|
No one can make
you serve customers well.
That's because great service is a choice.
Harvey Mackay,
tells a wonderful story about
a cab driver that proved this point.
He was waiting
in line for a ride at the airport.
When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed
was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine.
Smartly dressed
in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks,
the cab driver jumped out and rounded the
car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .
He handed my
friend a laminated card and said:
'I'm Wally, your
driver. While I'm loading your bags
in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'
Taken aback,
Harvey read the card. It said:
Wally's Mission
Statement:
To get my
customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and
cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew Harvey
away. Especially when he noticed
that the inside of the cab matched the outside.
Spotlessly
clean!
As he slid
behind the wheel, Wally said, '
Would you like a cup of coffee?
I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'
My friend said
jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'
Wally smiled and
said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with
regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'
Almost
stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'
Handing him his
drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read,
I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'
As they were
pulling away,
Wally handed my friend another laminated card. '
These are the stations I get and the music they play,
if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that
weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that
he had the air conditioning on and asked if the
temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised
Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day.
He also let him know that he'd be happy
to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if
Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.
'Tell me,
Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver,
'have you always served customers like this?'
Wally smiled
into the rear view mirror.
'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years.
My first five years driving, I spent most of my time
complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do.
Then I heard the personal growth guru,
Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.
He had just
written a book called
You'll See It When You Believe It.
Dyer said that
if you get up in the
morning expecting to have a bad day,
you'll rarely disappoint yourself.
He said, 'Stop complaining!
Differentiate yourself from your competition.
Don't be a duck.
Be an eagle.
Ducks quack and complain.
Eagles
soar above the crowd.''
'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally.
'Dyer was really
talking about me.
I was always quacking and complaining,
so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle.
I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty,
the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy.
So I decided to make some changes.
I put in a few at a time.
When my customers responded well, I did more.'
'I take it that
has paid off for you,' Harvey said.
'It sure has,'
Wally replied. '
My first year as an eagle,
I doubled my income from the previous year.
This year I'll
probably quadruple it. You were lucky
to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore.
My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone
or leave a message on my answering machine.
If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie
friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'
Wally was
phenomenal.
He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab.
I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years,
and only two took the idea and ran with it.
Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call.
The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the
reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the Cab
Driver made a different choice.
He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?
Smile, and the
whole world smiles with you.....
The ball is in our hands!
Galatians 6:7-10
God cannot be mocked.
A man reaps what he sows.
The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap
destruction;
the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up
...let us do good to all people,
especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
|
Questions? Email: webmaster@miamisburg.org
Copyright ©1998-2012 miamisburg.org. All Rights Reserved.