how much extra for nice?

Passing along a thought from a blog (Seth Godin) I read this morning...
Thanks Seth. It's a nice reminder.

If I pay $1000 extra for a first-class seat, odds are the flight attendant will be nice to me.

If I pay $2000 extra for the presidential suite at the hotel, odds are the front desk clerk will be nice to me.

If I give the valet $50 to park my car, odds are he'll be nice to me as well.

So, here's the question: if all I want, the only extra, is for someone to be nice to me when I visit your business, how much extra does that cost? How much extra to talk to a nice person when I call tech support? How much extra to find a nice receptionist at the doctor's office? Would you pay $9 extra for a smile when you dealt with the Social Security bureaucrats and were filing a form?

I know you're rushed and stressed and stretched. I know your team deals with hundreds or thousands of customers, and a lot of them aren't very friendly or warm. And I know that some of your customers (maybe a lot) would happily pay a little extra to get that one thing they want most of all...

I think there's a huge gap between what people are willing to pay for nice (a lot) and what it would cost businesses to deliver it (almost nothing). Smells like an opportunity.

framing...

In this crazy world of political positioning we are inundated with a myriad of verbal absurdities. I like to watch and listen to the framing of the campaigns. It adds an element of entertainment in an otherwise dreadful attempt for someone to secure the highest elected office in the world. I read and interesting blog today (Kem Meyer) that discussed framing (see below). It is a quick read and it will change the way you listen to the candidates...


Framing is the practice of considering what's going on in the mind and heart of your listener or reader. (What are they thinking and feeling before you show up?) And, then deciding how to articulate what you want to say.

It doesn't matter if you are an expert with pure motive and open heart. How a person perceives what you say is even more real than how you perceive it yourself. So how ARE you gonna say what you're gonna say?

I went and gathered a few framing examples from some sources to help exercise this part of our brain.

"Words not only explain but motivate. They cause you to think as well as act. They trigger emotion as well as understanding."

	File sharing	or	Stealing music
	Assistance to the poor	or	Welfare
	Gun control	or	Firearm safety
	Estate tax	or	Death tax
	Crime agenda	or	Safety & security platform
	Drilling for oil	or	Energy exploration
	Gambling	or	Gaming
	Disease management	or	Prevention
	Denied	or	Should not be given

"Is it message manipulation? I do not believe there is something dishonorable
about presenting a passionately held proposition in the most favorable light,
while avoiding the self-sabotage of clumsy phrasing and dubious delivery.
I do not believe it is malevolent to choose the strongest arguments
rather than to go lazily with the weakest."

Quotes by Frank Luntz.

home improvement...why?

I don't get along well with most home improvement projects. Yesterday I faced the daunting task of hanging a new light in the kitchen. I will spare you the bone-chilling details. I will tell you that after approx. five hours of sheer torture the light is hanging. The cords are all twisted and the light does not work. All the twisting and turning must have knocked something loose. Tonight I will take it all down and start over. I am OK. Don't worry about me. However, if the light gives me anymore trouble it will find itself in the backyard.