Just Be Nice
It’s Easy!
Of all the tips on success that I have come across, simply being nice to people may be the easiest and most important one of all.
Nordstrom observed; “We found that we could hire nice people and teach them to sell. We had trouble hiring salespeople and trying to teach them to be nice.”
Be nice to your customers; even those that are not nice to you.
Be nice to your co-workers; even those you don’t like.
Be nice to your friends; regardless of your mood or theirs.
Be nice to your family members; even when you are upset by them.
Be nice to EVERYONE; ALWAYS.
Some of the most successful people I know are also the nicest; coincidence? I don’t think so.
Be Nice! It’s Easy
December 28th, 2009 at 3:23 am
Hello All and Seasons Greetings,
It is easy to be rude when you are under stress of any sort, it’s easy to be angry, to say mean things and act badly. A person has to try a little harder to be nice when things are going wrong. A person has to think a little longer about an answer. A person has to show discipline, restraint and smile. And all that takes a little more effort.
This was a lesson I learnt once at a training session when we were discussing making cold calls. By chance, one of the trainees told of an occasion when by chance she got right through to the MD of a company when she was represetning staff recruitment and calling to ask whether or not ’she’ could help with any vacancies. Well to cut the story a little short as you can imagine the conversation, the MD was surprised that she had got straight through to him and after a sharp rude retort slammed the phone down in her ear.
She was just doing her job. She had been polite. She had done everything right. But this time she got angry. So she called back immediately, introduced herself as the person on whom he had just put the phone down ‘and said sweetly, “You know, sir, it’s not very difficult to be rude.” Well there was a minutes silence while he digested this comment, said I beg your pardon so she said again, “It’s not very difficult to be rude no matter what position you hold in a company.” She reports that he was more surproied and apologetic when they had had a chance to speak a bit more. She got business alright and apparently he went on to become one of her regular and ‘biggest’ clients.
You are so right Ron, just be nice. Often it can change your mood if you are feeling a little low or grumpy yourself.
Cheers
Lestie
Johannesburg
South Africa.
December 28th, 2009 at 9:03 am
When you work retail and at times it can get really busy, I found that when a client is rude to you or angry or maybe it is just a personality that wants things right, like how it is put in the bag or wrapped because they are particular….If you take your time and keep it simple be kind to the client or as Lenny Zell quotes,”Smile at all store customers before they smile at you, with the same intensity you do to a friend in your home.” If you think about it it’s contagious! It is hard to continue to be angry or mean if someone is genuinely smiling back at you. Just put your tongue at the base of your two front teeth and you will be smiling. Try it, it works!
Plus, we never know what is happening in their life…either way slow down instead or going faster, especially your breathing because the effect surrounding you will be calm!
With Aloha,
Char
December 28th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Being nice is essential. I like to dovetail being nice with being in tune with people and serving them in a way that i think will make them pleased. One should sense when your customer wants to get things done cleanly and quickly and not get hit with a ton of stupid questions or artificial sweet talk or whatever activity that is taking up time when they want to move. in other words, be real, be sensitive, be focused on your customer via your observations and gut, be nice, be intuitive and go with your intuition. If you make the wrong choice, how bad could that be? doing things that irritate your customers is way way worse of a sin, no question. focus on pleasing your customer, whatever that takes without trying to manipulate or making them do anything they really dont want to do etc. Nice fits naturally with this automatically. The process of wanting to please puts you in the right consciousness from the word go and everything that springs from this is nice and good. and its actually easy!!
December 29th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Being nice is one thing, but just don’t be a doormat. I was nice all my life, had a great Jersey Girl kind of customer rapport that went fairly well, made top dollar but in my personal life, people took advantage of my naivete and niceness and that wasn’t helpful. In the book, “Why Men Love Bitches”, being called a bitch is a compliment. Bitch means being in total control here.
The point here is, be courteous, but have a spine. This helps when you are assertively going after that sale, and when you have to share your work space with others. Don’t let others walk over you, because you are too nice. Polite yes, doormat no.