When you hear someone say, "let's work out a deal," what they're saying is "I will give you this if you will give me that."
We like getting good deals. We don't mind that the salesman is making a commission...we just don't want to be ripped off.
We will go out of our way for a good deal. We'll pass up five close restaurants to go to the one that gives out free chips and salsa. We even have apps on our phones that can scan a bar code and tell us which store has the best price on a particular product. And amazingly, we'll spend five dollars more in gasoline to drive there just to save a dollar.
We make deals every day. We'll make a deal with McDonald's and give them a dollar for a large sweet tea. That sounds like a deal to me! We'll give the concierge a tip in exchange for good information. It seems fair to give someone something of value if they also provide something of value to us.
A deal's a deal. Again, a deal is basically a transaction. A transaction can be considered a contract carried out between two parties which involves the exchange of items of value, such as information, goods or services and money.
QUESTION: If you go to McDonald's, buy a value meal, sit in their dining room and eat your meal, do you have to throw your own trash away?
- Didn't you pay for the meal?
- Didn't they get their money?
- Shouldn't they throw away the trash and clean up the table?
- After all...isn't it a transaction?
Will you consider something today? What if we look past the transaction...in fact, what if we choose to forget the transaction mindset and its list of rules?
If there's no transaction...then there's no stigma.
Recently I was staying at a hotel that offered "complimentary" cookies to their guests. I mentioned to the clerk at the desk that one of my favorites was peanut butter. However, they only had chocolate chip...which by the way is a close second! I went to my room and about a half hour later received a call from the front desk that said, "Mr. Hylton we just baked fresh peanut butter cookies, if you'd like to come back to the lobby."
Here's the point. The employee of that hotel chain went above the "rules" of the transaction. From a transaction viewpoint...the hotel didn't have to accommodate my specific preference for cookies. The transaction only called for a room for a fair price. They provided the room...I provided the cash. A deals a deal.
I wonder what the people of BFWC could do this week that would go beyond the lines of the "normal" transaction?
Our lack of "transaction" thinking could actually afford a new friendship with an employee at our local grocery store or Starbucks. A bond could be formed between the "giver" and the "receiver" that redefines business as usual.
What if you went out of your way to do something "above and beyond" the rules of the transaction?
- What if you bus your own table in the restaurant?
- What if you clean the sink area in the restroom in consideration for the next customer?
- What if you take your shopping cart back inside the store?
- What if you give more than you receive?
- What if you refuse gas money from a friend who needs a ride?
- What if you deliver groceries to a family who is struggling?
- What if you rake your neighbors leaves for free?
- What if you pick up your neighbors trash cans from the street and carried them back to their garage?
- What if you leave a coke and candy bar for your garbage man?
- What if you refuse to accept a tip from an elderly customer?
- What if you straighten a clothing rack at the department store?
