A customer was on the way to a hotel when his phone rang. The hotel was calling him because they noticed that the customer was coming in from an area that was in the middle of a storm. The hotel was of course verifying that the customer was still coming, if not, they could possibly make the room available to someone else. But the way the hotel positioned the call to the customer did not make it sound as though they were only concerned about their bottom line. The hotel employee wanted to make sure that the customer was safe and wanted to know if his plans had changed. The employee was able to get the information he needed, to know whether the customer was coming or not, but he was able to do so from a customer-friendly approach. It’s how you phrase things, not necessarily what the purpose is, that can get you results. The employee got the information he required and the customer felt as though the hotel cared about his wellbeing. Win-win.