We are currently living in a world full of conflict. We inhabit a society that has fallen away from civility and consideration of others in day-to-day family, social and business relations.

It seems as if everybody is out for himself, with little or no regard for the wants or feelings of others. How many times have we been shocked by the lack of decent - let alone excellent - service, in the marketplace.

Too many people are too busy "doing their own thing" to show concern for the people they meet and deal and live with. The most popular radio station in the world is WIIFM ("What's In It For Me?").

There are many decent, kind people who are considerate of others. It seems we just don't run into them as often as we used to. This is not meant to be an essay on the deterioration of civilization or the corrosive effects of pop culture. It is not a lament about the excision of values from the education system.

These regrettable conditions increase the opportunity for perceptive individuals and businesses to stand out from the crowd. They can create high levels of success in every area of their lives where they must relate to and deal with people. And that covers just about every area.

The reason the SAI Methods have worked so well for those who have learned and applied them over the past three quarters of a century is quite simple. SAI is based on a thorough analysis of Human Nature. Since Human Nature never changes, the SAI Methods consist of Timeless Principles of Human Relations.

The heart of the SAI System is the Listener's Viewpoint, which you might say is a derivative of The Golden Rule. Any time we want to convince another person to accept a suggestion, idea, plan, product or service, the Listener's Viewpoint compels us to analyze it from his or her perspective. Since we are used to looking at everything from our own viewpoint, this requires a realignment of our thinking, learning some new rules, and a good deal of practice. Then, when we have completed our analysis, we have to Present the suggestion, idea, plan, product or service from our Listener's Viewpoint. Again, more realignment, more new rules, and more practice. We must clearly show that there is enough value in the suggestion, idea, plan, product or service to outweigh its perceived cost. We have to answer his or her favorite question: "What's in it for Me?"