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Free Business InformationEverybody sells what I sell? Or do they?
by:
Donovan Baldwin
Copyright 2005 Donovan Baldwin
Years ago, I took over as a manager of a eating place in a major city. As expected, we had a good ninepenny lunch rush every day, but the place ne'er
seemed to be filled.
The previous manager, although well-intentioned, had been gruff with customers and staff alike. Most of the staff were teenagers, and sometimes I didn't blame him. Look, I was a juvenile person myself, and can remember not always being the better employee. Not because I was bad, but just because I was a teenager. You remember? Right?
Anyway, I worked with the outward manager fo just about a month and then I was in charge.
One of the 1st things I did, even as before the old manager left, was to do sure I called everyone, including my 16-year-old employees, "sir" and "ma'am. I likewise ready-made certain they got plenty of praise for a job well done, and gentle but firm guidance (always in private) once
they erred.
It wasn't long before, "YO! Dude! Bring me several ketchup!" was replaced by "Excuse me, sir (or ma'am)! Could you please bring me several ketchup?"
Over the next few weeks, the lunch crowd slowly began to grow, as did the dinner crowd, and I wasn't utterly
certain why. I DID cognize that my young ladies and gentlemen were production
the customers feel much comfortable in our establishment, and the employees themselves were taking on much responsibility for taking care of the customers and effort the job done and seemed to be enjoying themselves in the process.
Of course, we had our regulars, and one day I detected
a pair of gentlemen I had ne'er
seen before. What stricken
me was that they were looking the employees and myself with eagle eyes. As I emotional about the room, chatting in short with diners and production
sure they were taken care of, one of the men called me to his table.
This is what he told me...
He and his friend worked in a near office building and had once been regular lunch customers, but had quit coming in several months before I came to activity there. The reason they had stopped up
eating at our establishment was just that they did not like the way the previous manager had treated the employees, and they had likewise felt the trickle-down affect in the negative way the employees interacted with customers and else employees.
Recently, folk in their building had begun talking just about how pleasant it had become to eat in our eating place since the "new manager" had taken over. They had distinct to check it out for themselves. Even as although they enjoyed the food and the eating place was nearby, they had been choosing to go elsewhere because of their discomfort in the previous atmosphere. They told me that they were extremely pleased with their experience and actually likeable
the way I treated the employees and the employees treated each else and the customers. They emphatically would-be be returning regularly.
THE MENU AND FOOD PREPARATION HAD NOT CHANGED.
THE FACILITIES WERE THE SAME.
THE EMPLOYEES WERE THE SAME.
BUT...
THE ATTITUDE AND ATMOSPHERE HAD CHANGED.
With the right attitude and with lots of respect for peers and customers alike, your business can grow even as if you sell the same product or service as thousands of else net
or brick-and-mortar businesses.
So! Why not sell service? There's sometimes quite a lack of competition there.
Postscript: Between the time I drafted this article and typewritten it up, I received an email from a webmaster who complained that spell I had a good website, it was just like several others he had seen, and he doubted I would-be have any success with it.
Oh well, he's welcome to his opinion, I suppose. I just didn't have the heart to tell him that last month I deposited over $10,000.00 in commissions from a website that everybody else was using.
Just just about the author:
The author is retired from the Army after 21 years of service, has worked as an accountant, optical lab manager, eating place manager, and instructor. He has been a Constellation
member for several years, and has written and publicized
poetry, essays, and articles for the last 40 years. An active net
merchant since 2000, he now does his living online. Visit his journal
at http://donovanbaldwin.blogspot.com/
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