William Shatner is a part of my morning start-your-engines. At least most mornings. At 6 a.m. with a cup of fresh hazelnut black coffee, my wife and I watch a few minutes of the news. It gives our day a fresh, up-to-date beginning. Most days, William Shatner does a TV ad for SoClean, the appliance for cleaning CPAP machines. The word you take away from the ad is “fresh,” spoken like Captain Kirk got an A in speech class. With full-throated “fresh” engraved in my brain, I think about customers’ experiences.
What are the ways to make your customers’ experiences feel fresh like they have reached the final frontier? It starts with the concept of “be all there.”
“All present and accounted for, sir!” It was the roll call response a platoon leader would give the military company commander to signal that no one in the platoon was absent and all soldiers were in military formation. But it was more than a verbal attendance sheet. As an Army platoon leader in an airborne unit, I remember it was expected the phrase be spoken loudly and with authority, like a pledge or guarantee. It was an emotional roll call that communicated the entire unit was in their most gung-ho, “warrior” frame of mind and ready for combat. They were not just “there,” as in present, they were “all there.”
Fresh means “be all there”–“be all” as in “the most you could be;” “be there” as in emotionally present. It means caring enough to excel at everything you do. It does not mean merely checking off a task, making a meeting, or occupying a role. It means bringing your heart, soul, and every ounce of your “very best.” Give your customers “fresh.” Get up, show up, dress up, and never give up on your personal quest for fresh.