Fair Shakes and Residuals

Last night, at an unnamed restaraunt named for some guy named Benny or Lenny or Kenny – something like that,
I had a very disappointing experience. Know this: I am a D****’s fan
and this group I was with has been going to that same spot at the same
time for eight years. We know the people – most of them – at least
until recently.

Recently, they got a new manager and the first
order of business was to require our favorite waitress to stop wearing her
signature flower in her hair. How do you spell "rinky-dink?" This woman
is one of the reasons we keep going. She is D’s for us and that flower
is her identity. It is her smile. It her way of describing her sunny
outlook on life. That was disappointing.

Then, we were served by
a very sweet, enthusiastic waitress last night who bounced in once or
twice and had to receive some very distressing news of our unhappiness
with one issue: we only received half of a milkshake!

Apparently,
this is the training that the new, "progressive" management has
initiated – no individual expression, standardization of everything,
and half a milkshake for the same price as the old product where we
received "seconds" in the metal container.

I am not a complainer
and I left the sweet girl (who didn’t refill the all-you-can-drink
driinks or bring us our bill) a nice tip. It is not her fault. It may
not even be this manager’s fault. It may be no one’s fault – but it
does make a pretty good subject for a blog on how not to succeed in
business over the long haul.

We will go back – a time or two, to
give it a fair shake (and hopefully I can get a fair shake). However, I
cannot promise anything indefinite. There are too many places that bend
over backwards to make the customer feel happy and part of the
community (How to you spell STARBUCKS?).

Now, you are probably asking – "Didn’t Tom say he was on a diet?"

You caught me! Half a shake was enough for me — but bad for business.

Here
is the question: Are you in whatever you are in for the long haul? If
so, you are interested in happy people who keep coming back … and in
residual income. Whether you represent a church, a network marketing
system, a brick and mortar business, or some other endeavor, the secret
to customer satisfaction is first, giving your customer a fair shake
and then, going well beyond that to the point of surprise and delight.
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Here is a new program I have come across. Let me know what you think.