the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a

Remember the days when the companies with whom you gave your hard earned money to appreciated your business? Today, it is rare to find companies who still get one of the basic fundamentals of successful business; take care of the customer or someone else will.

With companies cutting costs and reducing internal support structure within their organization, levels of customer service have reached an all time low (my personal opinion). Going above and beyond with all customer interaction is a critical success factor for every business and can help differentiate a company from their competition. We are all consumers and all have stories of good and bad customer service. The memories of bad service seem to blend together and the good service I have received always stands out in my mind. Companies who pay attention to customer experience, service and interaction opportunities foster a "passion for the customer" focus within their team and develop customers for life. Good service and experiences customers have when interacting with a company will help ensure loyal customers and increase repeat business as well as referrals.

Last week, I had an appointment to meet a potential vendor at a local, well-known restaurant. I arrived at 11:25am and the restaurant didn’t open until 11:30am. As I waited outside in the entryway, I noticed several employees walk right by the window and look at me. I figured they were probably not allowed to let customers into the restaurant prior to opening, no big deal. As 11:30am rolled around, I noticed the door begin to open. I greeted the hostess as she opened the door and said “Look, you have a line at the door already!” Instead of acknowledging my statement and welcoming me into the restaurant, she rolled her eyes, turned her back and walked away! I proceeded to do the same.

What was she thinking? Especially in the highly competitive restaurant business, you must treat every customer as if they are your only one. There are simply too many choices and people will not tolerate poor service and rude wait staff. Unfortunately for that restaurant, they lost a regular customer and created what I like to call a “human billboard” with nothing but poor things to say about the restaurant. The sad thing in today’s world is this type of service has become commonplace. Companies will continue to lose customers, create negative impressions and risk their continued success due to poor customer experience and poor service. I know, if you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it at all, right? Fine.

Have you ever been to an Outback Steakhouse? Have you ever noticed what they do every time you walk in? They open the door for you and say, “Welcome to the Outback”! What a concept! A positive experience right away! Have you ever noticed what every waiter does when they come to take your order? They either sit down right next to you at your table or they kneel down at eye level if there isn’t room to sit. They look you right in the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a

have received always stands out in my mind. Companies who pay attention to customer experience, service and interaction opportunities foster a "passion for the customer" focus within their team and develop customers for life. Good service and experiences customers have when interacting with a company will help ensure loyal customers and increase repeat business as well as referrals.

Last week, I had an appointment to meet a potential vendor at a local, well-known restaurant. I arrived at 11:25am and the restaurant didn’t open until 11:30am. As I waited outside in the entryway, I noticed several employees walk right by the window and look at me. I figured they were probably not allowed to let customers into the restaurant prior to opening, no big deal. As 11:30am rolled around, I noticed the door begin to open. I greeted the hostess as she opened the door and said “Look, you have a line at the door already!” Instead of acknowledging my statement and welcoming me into the restaurant, she rolled her eyes, turned her back and walked away! I proceeded to do the same.

What was she thinking? Especially in the highly competitive restaurant business, you must treat every customer as if they are your only one. There are simply too many choices and people will not tolerate poor service and rude wait staff. Unfortunately for that restaurant, they lost a regular customer and created what I like to call a “human billboard” with nothing but poor things to say about the restaurant. The sad thing in today’s world is this type of service has become commonplace. Companies will continue to lose customers, create negative impressions and risk their continued success due to poor customer experience and poor service. I know, if you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it at all, right? Fine.

Have you ever been to an Outback Steakhouse? Have you ever noticed what they do every time you walk in? They open the door for you and say, “Welcome to the Outback”! What a concept! A positive experience right away! Have you ever noticed what every waiter does when they come to take your order? They either sit down right next to you at your table or they kneel down at eye level if there isn’t room to sit. They look you right in the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a

, no big deal. As 11:30am rolled around, I noticed the door begin to open. I greeted the hostess as she opened the door and said “Look, you have a line at the door already!” Instead of acknowledging my statement and welcoming me into the restaurant, she rolled her eyes, turned her back and walked away! I proceeded to do the same.

What was she thinking? Especially in the highly competitive restaurant business, you must treat every customer as if they are your only one. There are simply too many choices and people will not tolerate poor service and rude wait staff. Unfortunately for that restaurant, they lost a regular customer and created what I like to call a “human billboard” with nothing but poor things to say about the restaurant. The sad thing in today’s world is this type of service has become commonplace. Companies will continue to lose customers, create negative impressions and risk their continued success due to poor customer experience and poor service. I know, if you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it at all, right? Fine.

Have you ever been to an Outback Steakhouse? Have you ever noticed what they do every time you walk in? They open the door for you and say, “Welcome to the Outback”! What a concept! A positive experience right away! Have you ever noticed what every waiter does when they come to take your order? They either sit down right next to you at your table or they kneel down at eye level if there isn’t room to sit. They look you right in the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a

sad thing in today’s world is this type of service has become commonplace. Companies will continue to lose customers, create negative impressions and risk their continued success due to poor customer experience and poor service. I know, if you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it at all, right? Fine.

Have you ever been to an Outback Steakhouse? Have you ever noticed what they do every time you walk in? They open the door for you and say, “Welcome to the Outback”! What a concept! A positive experience right away! Have you ever noticed what every waiter does when they come to take your order? They either sit down right next to you at your table or they kneel down at eye level if there isn’t room to sit. They look you right in the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a

the eye and with sincere passion, welcome you to the Outback and ask if you have ever been there before?

Test them sometime and say, “No, this is my first time”. You will be treated like royalty. How about the employees? Have you ever noticed how happy they all are? From the hostess, to the person picking up dirty dishes after you are done, everyone is happy to be there. Why? My guess is they treat their employees like they do their customers. Oh, one more thing. Notice what happens when you leave the restaurant. It is very similar to when you walked in. They open the door for you, thank you for coming to the Outback and stress they hope to see you back again soon. Think about that for a minute…when you walk in and when you leave…it is a very similar approach. They want you to feel good when you come in and even better when you leave. To put it simply, the Outback Steakhouse “gets it”. They understand what customer experience is all about and have created an atmosphere that people want to come back to.

Unfortunately, great service and great experiences stand out and the bad experiences seem to roll off our backs as if we expect it. Where has the service gone and when will companies get back to the fundamentals of selling? You be the judge.