Baby, it’s cold outside (and inside too!)

Winter has finally arrived in Iowa. Unfortunately it has also arrived inside my house.  As you can see, it’s a balmy 56 degrees right now.  And dropping like a rock.

I’m home alone (everyone else has been farmed out to warmer homes) and I am weighing whether or not I want to suck it up and pay the time and a half or wait until Monday to get it fixed.  So I call my furnace repair shop of choice and I explain to the woman who answers that the furnace will not come on and its getting nippy.

I ask her what the difference in cost will be if they come out tonight or I wait until Monday.  She politely tells me and points out where the cost variations are the most significant.

Ouch.  Okay, I tell her…I think I will wait it out.  After all, I have everyone outplaced and I am from Minnesota.  We live for this weather.  Being this cold will help me stay alert and get some work done, right?

Then, she says, "don’t forget to fire up enough space heaters to protect your pipes from freezing."

Hold up a second!  I hadn’t thought about the pipes freezing.  There’s only one space heater in the house.  My mind does the quick mental math and going out to buy 5-6 more heaters or calling around to our friends and neighbors to borrow a bunch seems like a bad plan.

See what she did?  Sneaky.  She cared about my situation.  She offered good counsel.  She didn’t push her service.  She didn’t argue with my decision.   She actually tried to help me avoid buying from her tonight.  And in doing so, she  let me figure out that  I needed what she was selling.

The very best selling looks a whole lot like helping.