Director of First Impressions

I heard of this title given to a receptionist at a big company.  As soon as I heard these words…

Director of First Impressions

I said 

WOW!

Those words…that title struck me like the proverbial

Ton of Bricks!

Director of First Impressions

It says so much to me.  

We have said numerous times in past conversations that you only have one time to make a good first impression but what do we really do about it?   

Do we change our behavior?

Do we change our team’s behavior?

What would happen if we we had a Director of First Impressions in our operation?  

What impact could this person have on everything?

That person could inspect our parking lot and make sure it is giving a great first impression for anyone coming to visit our place of business.  The would inspect our foyer and make sure it is inviting.  They would notice the dress of all our associates and make sure that it presents a neat, clean appearance.  They would notice everything because you never know where a customer will have their first encounter - their first experience in our store.

Now...

What if 

EVERYONE

was the 

Director of First Impressions?

EVERYONE would inspect our parking lot.  Everyone would inspect our foyer.  EVERYONE would notice the dress of our associates - and themselves.  EVERYONE would notice...

EVERYTHING

The Director of First Impressions

I like it

I LOVE IT

I think I will take the position

Will You?

The Rent Axiom

Success is Never Owned; It is Only Rented and the Rent is Due Everyday

This is a great mindset and it comes from Rory Vaden, author of the book Take the Stairs.  He also suggest you can replace the word "success" with other things like "A Happy Marriage, " "Weight Control, " etc.

A Pep Talk from Kid President to You

You may have seen this before as it has been out awhile but it is and will always be

AWESOME!

The Lost Art of Punctuality

I was reading Steve Keating's blog and came across this little nugget.  We all deal with tardiness issues at work - shoot in our personal lives too!

I like the line, and I am paraphrasing, where he writes about when someone calls another to let them know that his own time is more important than theirs...

I have always said that tardiness is laziness...it can be fixed if you want to fix it.

Enjoy the read!

http://stevekeating.me/2014/02/02/the-lost-art-of-punctuality/

Huddle Talk - Ladies and Gentlemen

Huddle Talk

Make Customer Service a Hobby!

“We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.”  

This is motto of the Ritz Carlton Hotels.  

What a great statement this is for engagement.  

If we see ourselves as Ladies and Gentlemen does it change how we hold ourselves?  Does it change our body language, our spoken language, our walk, our dress, how we represent The Kroger Company, everything we do?  

Of course!

In viewing all of our guests as Ladies and Gentlemen does it change how we see them, how we treat them, how we engage them? 

 Another…Of Course!  

They cease to be just customers and become our guests and our friends. (This ties into the previous Huddle Talk about “Help People, Make Friends, Have Fun”)

So, when you are feeling a little run down during the week, energize yourself by figuratively placing your top hat on your head if you’re a gentleman or your long white gloves on for you ladies and then take a lap through your store greeting your guest in the most proper manner. 

It’ll change your mood instantly.

We ARE Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.

Huddle Talk: Help People, Make Friends, Have Fun

Dillanos Coffee Roaster's Mission Statement is "Help People, Make Friends, Have Fun."

Very Simple

Easily Understood

Perfect

If we live up to this mission statement - even though it's not ours - I believe that everything else that has to do with business will come together and we will be successful.

Help People - if we work together and take care of each other both as co-workers and as associates serving our customers then the sky is the limit.  If we approach work with the mindset that we are going to help people and keep this mindset throughout the day just think of the things we can accomplish...too often we get so caught up in our own tasks that we forget or worse make the conscious decision to not help others.  This is sort of like the opposite of "pay it forward" as the next person decides to "not help" as well and so on...and so on...  This is definitely not what we want.  Help People...everyday...

Make Friends - Too often people will say, "I'm not here to make friends I'm here to get the job done."  Hmmm...why can't you make friends and get the work done?  I know I like working with my friends.  It makes work more fun which leads to the last part of Dillanos Mission Statement...

Have Fun - we spend soooo much time at work that if we're not having fun then we are going to be miserable!!!  Again, some people will say, "Work is work.  It ain't supposed to be fun."

WRONG!

Dillanos have grown their business by living this Mission Statement.

It works!

Just something to think about...

(www.dillanos.com)

Snow Angels!

We made it through the snow event that occurred here in Georgia!

The weather is always interesting in Georgia.  I have often heard that if you don't like the weather just wait fifteen minutes...it'll change.  This was very true this past week.  Snow and ice, temperatures in single digits on Wednesday.  On Saturday I'm sitting on my deck with my feet up drinking a beverage while grilling some steaks.  As I type this the temperature is sitting in the high 50s.

We made it through the snow due to some GREAT folks that work at the store.  They braved the conditions - mostly ice on the roads - and came into to work to take care of our customers.

Let me present our Snow Angels!

Pat, John D., Ricci, David, Elijah, Donnie, James, Kiminzki, Lisa, Tabitha, Linda, Mandy, Savannah, Jessica, Andrew, Jo Jo, Jailyn, Devin, Teresa, Denise, Mark, Ellie, Steve, Elie, Lindsey, Aaron, Jill, Monique, Greg and Becky

It was a FUN day and a day full of ENERGY!!!

Thanks Guys!