business.

It’s notable how memorable THAT line was even a quarter century later.

The origin story I had always heard was that Mike bought a car once and a few months later he got a call from the dealership to see if everything was ok and “thank him for his business.”

He thought it was a great example of both customer service and a way to get feedback.

I don’t know if that story is apocryphal, but it certainly captures the spirit behind the idea.

One of the things many leaders underestimate is the impact even brief meetings have on employees, investors, customers, or other stakeholders.

How a CEO dresses, speaks and generally carries themselves are all noticed.

A brief meeting is never just a brief meeting.

It’s an opportunity to make a point about what matters to you and by extension what matters to the company.

(Part of a series of business lessons I learned from three decades at Bloomberg LP.)