Lets say you go into a restaurant and the food is good but the bathrooms kind of gross. Will you remember the food and forget the bathroom? The way human memory works youre going to forget about the croissant and youre going to remember the bathroom and youre going to tell 10 friends. The truth of the matter is we remember the little stuff. Walt Disney at Disney World and Disneyland has focused like the dickens on the parking lots and the parking lot attendants. Because the real hard research says we remember beginnings and we remember ends. Its not the theme ride at the beginning or the end its the kid in the parking lot. And if hes well trained and if he smiles and hes polite it makes an incredible difference. Weve forgotten how important the little things really are. And in this age of the Internet we go around breathlessly saying, Everything has changed, nothing is the same as it ever was. And the little courtesies - the listening, apologizing when youre wrong, saying thank you, and having clean bathrooms ? and that is the differentiator. Anybody who doesnt think that thoughtfulness, kindness makes a huge difference to their customers ? I pity those people!
