It’s how you look at it that counts

A story about candy and perception and how it can affect your business.

One beautiful, sunny day a man was walking his granddaughter home from school. They walked toward the centre of town and the little girl looked up at her grandpa and asked if they could stop by the candy store for a treat. The grandpa agreed, and as they approached the store he noticed there were two candy stores in the centre of town, one on the left side of the road and one on the right.

“Which candy store should we go to?” the man asked his granddaughter.

“We always go to the store on the right side of the road,” the little girl said.

“Sure,” said the Grandpa, “But why did you choose that store over the one on the left?”

“Well,” the little girl said, “The lady at the store on the right side of the road is really nice. She always gives us extra candy.”

The Grandpa asked, “What about the store on the left side of the road?”

“That lady is really mean,” said the little girl, “She always takes candy away from us.”

The Grandpa and the little girl entered the candy store and ordered ½ a pound of hard candy. The lady at the counter took a small scoop of the candy and placed it on the scale. She continued to add candy to the scale until it read 0.5 lbs.

“See!” said the little girl as she took the bag of candy and walked out the door with a big smile on her face.

Now the Grandpa was intrigued, he decided to also get a bag of candy from the store on the left side of the road. When they walked in the store they were greeted with a friendly smile and a, “how can I help you?” The Grandpa ordered ½ a pound of hard candy.

The lady behind the counter took a gigantic scoop of candy and placed it up on the weigh scale, she then proceeded to remove candy until the scale read 0.5 lbs.

~ Author Unknown

The lesson here isn’t the bottom line – both stores sold 0.5 lbs of candy. The lesson is about perception – how customers and potential customers see your actions. Adding services (or in this case candy) results in a favourable opinion whereas deducting services can be a detriment. Promise less and provide more and you’re sure to please.

What do you do to better your client’s perception of you?