Manage the Details

As I travel around the world doing speeches I look for examples of the concepts and strategies that I cover in my articles and speeches.  Today I saw a great one.

Two guys were walking around the hotel I was staying at with a paint brush and a cup of paint.  One had white paint and the other had gray paint.  They were walking the halls to look for any nicks or chips in the walls.  They told me they did this every week – just walk around and touch up the walls.  That way the hotel always looks fresh and clean for the guests.

The hotel employees weren’t bringing out the gallons of paint needed for an annual clean-up. No, this was an on-going exercise of managing even the smallest details to ensure a positive experience for the guest of their hotel.

The lesson here is about managing the details.  Sometimes it is the small things that stand out and give a customer confidence, create a positive experience or create a good impression.

All Moments of Truth, even the small ones, make a difference.  Manage the details.  Make them count!

An appropriate quote comes to mind on this subject.  Back in the 1800’s Gustave Flaubert was known to have said, “Le bon Dieu est dans le detail,” which translates to, “God is in the details.”  The meaning is that what one does should be done thoroughly.  Hence, details are important.