I read the below on Seth Godin’s blog today, and my mind immediately jumped tp the corollary to my own business. That, in turn, got me thinking about the corollary to my recent experience at the Raw Aura restaurant in Port Credit, and also my same-day experience at the local Bulk Barn store. I’m going to intersperse my thoughts , in italics – you may find it easier to get the flow of Seth’s message by reading the post on his blog.
Atlanta brags about having the busiest airport in the world. Like most municipal facilities, they don’t brag about having the best, the most pleasant, the most engaging or the most remarkable airport in the world.
In my humblest of opinions, so many businesses are focused on being the busiest, because they mistakenly equate busy-ness with greatness. That can be the case, if the business is highly systematized, however, it sadly is not often the case. Far better that a business should focus on being the best, or the most pleasant, or the most remarkable, than the busiest.
That’s a shame, because airports are great opportunities to create value. Lots of curious, alert people with money to spend and connections to make. Yet the lowest-common-denominator is served, relentlessly. If you like fried meat, plenty to choose from. You’d think that rather than cater to the center of the curve 100 times at 100 concessions, they’d pay attention to some of the outliers now and then…
90% of my great service experiences come at places that are more niche providers than mass-appeal providers. My experience at Raw Aura is covered here, so I’ll tell you about my experience at Bulk Barn on Main Street. For those who are not aware of it, Bulk Barn is a place that sells un-packaged goods at usually greatly reduced prices; it’s part of a national chain, but I consider them to be a niche market. The staff there are friendly, caring, and knowledgable, all of which are traits that I typically do not experience in the big grocery stores. The girl working there was not only polite, but she was funny, and obviously enjoying her job – how cool is that!
Imagine my delight, then, when I stumbled upon One Flew South, located at Terminal E. Perhaps because it’s at the end of the line, the economic and turnover pressure is less. Regardless, it’s better than we have been taught we should deserve.
Jerry the general manager explained why in the simple quote that leads this post off. He’s busy comparing the place to other restaurants, not to other airports. (If you go, say hi to Carolyn at the bar. Tell her I sent you and she’ll take care of you.)
Who (or what) are you comparing yourself to?
GREAT Question! When we focus so much on comparing our businesses to other close-by businesses, or even those in the same field, how difficult is it to be remarkable? What if we started comparing ourselves to great businesses in any field, and seeing what we can learn from them?
A couple of examples of businesses that I find to be particularly great, in terms of service:
Hampton Inns – they are my hotel chain of choice, not because of their pricing, but because no matter which one of their locations I visit, the place is spotlessly-clean, the staff are friendly, and they make me feel GREAT!
Staples – Particularly, the store in the WalMart plaza in Milton. Again, the staff are friendly, the place is clean and well organized, and it is always a good shopping experience. I tend to think that part of the reason is because many of the staff are in their 40′s and 50′s, or higher, and don’t have the attitude that many younger retail workers have.
I know that I strive to offer the same level of service in my business that is exhibited by these champions. Who do you measure YOUR business against?
