Solutions Talk

Ready for a little "splurge"?

A quote worth noting: "What we're seeing is different from last year. People are willing to splurge a little -- the affordable splurge." - Danny Wegman, Chairman, Wegmans Markets

Are you suffering from recession-driven, well-intentioned "cutback fatigue"? If so...you are in good company. It seems that many are finally crawling out of their cocoons and into the markets and restaurants in their communities--in search of a little splurge.  If you are going to splurge...what better way to do it than by enjoying a favorite meal or beverage in the company of loved ones?

Those little "affordable splurges" can be good for us--both emotionally and mentally, as well. According to Scientist/blogger and noted foodie Darya Pino, “Digesting fatty foods enhances memory consolidation using the same neural pathway as emotional learning.”

Get Smart. Treat Yourself. Sounds Great!

Improve the Experience - "Fatten Up" your offering!

A quote worth noting: “Digesting fatty foods enhances memory consolidation using the same neural pathway as emotional learning.” - Darya Pino, Scientist/foodie/blogger.

If you've never heard of  Five Guys -the QSR Chain that has opened 300+ stores over the past 5 years...start listening...and looking for one. Boasting a "fresh and simple" menu, they are a burger-lover-on-a-budget's version of paradise.

If you are guilt-ridden at the notion of consuming copious amounts of red meat, white flour and starch--washed down with sugary carbonated beverages--take heart!  Consuming fats, sugar and caffeine may help (at least for a few moments) you to learn...

For more on the topic, and more about  Five Guys - read on.  The Neuromarketing of Burgers

My Experience? Bah, Humbug!

Quote worth Noting: "There's no such thing as an artificial experience." - Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The Experience Economy - Work is Theatre and Every Business a Stage

Disney. McDonald's. Starbucks. Kroger. Shell. Walgreen's. The US Post Office. The Water Company. Your Landlord/Lien holder. Utility Company. Your vehicle of choice. Cellphone Provider. Your Cable/Satellite TV Provider. Civic Organizations. Employer. Church/Synagogue/House of Worship.

My experience as a consumer does not matter to most companies and organizations.

Most, if not all of these businesses and/or organized groups touch each of our lives on a regular basis. With every interaction, we form impressions about the respective "experience" - which we filter and interpret through our past personal encounters with these or other providers of goods, services and experiences.

Oh say can you see...what I see?

We more often than not attach strong feelings to our "point-of-view" as a consumer--so much so, that we are willing to act as advocates for those who consistently deliver an experience that surpasses our expectations; just as we will likely become aggressive, vocal, detractors of those who consistently fail to do so.

Emotions, as well as Logic, drive our behaviors as consumers and neighbors.

I do not believe that the majority of businesses and organizations "get" this. With many, a focus on cost control, process management, and the successful completion of the tasks at hand (of which customer interaction is included) dominate their thinking. Asking themselves "what is my customer experiencing?"  is not likely to be found on their radar screen.

Does this mirror your experience with groups such as the ones I've described? Any "exemplars" of companies, organizations or communities that are "doing it right" - intentionally, consistently, and successfully?

Pure Food Worship & "Orthorexic" Foodies: Are Many too Skinny?

Worth noting: Author and provocateur Barry Glassner, in his entertaining and informative book "The Gospel of Food" asks the question "Why do we deify some meals and some foods, and demonize others?"  

In"The Gospel of Food", Glassner goes on to explain in well-documented detail how many of us have lost faith in medicine, and have turned instead to things we can change, like our diet. We attribute to certain foods the power to make us well or ill...and often without any real proof, christen alternative fare "natural" or "authentic" and revere it above similar "conventional" offerings.

Further into the thought-provoking work, he quotes Science Historian Steven Shapin, who refers to "the bad order of society." From his studies, Shapin has concluded that movements as diverse as the Atkins Diet, Vegetarianism, Organic and Slow Food all preach a common message. "A bad society makes bad food, and bad food makes badly motivated and badly functioning people."

I encourage fellow food-lovers and recovering Foodies to read this lively work. On a related note, The Smithsonian featured a great article on the potential risks inherent in eating "too healthily"  in today's online "Food & Think" Blog. To read it, link here.

"Mitey" scary stuff...

Worth noting: What's in common "house dust"? Dust mites, Dust mite fecal pellets, Mold Spores, Pollen, Shed skin cells and Pet dander. Hmmm. For today's discussion, let's focus on Dust mites

Want the "skinny" on this unobserved, but constantly-present "house guest"? Here are a few facts about dust mites (for a picture of one, click here)

1. Dust mites feed off human squamae - i.e. the skin that we shed daily, in addition to other organic debris.

2. They love animal dander, and thrive in places where the humidity and temperature are high.

3. Though they live only about 3 months, a fertile female can lay as many as 200 eggs during that time.

4. Approximately 10% of the weight of your pillow is comprised of dust mites, living and dead...along with their excrement.

5. Upholstered furniture and drapes are a couple of their favorite places to live.

Enough already...you may be thinking YIKES! What to do? I'll cover some practical suggestions in my next post.

The dirt on dust mites...

Worth noting: I am not posting yet. This serves as a "trial balloon" (in the  time-honored tradition of our esteemed politicians). If you want to read "the ugly truth" about these organisms that share our homes with us, let me know. I will likely post tonight or early tomorrow. Also, please let me know if you don't want me to post this SHOCKING & ENLIGHTENING expose' on these creatures that may be causing you all sorts of health-related issues.

Your opinion counts! Please "weigh in" on this issue. Thanks. SD

On time...as promised...

Worth noting: Isn't it odd that I would find it unusual to report a completely satisfactory, if not memorable flight?

I had a great flight experience today. My flight "segment" from Detroit to Chicago O'Hare was staffed by professionals (including a captain that introduced himself to the passengers prior to flight), departed the gate "on time", and arrived on schedule into Chicago's O'Hare Airport. 

Why am I surprised? Why am I impressed with the fact that the Flight Attendants seemed to be having fun? Any theories, or opinions?

At any rate...today's flight was a noteworthy experience. One for which I am grateful.  Any you'd like to share??

The value of trust...

A quote worth noting: "Go ahead, it will be fine." - Debbie, the checkout clerk.

Another day, another supermarket experience to share. On this visit, my experience felt completely different than during my recent coffee-buying confrontation with Jimilla.

I left home with a list and an assignment. The assignment was to exchange a mispurchased bottle of laundry detergent...without the standard "proof-of-purchase" (cash register receipt).

As I entered the store, with my list in one hand and detergent in the other, I approached the nearest "officially uniformed" person and explained my mission--and my lack of purchase proof. "Just leave the detergent here while you shop, get another, we'll exchange it - go ahead, it will be fine." No argument, no "let me get a manager", no "I'm not sure we carry that brand", no "I'm sorry, but you have to have a register receipt", or any other comments that would indicate mistrust.

I actually felt as though she believed me, and wanted to make my experience "hassle-free".  I felt trusted.  (BTW...Debbie was as good as her word--at checkout time...I was able to make the exchange with my other purchases--without a hitch.)

While this may be a simple...even silly story on the power of trust...isn't it really indicative of the numerous  tiny encounters we all participate in each day, week, and month that together make up our life experience? Are we earning and extending trust as opportunities present themselves?

Trust. What a concept. What an Experience!

"...I don't drink coffee..."

A quote worth noting: "The surest way to provide poor service is to walk every client through the same rote, impersonal routine, never varying, no matter who the individual client is or what he really needs." - Joe Pine & Jim Gilmore, The Experience Economy

While in the supermarket to pick up a few necessities recently, my sense of smell stopped me at the aisle offering bulk, "fresh ground" and packaged coffee to go.

Following a quick review of the pricing by brand, I made a decision to go "premium" - but not "uber-premium"...in other words, I would grind my own "special" beans...a fairly pricey "special house brand"...though not in the league with Peets or Starbucks.  I poured what I believed to be somewhere between 3/4 to 1 pound of beans into the grinder, ground, filled & clipped the pouch...and headed for the checkout stand.

As I approached the checkout, I was greeted by 2 females--my wife Nancy (with her own armload of purchases) and Jimmila, our cashier. As we placed our bounty on the moving mat, the cashier began dutifully scanning each item.  Unable to engage either female in a conversation, I began watching curiously to see how much I had "saved" on my coffee purchase by eschewing the aforementioned luxury brands.

Suffice it to say that I was shocked to see the coffee "ring up" at over $13.00! Recovering from my temporary state of shock...I asked Jimmila to recheck the coffee price--it couldn't be right. Her answer was to glare at me and say "that's what it scanned"...to which I responded, "would you please re-scan it--that can't be right." She began to argue the point further, but to "humor" me, ran the coffee over the scale/scanner...and this time brought up a price of $7.80--a difference of more than $5.00.

As Jimmila called a manager to our station to correct our total bill, I thanked her for re-scanning the coffee. I also asked her if she could see why I asked her to do it. My response from the show of appreciation and the question was silence and a "blank" look. Unsatisfied with her "answer", I pursued the point a bit further - asking if saving the $5.00 would be "worth the effort" if she were the customer. Her answer: "it wouldn't be something that would matter to me...'cause I don't drink coffee." In other words...she couldn't care less. I had inconvenienced her and she didn't appreciate it one bit.

"I don't drink coffee" is not the type of closing statement that leaves customers with a good feeling about the experience with your company, Jimmila. IF I ever shop your store again, I will go through another line and see if I can find a "coffee drinker"...or I'll even settle for an empathetic human being offering a courteous response to my questions.

To quote Mssrs. Pine and Gilmore once again: "The easiest way to turn a service into an experience is to provide poor service, thus creating a memorable encounter of the most unpleasant kind."

Trying hard is just not good enough...

Worth noting: According to the CDC, 76,000,000 Americans will contract a food-related illness this year. Most, if not all of these illnesses are completely avoidable with a little work, education and attentiveness.

In 2009 if you are a five-year-old soccer "player" - you will more than likely get a "participation" ribbon. You get it because you "showed up" and, because you tried hard. This boosts the ego of parents and players--but essentially, hurts no one.

In 2009 if you are a food service worker, you will more than likely keep your job because you "show up" and do the tasks on your list.  This can hurt a lot of people!  In addition to the 76,000,000 illnesses (many which resemble the "24-hour" flu), about 325,000 of your friends, family, and neighbors will go to the hospital this year...and around 5,000 of them will leave the hospital in a bag. Not due to malicious malfeasance - but due to poor organizational practices carried out dutifully by workers "trying hard" to do their jobs.

No matter how we want to paint this situation...ignorance combined with poor hygienic practices do not result in safe food. On the contrary...UNsafe foods, which cause and contribute to illness and death are part and parcel of a relaxed attitude toward things like the absurd "reusable" popcorn bucket, the nasty multi-use bar mop (which spreads filth from table to table, toilet and kitchen), and unsupervised "food bars" where people bring back their used plates to tap their bacteria into the serving dish from the serving spoons. Is it time to think...and challenge? I think so. How about you?