Are You the Owner?

At many of my presentations, I’ll leave time at the end for the audience to brainstorm the ideas and takeaways they plan to implement as a result of what they heard in the speech.  At a recent presentation for the Vail Valley Partnership in Vail, CO, Clark Walsh, an employee at Old Forge Pizza, made a great comment:

“I want to be so good that my customers ask me if I am the owner.”

Why would a customer ask that?  Because of Clark’s positive attitude, the excellent service he delivers, how he treats fellow employees and more.

At least several things are happening here:

One, Clark respects and admires the owner.

Two, Clark finds the customer’s comment to be a compliment.

And three, the owner of the restaurant has obviously set a good example, one that Clark wants to emulate.  By the way, this one is important.  An owner must be a good role model, a mentor and leader.  I’ve seen plenty of owners/leaders who don’t set good examples with a “do as I say, not as I do” management style.

Regardless of the size of your company, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, act like an owner.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.

(Copyright ©MMXII, Shep Hyken)