For small business owners you can shorten hours if you are looking at your register reports and can see where the business is consistently slow. But you don’t just cut across the board. Otherwise you could be cutting to the bone. In Hertz case, they cut to the heart of why I do business with them.
Imagine being at your brother’s wedding and you overheard some guests saying, “I bet it won’t last.” You’d be angry wouldn’t you? That’s because you had faith, hope and belief that it would work. I’m telling you this is no different. Don’t let the doom and gloom sayers win this!
The days of “cut to the chase” have led us to “people = problems” thinking. If I can’t even bring myself to look at you in the eye and connect, how can I ever provide a good experience?
Now how many times have you been tempted by a $9. bunch of flowers in the supermarket, brought them home and they were dead by the following morning? I know I have, lots of times. Let them go one day and the smell of death creeps into your vase instead of the sweet smell of life. That nine bucks was ultimately a very expensive purchase.
We heard it last fall during the presidential campaign, “putting lipstick on a pig” – that’s what Starbucks new value meal is – they are in the trough trying to feed. It isn’t pretty. It isn’t Starbucks. It isn’t where they want to be but they feel they have no choice.
If you can’t appreciate it, if you can’t bring yourself to experience it, how will you develop the muscles you need to give it in your business? When “settle” is your mantra, how can you possibly “exceed”?
To think diners won’t notice or servers will just “deal with it,” is ridiculous, especially when there are fewer customers dining out. You staff for the rush, not for the cheap. And the good ones will leave at the drop of a hat.
