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It might seem counter-intuitive to think about gratitude when it comes to developing strategies for sales and business in general. From an early age, people are taught that competitive strategies must, by definition, begin with a winning attitude, where one tries to get the winning edge over others at any cost. While this may lead to some short-term successes, in the long run, it can be very detrimental for a company, along with its individuals. For truly sustainable business practices, gratitude can be an enormously useful tool, and an effective one for any sales training .

This doesn’t mean bowing down before anyone. That’s never necessary, because an attitude of gratitude puts people on equal footing. If one treats others with respect, they can find that they are treated with respect in turn. It’s something that comes as a natural result of being true to one’s ideals, and treating others with the courtesies that one wants for themselves. It is a part of the equation for attracting positive attitudes. Like attracts like, and when one begins any transaction by acknowledging the good in the moment, things do tend to work out to everyone’s advantage.

These principles work equally well for any customer service course , because they do tend to work in almost any situation, and sales techniques have obvious applications in the customer service realm, too. In the cases where one is put in the position of handling complaints and other issues, gratitude is indeed a very useful tool. It can be something as strategic as the old ” killing them with kindness ,” technique, but it needn’t enter into that realm at all.

Defensiveness of any kind is very easy to read, and it sets up an equation where positive attitudes are out of the picture. Bringing back the thoughts of what one is grateful for, even in moments with customers who might be a little difficult, can turn a tense situation into a calm one. And calm situations are excellent moments to find ways of creating positive attitudes, with some very positive results.

I will never forget the feeling of walking into Grand Central Station for the first time.  New York to me, presents a lot of excitement mixed with a bit of eeriness.  I have only visited the city twice, and so I am not familiar with the city in real life, but growing up and watching old movies, new movies, and various television shows or music videos, the city has been a standard backdrop for years, and so many of the buildings in the financial district, some of the famous and finest restaurants in New York, the skyline, and Grand Central Station are all very recognizable.

So many films have had scenes in this building, so when I walked in for the first time, I was blown away with first, just how big it really is and just how many people there were, then I felt a bit odd as it felt a little like coming home.  Not that I had ever thought that I “belonged” in the city, not in that way of coming home, but just coming to the familiar.  It is a strange feeling that is kind of deja-vu in a sense.

The station was constructed a ten year period beginning in 1903 and lasting through 1913.  There are sixty seven sets of tracks taking up two floors.  This is mind boggling.  This is the second incarnation of the station, as the first one constructed in 1869 was built for steam engine trains.  The smoke caused an accident in the Park Avenue Tunnel, as the visibility was greatly reduced by all this smoke.  They built the Grand Central Station of today, with electric trains, and by 1910, no steam engines at all were allowed within the city limits.

The art and the architecture of this building is just as impressive as it is breathtaking.  The ceiling mural was painted by Paul Helleu, who was inspired to paint the zodiac by a manuscript from the medieval time period.  The building and the design, is Beaux-Arts Design at it finest.  This is one of the icons of the city, and should you find yourself standing in the middle of it some day, you will understand the immense feelings that Grand Central Station evokes.