Here's the rather pessimistic headlines from Yahoo! this afternoon:
Winter weather due to hit parts of Britain again
Jade Goody's husband found guilty of assault
Kids' presenter accused of swearing on live TV
The BBC have a much more balanced view of the world. They draw our attention to misery the world over with:
Hunt for Lahore cricket attackers
Man convicted of killing toddler
Murder police charged with perjury
Northern Rock makes £1.4 billion loss
And of course the good old Daily Mail:
World to end sooner than thought - it's the immigrants who are to blame
Ok, I made that last one up. But the others are true. Well they can't choose the news, you might say. And I would agree. But they can choose how to report it. Many years ago I was told the difference between a reporter and a journalist was that the reporter gave the facts while a journalist gave an opinion backed up by facts. It seems these days the only opinion is that we are all doomed. Now, being raised on a diet of Samuel Beckett I've long ago come to terms with the futility of life. However, rather than wallow in my ontological despair I would much rather focus on the good things in life. I'm not one of those delusional optimists whose legs you could chop off and they'd say how grateful they are because they've always wanted to be able to park closer to the entrance at B&Q but at the same time I don't expect the worst.
So what has this got to do with anything? Well I can't help thinking that given all the doom and gloom in the world a little bit of light relief can be a real competitive advantage to any business at the moment. Do you really want to spend your limited cash with someone who can't muster the enthusiasm to offer a polite greeting when you phone them up with an enquiry? Even the banks (spit) have twigged that talking to their customers like human beings is a way to get their attention and maybe even buy one of their products. It happened in the local branch this morning. A pleasant exchange rather the usual robot like stamping of deposit slips and I'm happily getting an insurance quotation. I've received no end of direct mail from the same bank. Did any of it work? No. But a pleasant few words did.
Try it. Even if you don't get a sale at least you'll feel better for taking your mind off the doom and gloom headlines for a few minutes.
