Accentuate The Positive - Eliminate The Negative

"Latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with Mr. In-between."

This is a great song written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer back in the 1940's. The Andrews Sisters also made it popular

Now let's bring the idea forward to 2010. Can you name your talents? What about the talents of your team members? Do you have one job description where you shoehorn all of your team members into the same mold? Or do you maximize their abilities and provide opportunities to grow and learn? Could I ask any more questions?

Take the opportunity to know your talents. Maximize the positives. Positives can be attitude, desire, passion, confidence.

Minimize and eliminate the negatives. Negatives can be doubt, ignorance, distractions, fear.

Do this and you won't have to worry about Mr. In-between.

(If you need me to sing you the song to encourage you, find me!)

Thanks for calling

Okay. So it seems that I'm on this telephone theme lately.

A regular guest came by the other day while I was at another store. We were out of his product. Our employee took down his information and told him we would call when it came in. I was able to find the product he wanted and had it sent to the store.

I gave him a courtesy call to let him know his product was in and that we would put his name on it so he could come by and pick it up whenever it was convenient for him.

Well, he came in less than an hour after the phone call. And bought a second bottle as well. As he turned to leave, he thanked me for the phone call. He said he couldn't remember when a store followed through on calling him back when they were out of a product. He even said the magic words, "You've got a customer for life."

We may not think this is anything special. But to that customer it wasn't just anything. It was everything. We took away any disappointment they may have originally felt and turned it into a very positive experience exceeding their expectations.

What are you going to do today, tomorrow, this week to make your customer know just how special they are?