Yes, I realize I am tweaking a title from a recent Sandra Bullock movie… yet the phrase rings loud in my ears.  Is your brand nice?

We all go through this world… a world full of political leaders who spend more time sniping than talking to the true issues.  We have service providers who cut corners, and people who do the bare minimum just to get by.  We live in a country where shootings are commonplace.  Scams and phishing schemes flood the Internet.  Nonetheless, we can still be NICE and sway the balance back to civility.

A few weeks back I had to get some service done in my home.  When I called in a panic, the lady answering the phone was NICE.  She understood my panic and continued to gather information, with please and thank you strung along in the conversion. She assured me she understood my concerns and that the company would come out around my hectic schedule.

When the service man arrived, he offered a comprehensive explanation of the malfunction.  He told us about upcoming regulations that will affect future service.  He took the time to nicely explain how to prevent the problem again.  Once the service visit was complete, we received a survey on how the service was conducted.

While no one wants to face breaking appliances, all I could think when the experience was over… their brand is nice.  The appliance was fixed; we knew what to anticipate in the future and knew how to follow up if there were future problems.

Please note I am not saying nice means vacating our responsibility for self- advocacy.   I am not saying we should let people walk over us and be so nice that we are taken advantage of.  I will say, especially in National Bullying Prevention Month, we should be nice to each other.  We should strive to continuously educate each other how to interact with civility. Collectively, our brand should be nice.