In the immortal words of Henry Ford, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.”
In 1952, Nobel Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked, “What’s wrong with men today?” After thinking for a moment, he replied: “Men simply don’t think.”
I believe a great number of men and women have said essentially the same thing over the years, and it’s everywhere.
I swim a mile regularly to mitigate back pain. When my pool closed for maintenance, I swam at a neighboring club for three weeks. I noticed things the regulars probably just accept. For instance, there’s a clock in the pool room, as there should be, however, it’s by the entrance on one side of the pool. People swimming in the far lanes would need binoculars to see it.
Why wouldn’t they have hung it at either end in the middle so the greatest number of people could see it while swimming? Many of us swim for time instead of counting laps. The person who hung the clock probably selected the spot because it was more convenient for him or her instead of where it would be most convenient for the users.
We could go on and on, and I bet you can think of many similar examples. We’ve somehow lost sight of the actual goals for many of the things we do. Instead of taking care of our customers, we take care of ourselves and wonder why we make so little money.
The only legitimate way to make money is to serve others in some way, shape or form. People who make a lot money have usually mastered the art of doing so incredibly well. Not only is the product or service they produce well done, but they’ve also learned to do everything possible to improve the customers’ experience.
For instance, take the waitstaff in restaurants. Many of them barely make enough to get by, while others make six-figure incomes. What’s the difference between them? It’s how well they’ve learned to delight customers.
I’m amazed when I go to a counter and order something and there’s a tip jar prominently displayed for people who are providing no real service at all, and there never seems to be a lot of money in those jars.
In a restaurant, we sit at tables and waiters or waitresses bring us menus, take our orders, bring the foods and take our payments. Some of them are extremely pleasant, while others can be surly. It doesn’t usually take someone with brains very long to figure out the better they treat their customers the more money they will make. The old saying, “TIPS is an acronym for “to insure proper service” has real meaning for these folks. (The word insure should be ensure, but then we wouldn’t know what teps are.)
And of course, the people who master these skills are often invited to work in better restaurants serving more affluent clientele who can afford to tip even better. People who do their jobs exceptionally well tend to get sucked up the ladder.
Unfortunately, many people don’t deal directly with customers, and it’s very easy for them to forget the importance of pleasing them. The person who hung that clock may have little or no interaction with customers. They don’t enjoy the feedback of tips, or the lack thereof, yet pleasing the customers is just as important. They may not notice a difference in daily or weekly pay, but they could miss out on raises or be laid off when business gets bad.
And of course, workers in manufacturing plants may never meet any of the customers who buy or use their products. Even so, this is where good management can make an enormous difference. Regardless of the type of business, if everyone is focused on doing their best to satisfy customers, even customers they don’t know, how can a competitor that doesn’t do this have a chance?
Convenience is very important — not so much mine, but the convenience of the customers I serve. That’s absolutely paramount only if I want to make a lot of money.
Think about it …
Ronald J. Bourque, a consultant and speaker from Salem, has had engagements throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. He can be reached at 603-898-1871 or RonBourque3@gmail.com.
