Saying many things usually communicates nothing. Horace Schwerin and Henry Newell, in their helpful book Persuasion, described their test of two commercials for the same car. Commercial one was single minded: It talked only about performance. Commercial two went further. It pointed out that in addition to exceptional performance, the car offered outstanding styling, a choice of several models, and excellent economy.
After showing subjects the two commercials, the testers asked viewers if either commercial might make them switch to that brand of car. Six percent answered yes, the performance spot would make them consider switching. But what about the second commercial, with all that valuable added information-how many were affected by it? Not one. Zero percent.
-Harry Beckwith, Selling the Invisible
People who handle stress well tend to employ what stress experts call an "optimistic explanatory style." They don't beat themselves up when things don't work out in their favor. So instead of using statements that catastrophize an incident, like "I'm a complete failure," they might say to themselves, "I need to work on my backhand."
Looking ahead at the specific industry of which your service business or professional practice is a part is also important. To determine which trends are significant to you, explore the marketing elements of your industry. These include the following: general changes in your industry, changes in services in your field, pricing changes, changes in the way your service is distributed or delivered to your clients, possible changes in promotion, changes in the clients themselves.
Part of looking ahead as a service provider is asking a simple but compelling question: What is happening that will affect my service business in the next year? From the information you collect in answer to this question, you can make assumptions that will help you anticipate the short-term future. The question should be asked about the following outside influences: the status of the local or national economy, a threatened strike in a related industry, the inflation rate, the status of major competitors, the economic well-being of a major industry or your client in that industry, a major technological innovation that may be either expected or unexpected.
Flight attendants in the United States have asked for special federal legislation, called ‘air rage laws,’ to protect them against unruly passengers. It could be that airlines (both management and cabin crew) need to look at how to make the whole flying experience more friendly, rather than blame their customers of which it is estimated only one in three million engage in air rage.