Earlier today I stopped by my local Safeway supermarket. I was picking up the necessary ingredients to make a pretty unoriginal meal: spaghetti and meat sauce. Deciding it might be interesting to surprise my family with a unique twist on a common meal—in our household anyway—I looked at the seasoning
This is a true story: Last Tuesday, December 30th, I stopped by a local liquor store to pick up a bottle of champagne to celebrate the New Year. I typically buy a bottle of champagne only once or twice a year and it’s usually the same brand: Moet & Chandon
Now contrast the above story with this one: It too is a true story. Last weekend, I stopped by an Ulta salon for a haircut. The stylist was a good conversationalist, took her time, and did a good job. As I was paying for the haircut, Roxanne expressed genuine interest
Last week, I visited a leading “big-box” retailer to do a bit of holiday shopping. The first thing I noticed upon entering the store was that a large group of perhaps twenty employees had formed a circle to conduct an informal pre-shift meeting. As I passed by the group, I
Most companies seek to lead their competitors in market share. But alas there is usually only one company with the largest percentage of market share. While there are many factors that contribute to gains in market share, some of them such as advertising and discounting are quite expensive to maintain.
Yesterday, my family and I went to a local franchise sandwich shop for lunch. This shop is unique in that you record the specifications of your order (e.g., white or wheat bread, choice of cheese, type of drink, etc.) on a brown paper bag that serves as written confirmation of
I received a voice mail on November 12th from a good friend of mine, Shawn. He had just checked in to the Edmonton Marriott at River Cree Resort in Alberta, Canada. Here’s a portion of the message transcript: [begin message] I walked in the front door of the Edmonton Marriott
Too often operators recognize employees for the job they do with processes rather than customers. I recall hearing a perfect example of this from a consultant named Rick Tate: When a restaurant hostess is hired to greet guests and make them feel welcome as they arrive, she also recognizes there
Here’s a true story I received from my mom earlier this month: Steven, I just had to tell you about a couple of little girls from a local elementary school who came to our office to sell candy for their fundraiser. One girl was kind of shy and didn’t say
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