Kaplan Thaler Group is a billion dollar revenue advertising company. The founders attribute their success to hard work and “the power of Nice.” Any book written by businesswomen that generates a billion in revenue is worth reading. Some things to keep in mind being NICE: Nice is luckier in love, Nice makes more money, Nice is healthier, and Nice spends less time in court.
Why is this important to me?
I don’t want to waste your time. The goal is to provide you with high-value content that you can use today. Two critical points in fostering teamwork are sharing credit and being kind.
Jay Leno, the host of the Tonight Show, celebrated his 10th anniversary by giving each staff member $ 1,000 for each year of service. He did this out of his own pocket. Some members have been with him the entire time and there are 175 people working on the show. Jay is the best nice boy. The title of the show is “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, not The Tonight Show starring Jay Leno. This subtle difference sums up the entire book.
Linda interviewed Warren Buffet and read in his bio that he loves Cherry Soda. When she met him, she gave her a cherry soda and her response was “Linda, I’ll tell you everything you want to know because you brought me a cherry soda. Simple gestures can move mountains.
Nice Power consists of 10 chapters and is an easy-to-read book. For the sake of time, I will describe three key concepts
Sweeten the deal: When working with clients or prospects, feed them. This simple gesture will allow you to win more business. Your affection has to be genuine and not fake, otherwise people will see right through you. We are unique with all our sales calls and service facilities in our business. We bring bagels, muffins, and coffee to every engagement. I can tell you with certainty that we are the only company in our space that does this and I can tell you that this helped us win four of our most important deals in company history. People want to work with a considerate team.
Help Your Enemies – Business is circular and you never know where people end up or who they can influence. If you are striving for win-win relationships and you know that your competitor can serve a type of account better than you, then you should pass the business on to them. You never know what the future holds. George Washington insisted that prisoners of war be treated well. He knew that after the war, these people would be neighbors of the soldiers. Today’s enemy is tomorrow’s ally.
Shut up and listen: Active listening creates rapport, plus you can’t learn when your mouth is moving. Listening and asking questions gives you the luxury of helping people uncover their problems without criticism. You also want to tell the truth because if you pretend to be nice people will smell it from a mile away and they won’t work with you. People want to work with people they like.
The Power of Nice is a book worth reading. In a fast-paced world, simple principles are sometimes forgotten. Being nice to people will become a full circle. Emerson’s compensation law basically says if you want more, give more. Real donors are NICE and kind people.
I hope this short summary has been helpful to you. The key to any new idea is to incorporate it into your daily routine until it becomes a habit. Habits are formed in just 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is to question its criticisms. Instead of criticizing or attacking someone’s behavior, ask a question about the outcome. If the window is open, don’t say “Close the window” instead of asking “Is it cold in here?” The result will be the same: a closed window.