Smile

Last month I was in the Seattle airport, connecting to my third flight of the day. To get to my tiny commuter plane I had to take the airport train for what seemed like a journey across the entire state of Washington.

It had been a long day already, with flight delays, and of course, full body searches by airport security personnel at every possible checkpoint.

As I stood leaning up against the pole in the seatless subway-like train, I noticed a bouncy four-year old girl with her father standing nearby. She looked at me, then asked him, "Daddy, is that man sad?"

Wow!

It hit me like a baseball bat to the head.

Although I felt pretty good, apparently that wasn't the message I was sending.

"No, I'm happy like you," I told her as I instantly changed my expression to a smile.

Then I thought about that small change, and the effect it has on people.

So I tried a goofy experiment: I smiled at everyone I made eye contact with, or interacted with the remainder of the trip ... the next security lady who went through my briefcase...ticket agent...flight attendants...rental car counter guy... and random people walking down the terminal.

An interesting thing happened: I didn't run into one grumpy person. Most of them smiled back. (Except for the assorted few who walked quickly the other way, probably wondering what kind of weirdo I was.)

And it was fun!


(Exerpt from TeleSales Tip of the Week)

Art Sobczak
Business By Phone Inc.