Pickles On My Burger.

I had been thinking all day long about eating a juicy cheeseburger. Have you ever had a day like that? A day when you seem fixated on one thing. I admit that it would more politically correct to have my psychic energy focused on world peace or finding the cure for cancer, but sometimes "A Cheeseburger in Paradise" is just that. Paradise!.

On my way home I pulled off into the drive-up lane of my favorite hamburger stand. I ordered cheeseburgers for Vickie and me. Hers without pickles and mine with. I like pickles.

I got to the house and immediately went to the kitchen. I pulled out our burgers and made sure Vickie’s was sans pickles and then chomped down on mine. Instead of biting into the burger I had been dreaming about I got a mouth full of pickles. Like I said, I like pickles, but upon inspection I found all the pickles on this burger to be stacked like poker chips in the middle of my burger. I rearranged all the pickles to cover the patty and settled back to eating my dinner. While I was eating I came to two conclusions.


The first was that I ordered a burger with pickles and I received a burger with pickles. Though my burger was complete as ordered there was something wrong. I kept thinking, “How hard is it to put the pickles on the burger the right way?” Slapping a handful of pickle slices on my burger demonstrated to me that the person that made my meal did not care much for the quality of his/her work, the reputation of the burger joint or my satisfaction.  As a customer my expectations were not met.


The second conclusion was that I must be equally focused on delivering not just the ”pickles” to my customers but pickles just the way my customers want them. How do you do that? This sounds like a tall order.  The reality it is pretty basic stuff.  It starts with asking, then listening, then finally delivering.


This is applicable to whatever business you are in. Are you just filling orders, or all you giving your customers what they want, how they wanted every time? Small details like how the pickles are put on a burger can be the difference between losing and keeping a customer because it shows how you feel about your product and how you feel about your customer.  It is all about meeting expectations of your customers.  You created those expectations via your marketing efforts.  The question is are you delivering on your promises?


What examples do you have of little things like the pickle that can make a difference? Let’s hear from you. Please post your comments.

Service Lesson: The Really Hard Stuff is the Soft Stuff

Tom Asacker, business author and speaker, said, “People will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” The question we always need to ask is…”How am I making my customers feel?” The bottom line according to Tom is this, “The really hard stuff is the soft stuff”. It’s the feelings of your customers and employees.


I certainly have been the recipient of some really good “soft stuff”. Not the least was a restaurant that stayed open just for my wife and me on a very special wedding anniversary where we were running incredibly late. The place was empty. We were the only customers in the entire restaurant, and they kept the whole staff on to make sure we had a memorable night.  That was for our 15th wedding anniversary...our 40th is only a few months away!  How's that for a lasting impression!


So with that in mind…please share your extraordinary customer service experiences by posting a comment here.

The Customer is Always Right…right?

I can’t tell you as a retailer, how many times that I have heard that statement. I heard it from retail consultants, read it in trade publications and heard it from the lips of virtually thousands during my nearly 50 years in retail. I even had the fortune to see it not just as a catch phrase but as a core strategy during the years I called on Nordstrom buyers. Nordstrom being the poster child for being the ultimate, customer centric retailer. I have my own amazing stories to add to fabled tales such as the customer that returned an automobile tire to Nordstrom which was gladly accepted without a receipt, or the fact that Nordstrom does not sell tires!
Nordstrom department stores certainly put their money where the mouth is when it comes to “The customer is always right.” This holiday season Kohl department store is promoting something similar with a “no receipt necessary” policy. Is this a strategy that you should include in your business?

It certainly depends on what business you are in. There are of course many products where it would be impossible to restock or return the item to inventory to be resold because of health issues or quality assurance. But, there is a more basic question at hand that goes beyond the just the return of merchandise. What about meals in restaurants, movie tickets for disappointing movies, or a cruise on the Love Boat that did not have an amorous ending? The product or service was consumed/used and a request of a refund in submitted. Is the customer right, no matter what?

We have all heard stories of the customer that purchase an expensive gown, wears it and then returns the garment. Was that customer right? What about those scammers that find a way to abuse the system…your system, are they right?

Does the customer is always right set the standard for customer service or open the door for abuse?

What do you think? Let’s hear from you on this subject. Please post your comment.

To Gift, Or Not To Gift...

Yes, the topic for this month’s Talk segment is the question to give holiday gifts to your staff or not? Before you start screaming Bah Humbug and conjuring visions of the Ghost of Christmas Past, please hear me out.

First, this is a topic that has habitually come up this time of year. Second, though the question comes up often it never comes up in formalized business seminars, meetings, training sessions or webinars. This is the kind of conundrum that is quietly whispered from one exec to another. Anyone that has a supervisory or management position has it on their mind. Anyone that owns a business must live with it either way because there is no “upper management” to lay it off on as an excuse.

So, here are the pros and cons of giving holiday gifts to those that are either your direct reports or that you employ. The “cons” are:

1. Is each individual in the organization or your department treated equally? Do some deserve a “special gift” and others just “the gift”? You can see a bad dynamic beginning already.

2. How much do you spend? Should the spend be tied to the profitability of the company? Is it a gift, a thank you, or is it like a bonus or profit sharing? Again, a bad dynamic for future years.

3. If it is a “holiday gift” then whose holiday is it? You may have individuals who do not recognize the same holidays as you. Just because you are the boss does that really mean that you can make this call?

4. If you start this gift giving tradition, what happens when you have a bad year and can not afford to give gifts of the same value as past years, or you can not give gifts at all?

5. If you had to cut expenses by laying people off, how do you then justify spending for gifts?

Ok, now I will give you the “pros” before start calling me Ebenezer Scrooge.

1. Holiday or no holiday saying “Thank You” is never a bad thing, especially to the people that make you look good.

2. Creative gifting can be a great tool to inspire creativity from the whole organization. Make your gift giving unique and memorable. Something your staff would never think of themselves.

3. Giving everyone the same gift and then giving an additional, more personalized gift to an individual(s) that have done an exemplary job during the year is a powerful statement.

4. People talk. When your direct reports or employees sit around the living room with friends and family watching bowl games they talk about gifts received, including the gift you gave. This is an opportunity to show that you are a good company or great supervisor to work for.

5. Company culture is very important. A culture of giving can be a positive attribute that pays dividends.

There are certainly more reasons to give or not to give than what I have listed here. The question is what do you do? Let me hear from you on this topic.

Happy Holidays!

Are You Afraid of Cotton Balls?

How about clowns, snakes or things that go bump in the night? OK, I realize that most people are not afraid of cotton balls, but if you are one of those who are, then your fear is real. That person’s fear of cotton balls is just as real as someone else being terrified of spiders. So what is your fear(s) when it comes to your business?

Maybe it is public speaking, or maybe you are not comfortable in social settings like networking events. Just know that you are not alone. Most of us find that we must overcome our fears if we want to be successful in business. Behaviorist talk about adaptive verse nature style and it often shows up on DISC profiles in CEOs.

Last week was the 25th anniversary of our business and as such caused a moment to pause and reflect on the journey. One of the most profound bits of self-realization was that I have overcome (OK, well maybe “come to terms with” is more accurate) many of my personal fears. I still don’t like public speaking, but I do it all the time. I still feel uneasy at first in new groups but by using learned techniques I have found a way to be effective.

The bottom line here and the point of this month’s “Talk” article is we must face our fears if we want to be effective in business. It does not happen all at once but you can gain control of the fears that have up to now had so much influence on your growth and productivity. There is help out there such as Toastmasters for fear of public speaking and there are other such resources and support groups for other business related fears. But the first step starts with the desire and courage to face your fears.

Take a moment now and make a list of your fears. Be real, be honest. Then next to each fear write the date when you want to be free from each.

You my friend are now on your way to being a better leader, more effective businessperson and a much happier human being.

Happy Halloween!
Michael Sawitz, CEO

Carmel Apple Latte Please.

I am standing in line once again at my local coffee place. The guy in front of me gets to the counter and the barista says, “Your usual?” The guy nods and hands her his coffee debit card and then moved to the end of the counter to wait for his “usual”

While I was waiting in line I was perusing the menu list and noticed several new seasonal offerings. When I got to the front of the line and it was my turn to order the barista asked me if I would like to try the Pumpkin Spice latte or the new Carmel Apple offering. I went for the Carmel Apple. I paid my tab and then moved down to the end of the counter to wait for my new taste sensation to be concocted.

As I slowly sucked down my coffee drink I began to think about both transactions. Mine resulted in a verypleasurable experience with my new got-to-have another one seasonal special versus the guy in front of me that was not offered the special at all. He seemed OK with the whole thing. I think he probably would not have bought a seasonal special in place of his “usual.” Actually, I probably would not have purchased the seasonal special if I was not asked if I wanted one.

So, why was I asked and he was not? Was he slighted? Or was I because the barista did not recognize me from my numerous prior purchases?

Then I realized the real loser here was the coffee house owner. Why? Simple. The seasonal special was $2.00 more that just a cup of coffee. If the business served 400 customers per day and 10% were like me and responded to the suggestive selling the result would be an additional $29,200 per year.

Knowing your customers buying preferences is crucial to growing a profitable business. Knowing who is a regular and what they generally want and having it ready for them even before they ask can be a shinning example of terrific customer service. But, as you can see from my example in this case extraordinary customer service may stifle growth if you are making assumptions for your customer. Can you think of examples like this in your own business? Do you have situations where you are not asking for the order? Do you have regular customers that you continue to fill their orders and do not suggest new products or promotions?

All too often we confuse customer service with the sales process, or emphasis one over the other. To grow a profitable business you need both. Without an active sales process there would not be any customers to provide extraordinary customer service for. And without execution of an extraordinary customer service program there would be fewer and fewer customers to sell to.

Do not miss the opportunity to make additional sales to your existing customer base. This is the quickest and most effective way to build sales. And often your customer will thank you for your attention. Give it a try!

If once upon a time could start now...

If once upon a time could start now...what would it look like? A silly question? I don’t think so.

If you don’t have a clear picture in your mind of what you want to achieve, you have very little chance of ever living out that dream. Call it “imagery”, “self-hypnosis” or the “power of positive thinking” the label does not mean anything. Whether you do it or not means everything.

Napoleon Hill in his classic Think and Grow Rich had it right; "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve". Don’t get me wrong. You need a business plan. You need skills. You need resources. You need drive. But all of that is wasted if you can not clearly see in your head exactly what success looks like. Visualize it and believe it with all your passion is the ticket. That is how you will achieve your goals.

Michelangelo said that he saw the finished statue in side the block of marble and all he did was to remove what did not belong. Simple really. If you can clearly see your goal. Impossible if you can’t.

You have the opportunity to achieve your goals, To reinvent yourself. To create. To do anything you really want to do. Start by answering the question: If once upon a time could start now...what would it look like?