Happy Sunday Everyone:
Kim, my wife, was trying to get things dialed in for what appears to be a larger than normal Thanksgiving gathering this year. She called one of our favorite restaurants to get a 10 person reservation the Tuesday before. The lady that answered asked for her name, then went through the anticipated CA protocol for Covid (i.e. proof of vaccine/ID), Kim replied with a “that’s fine, thank you”. The gal made a little small talk, Kim engaged for a bit and then hung up, not really a big deal. 1 minute later the restaurant calls Kim back. Kim figures something is wrong with the reservation, instead the gal says “I just want to tell you, in our system it says that you’re really nice, and I just wanted to say that I agree, you are”. Kim tells me this yesterday like it’s no big deal, and I’m thinking “that is freaking awesome on so many levels”.
Everyone has a list and when they see you coming. you’re on one side of the list or the other, energy giver or energy sucker. My team has a list, we have a list of requirements for our ideal client, our ideal business partner, and our ideal team member (these are documented forms we keep and review). We have a list of names of our clients and business partners that are on those lists. I’m also proud to tell you every current team member fits on the ideal team member list. By having these lists we know who we want to attract, and as important, we know who we want to run from. I’m super proud of finally getting to a place in my life where I simply no longer deal with folks that are on the wrong side of the list. Our team has never run so well as today and if you asked the team why, I think they’d tell you we allow very few energy suckers internally or externally. When they come our way, they’re immediately identified and removed as quickly as possible.
We all show up to some form of work every day, we interact with people that we need to serve, and people that need to serve us. I love the mindset and the question of “do people feel like they NEED to help me or do people feel like they WANT to help me”. Are you aware enough to internalize whether you’re treating people well enough to move the needle form “need” to “want”. I have a lot of people every day that need to help our team, but when you add “want” to the equation, that’s when the magic happens. You get rewarded for doing the right thing, what’s better than that? You think if the lady at the restaurant had another call from someone on the wrong side of the list that Kim wouldn’t take priority? Are people rooting for you by your actions or against you by your actions?
My hope is every time you’re asking someone for something that it crosses your mind if you’re conducting yourself in a manner to fall on the right side of the list, and to be aware of the results. I also need to give a shout out to the lady who called Kim back, who does that? Someone on the right side of the list does that, and they’ll be getting our business for a long time to come. I’m laughing at how simple this whole thing is. Do right, be kind, attract good people, see the results. And for the haters, do wrong, be an ass, attract bad people, see the results….come on now, why would you ever choose door #2?
Enjoy your Sunday! Get those lists going.