Question from a reader:”So you gonna tell me how to make money”.
My answer: Well, for starters, you might want to back off of the command form of communication. One of the ways to make money if you aren’t manufacturing anything is to give great service. The cornerstone of good service is respect. Respect in any language or culture is something that at least is thanked and in some cultures you could lose a contract for being rude or worse, your head.
It isn’t cliche or stupid in these economic times to try verbally and in text to be a little polite. Back in the day, if you didn’t say “please” or “thank you” you wouldn’t get the time of day, a parent might hit you (yes, back then, they could get away with that) or if you were in the Old West in America (or even any city today), you might get a bullet in your head.
The coolness of being rude, ignoring people, one upmanship and all that jazz has no place in running a profitable business and frankly in conducting one’s life. Sure, there are times to be hip and cop an attitude however most of the time people have enough attitude handed to them and the last thing they need is more people yelling at them or being rude.
Parents must not have learned manners themselves or spend too much time thinking about themselves. That must be the only way to explain it. People today and their kids just don’t want to take the time for a little bit of courtesy. Be honest with yourself, do you like it when people cop an attitude with you? Sometimes your rudeness might be interpreted as unforgivable.
So, before you cop the attitude, take a second and really think about what you want to say. If you are guilty of not saying please or thank you, you may want to think twice because the next time you deal with a particular clerk, gas station attendant, fast food worker, grocery store person, plumber or Department of Motor Vehicle’s worker, you may find that you are either sent to the back of the line, your product may be “out of stock”, your order may be “misplaced” etc.
The same goes double for service workers and certain businesses. Don’t expect a tip as a form of entitlement if you are in a service industry that takes tips-earn them. Money is getting tight for everybody. Don’t take your attitude out on the customer. They may be rude but you don’t have to feed the energy back to them. Try and take the high road. If you can focus on the customers who take a second and are courteous. In fact, if you start acting courteous, magically they will start reacting the same way each time they see you. You will become an island of nice in the sea of blah and indifference.
You will be the rock that rocks their world.
You will be the mash in their potatoes.
You will be one of the cool things that makes their day and maybe helps diffuse an anger that might make them lose control of their car and prevent a car accident.
Some people have accused me of being too polite. My response to that is, “Would you like me to be too rude? Would that make you happier? How about insulting?” Better to err on the side of coming across a little too formal than to say something to aggrevate somebody else.
So, please, try and be courteous and use the words in any language – “please” and “thank you”.
And for my reader who wanted to me to tell him how to make money-please read my posts on this site and for more in-depth information, consider buying one of my books.
Thank you for reading this!
Kim Greenblatt
You are reading the profitable blog by Kim Isaac Greenblatt as he talks about “please” and “thank you”.