Empathy & Positivity: 2 Great Ways To Pad Profits

It is shocking how many times this does not happen! Emails go unanswered; phone calls go unreturned. And then people wonder why their business is not growing and why they are not getting to where they feel they belong.

It is all about not leaving money on the table and instead following up and closing the loop on all correspondence. If you are able to do this on a regular basis, then you will see that not only a creative advantage is able to manifest, but your product or service becomes more attractive to the customer.

Don’t be Judgmental

Another easy shift that most people forget about is the simple act of being easy to work with and pleasant both internally and externally. Without judgment. You never know what is going on with your clients or staff. They may be in the middle of a divorce, have a sick child, or have something going on that you know nothing about. And the simple determination that you make to be easy to work with – and not judgmental - can have a profound effect. And it costs you nothing.

Simply shifting your attitude to one of being pleasant to work with and not casting stones can inject a common courtesy to you and your business instantly. It is all about empathy and understanding that you are in the customer service business. And in the customer service business the most important thing is how you make that customer feel. In a marketplace as crowded as can be, the one differentiator between you and others can simply be the fact that you are the most pleasant version of yourself to work with. That you don’t pass judgment. That you make everyone feel individually special. And that is not only an effective way to drum up more work, but the referral business from this may be the one most important factor in being pleasant!

So, next time you are having a bad day or everything seems to be going wrong for one reason or another, keep it to yourself. And focus instead on providing the best possible version of yourself for customers to work with. And stop judging people, for heaven’s sake!

Say Thank You

Quit being so ungrateful for what you don’t have and instead shift your mindset to being grateful and appreciative of what you’ve got. I have seen countless careers derailed and businesses shuttered that were otherwise sound – simply because no one ever took the time to say thank you. Say it to customers. Say it to co-workers and employees. Say it to yourself.

Showing some appreciation from time to time is a common courtesy that is not very common. It will allow you to not only connect with people in a genuine way, but it will show that you care about others. Because people who care about others are people who say thank you once in a while. Heck – they say it often – as you should, too.

When we shift our mindset from looking at what we don’t have or what we haven’t achieved to allow ourselves to assess instead what we do have and what we have achieved, a certain gratefulness takes hold. And that gratefulness is the key to allowing creativity and innovation to take root and grow.

Because in an environment of negativity nothing can grow and mature, but in an environment of positivity and gratefulness the world becomes one full of possibility and achievement. We make that choice every day. Choose to say thank you.

While common courtesy may not be too common these days, that doesn’t mean there is nothing you can do about it. There is indeed much that can be done to combat this lack of courtesy that is plaguing your business, but you have to make a choice to do so. Using the above three recommendations – even using just one of them – will help you achieve that goal.

Start today and bring back an approach to your business full of empathy and positivity. You will not only become easier to work with and more grateful for what you have, but you may also notice that your newfound approach increases profits as well. And that’s what we are all here to ultimately do.