Blog

This is my 80-year-old late father on a Go-Kart? “I wanted to show my grandchildren I could be a daredevil,” he explained. It was his label for being unexpectedly adventurous through risk-taking. And risk-taking is the foundation of customer trust. We all live our...

Much of my career has been devoted to promoting a great customer experience. It differentiates organizations from their competition since it is crafted around an emotional connection, not just a functional outcome. If the airline flight lands on time in the right...

Charles Holland worked the soda shop fountain at the Longhorn Restaurant when I was in high school. He called it his dashboard—you know the one at a soda shop all the different flavors you could put in a soda—cherry, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla… He was about to...

“I figured if I was going to make the world a better place, I’d do it with cookies,” said Stranger Than Fiction character Ana Pascal. It is a powerful concept for innovative service. “Sprinkles” is code for any heartstring-plucking surprise that takes service from...

Last week I stopped mid-morning at a local fast-food restaurant and ordered a breakfast burrito to-go. There was no one behind me in the drive-thru lane since it was 10:30 am. The lovely person asked if I would pull across the lot and park; someone would bring out my...

Mescal is a unique adult beverage I occasionally enjoy. Mescal is in the same beverage family as tequila, but it is made with different types of agave plants; tequila is made only with blue agave plants from the state of Jalisco, Mexico. The tradename of my favorite...

A giant cookie bowl shaped like a bright-colored clown sat on a shelf in my grandmother's kitchen. It was never empty. It seemed to be always grand kid ready. She kept an extra kids pajamas in her bottom right dresser drawer just in case a grandchild elected to spend...

When I was a young boy growing up in rural Georgia, the Goat Man was a real legend. He traveled all over the country with a large herd of goats pulling a dilapidated old wagon. I saw him twice over a dozen years. You could smell him coming long before you saw him. His...

“I write children’s books because there are no unicorns in adult literature, and today’s world needs unicorns.” The quote came from renowned children’s book author Jackson Pearce at a weekend Writers Retreat sponsored by Georgia Writers Museum. The sentiment could be...

Your mother advised, “You don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.” Correct or incorrect, your customers’ first encounters with you and your organization teach them what to expect as well as whether to return. That first look shapes their...

This weekend was a time of remembering. My wife and I visited the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, GA. The magnificent museum traces the history of the U.S. infantry through realistic exhibits, amazing sound effects, with colorful displays and graphic movies. It...

The concept of “ethic” is a philosophy or perspective that is so deeply embedded it shapes what a person considers “right” or “wrong.” We speak of a work ethic as an outlook that drives initiative and ambition. Soldiers may not enter military service with a patriotic...