How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

room was full of clients waiting to have their
    pets inoculated. No one was talking to anyone else, and
    all were probably thinking of a dozen other things they
    would rather be doing than “wasting time” sitting in that
    office. He told one of our classes: “There were six or
    seven clients waiting when a young woman came in
    with a nine-month-old baby and a kitten. As luck would
    have it, she sat down next to a gentleman who was more
    than a little distraught about the long wait for service.
    The next thing he knew, the baby just looked up at him
    with that great big smile that is so characteristic of babies.
    What did that gentleman do? Just what you and I
    would do, of course; he-smiled back at the baby. Soon
    he struck up a conversation with the woman about her
    baby and his grandchildren, and soon the entire reception
    room joined in, and the boredom and tension were
    converted into a pleasant and enjoyable experience.”

    An insincere grin? No. That doesn’t fool anybody. We
    know it is mechanical and we resent it. I am talking
    about a real smile, a heartwarming smile, a smile that
    comes from within, the kind of smile that will bring a
    good price in the marketplace.

    Professor James V. McConnell, a psychologist at the
    University of Michigan, expressed his feelings about a
    smile. “People who smile,” he said, “tend to manage
    teach and sell more effectively, and to raise happier
    children. There’s far more information in a smile than a
    frown. That’s why encouragement is a much more effective
    teaching device than punishment.”

    The employment manager of a large New York department
    store told me she would rather hire a sales clerk
    who hadn’t finished grade school, if he or she has a
    pleasant smile, than to hire a doctor of philosophy with
    a somber face.

    The effect of a smile is powerful - even when it is
    unseen. Telephone companies throughout the United
    States have a program called “phone power” which is
    offered to employees who use the telephone for selling
    their services or products. In this program they suggest
    that you smile when talking on the phone. Your “smile”
    comes through in your voice.

    Robert Cryer, manager of a computer department for a
    Cincinnati, Ohio, company, told how he had successfully
    found the right applicant for a hard-to-fill position:

    “I was desperately trying to recruit a Ph.D. in computer
    science for my department. I finally located a
    young man with ideal qualifications who was about to
    be graduated from Purdue University. After several
    phone conversations I learned that he had several offers
    from other companies, many of them larger and better
    known than mine. I was delighted when he accepted my
    offer. After he started on the job, I asked him why he
    had chosen us over the others. He paused for a moment
    and then he said: ‘I think it was because managers in the
    other companies spoke on the phone in a cold, business-like
    manner, which made me feel like just another business
    transaction, Your voice sounded as if you were glad
    to hear from me . . . that you really wanted me to be part
    of your organization. ’ You can be assured, I am still answering
    my phone with a smile.”

    The chairman of the board of directors of one of the
    largest rubber companies ‘in the United States told me
    that, according to his observations, people rarely succeed
    at anything unless they have fun doing it. This
    industrial leader doesn’t put much faith in the old adage
    that hard work alone is the magic key that will unlock
    the door to our desires, “I have known people,” he said,
    “who succeeded because they had a rip-roaring good
    time conducting their business. Later, I saw those people
    change as the fun became work. The business had
    grown dull, They lost all joy in it, and they failed.”

    You must have a good time meeting people if you expect
    them to have a good time meeting you.

    I have asked thousands of business people to smile