Since the beginning of his campaign, Barack Obama has understood one simple, yet essential principle that seemed to elude all other candidates. He was a master at crafting the exact right message for exactly the right audience, and he was always able to do so without ever being manipulative. Right before his acceptance speech, he sent the following email to his supporter list:

Nathan – 

I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first. 
We just made history. 
And I don’t want you to forget how we did it. 
You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change. 
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign. 
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next. 
But I want to be very clear about one thing… 

All of this happened because of you. 

The guy just won the election, and was about to give his acceptance speech, but he made sure to send a quick note to those that were responsible for his win. (And yes, I realize the note was likely ready to go well in advance, and could have been written by anyone) The lesson here is this: the little things mean everything. Treat your members, users, customers like they’re insiders, and always let them know how important they are to you. 

The last line of his email says it all.