IS YOUR BUSINESS WORKING FOR YOU?

As I work with professionals and business owners, I see far
too many of them working hard to earn a living, but utterly
failing to build an effective business.
Many business owners work hard all day and struggle with
marketing and maintenance and production until they are
exhausted at night. Or, even worse, they don't have enough
work or customers to keep them busy, so they fret and worry,
but again, they aren't building an effective BUSINESS, so
day after day, nothing changes.
The goal of any business is to SERVE CUSTOMERS and the goal
of an effective business is to do it in a way that makes a
profit and makes sense for the owner, the employees, and the
investors. The "end" of any business has to make sense – as
well as "dollars and cents!"
Is your business "working" for you, or are you struggling?
Do you have "enough" customers to make a profit and the
"right" customers so your business really works for everyone
involved?
Do you have a plan (a blueprint, with details and dates) for
growing the business? Do you have an exit strategy for when
you want to retire or are ready to move on? Do you make time
(no one "has" time) to plan and design the future? Are your
plans being implemented on a regular basis?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, then make
changes! Adjust your schedule, get training, hire an
assistant, or get a coach! As Michael Gerber says in his
wonderful book, "The E-Myth," you want to work on your
business, not just in or for your business. Design and build
an effective, efficient (and profitable!) business that
works FOR you!

Quotes of the Week

"Fear of the unknown is the worst of all the fears; it kills
the creative powers that come from Curiosity." -- Dr. Nirvikar Dahiya

"Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a
sundial in the shade?" -- Ben Franklin

" Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing on
one's own sunshine." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you
intend to do." -- Liz Smith

THE LAW OF SAVING

Financial freedom comes to the person who saves ten percent or more of his income throughout his lifetime.
One of the smartest things that you can ever do for yourself is to develop the habit of saving part of your salary, every single paycheck. Individuals, families and even societies are stable and prosperous to the degree to which they have high savings rates. Savings today are what guarantee the security and the possibilities of tomorrow.
Start With Yourself
The first corollary of the Law of Saving comes from the book The Richest Man in Babylon by George Classon. It is to "Pay yourself first."
Begin today to save ten percent of your earnings, off the top, and never touch it. This is your fund for long-term financial accumulation and you never use it for any other reason except to assure your financial future.
Develop New Habits Regarding Money
The remarkable thing is that when you pay yourself first, and force yourself to live on the other ninety percent, you will soon become accustomed to it. You are a creature of habit. When you regularly put away ten percent of your earnings, you soon become comfortable living on the other ninety percent. Many people start by saving ten percent of their income and then graduate to saving fifteen percent, twenty percent, and even more. And their financial lives change dramatically as a result. So will yours.
Take Every Advantage
The second corollary of the Law of Saving says, "Take advantage of tax deferred savings and investment plans." Because of high and even multiple tax rates, money that is saved or invested without being taxed accumulates at a rate of 30% to 40% faster than money that is subject to taxation. Self-made millionaires, according to Dr Thomas Stanley's book The Millionaire Next Door, are almost obsessive about accumulating their funds in assets such as real estate, self owned businesses and equities that increase in value without triggering tax liabilities.
Invest in company pension and retirement plans, 401(k) plans, IRA's, Keough Plans, Roth IRA's, Education Investment Accounts, stock option programs and whatever else has been approved by the IRS for long term financial accumulation. Make every dollar count!
Action Exercises
Here are two things you can do to apply this law immediately:
First, begin today to put away ten percent of your earnings. Set up a special account for this purpose and treat your contributions to this account with the same respect that you do your rent or mortgage payments each month.
Second, become a lifelong student of money. Read the best books, take courses and subscribe to the most helpful magazines. Know what you are doing so you can always make intelligent decisions when you invest your funds.

FACTORS OF RISK IN SELLING

The Critical Factor: Risk
The critical factor in selling today is risk. Because of the continuous change, rapid obsolescence, and an uncertain economy, the risk of buying the wrong product or service has become greater than ever before.
One of our powerful needs is for security, and any buying decision that represents uncertainty triggers the feeling of risk that threatens that security.
There are four main factors that contribute to the perception of risk in the mind and hear of the customer.
Risk Factor 1: Size of the Sale
The first factor that contributes to risk is the size of the sale. The larger the scale, the more money involved, the greater the risk.
If a person is buying a package of Lifesavers, the risk of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is insignificant. But if a person is buying a computer system for their company, the risk factor is magnified by hundreds of thousands of times.
Whenever you are selling a product that has a high price on it, you must be aware that risk enters into the buyer's calculations immediately.
Risk Factor 2: Number of People Affected
The second factor contributing to the perception of risk is the number of people who will be affected by the buying decision. Almost every complex buying decision involves several people.
There are people who must use the product or service. There are people who must pay for the product or service. There are people who are dependent of the results expected from the product or service. If a person is extremely sensitive to the opinions of others, this factor alone can cause him or her to put off a buying decision.
Risk Factor 3: Length of Life of the Product
The third factor contributing to the perception of risk is the length of life of the product. A product or service that, once installed, is meant to last for several years, generates the feeling of risk. The customer panics and thinks, "What if it doesn't work and I'm stuck with it?"
Risk Factor 4: Unfamiliarity
The fourth major risk factor is the customer's unfamiliarity with you, your company, and your product or service. A first-time buyer, one who has not bought the product or service before, or who has not bought it from you, is often nervous and requires a lot of hand-holding.
Anything new or different makes the average customer tense and uneasy. This is why a new product or service, or a new business relationship with your company, has to be presented as a natural extension of what the customer is already doing.
Overcoming Risk
In every case, you must overcome the customer's fear of risk if you are going to make the sale. Everything you do, from the first contact, through closing, the delivery and installation of the product or service, and the follow-up to the sale, must be done with the customer's perception of risk uppermost in your thinking.
Successful sales people are those who position their products or services as the lowest-risk product or service available to satisfy the particular need or achieve the particular goal of the customer.
Low-Risk vs. Low-Price
Your job is to be the low-risk provider, not necessarily the low-price vendor. Your job is to demonstrate clearly that your product or service represents the safest and most secure purchase decision rather than merely being the least expensive or highest quality.
Our customers today are the most experienced in customer history. They know that there is usually a close correlation between higher price on the one hand and greater security and after-sales satisfaction on the other. Your task is to make this differential clear in your sales presentation, especially when positioning you product or service against lower-priced competition.
Action Exercise
Identify the risks that a customer might find with your product or service. Once you have clearly defined those risks, it will be easier to find solutions for them to ease nervous customers.

HOW TO TURN ORDINARY EMPLOYEES INTO EXTRAORDINARY EMPLOYEES

I was having coffee with one of our clients, the CEO of a company in a highly competitive field. He was just a little intimidated by all the things he was reading about global competition and the drive for excellence.
"Nido," he said, "How am I going to make it in this kind of climate? The market is demanding extraordinary performance and my employees are ordinary people."
I smiled and reassured him.
"Your challenge is very simple," I told him. "All you have to do is turn your ordinary people into extraordinary people."
That may sound like an impossible task, until you stop to think about it. What is an extraordinary person?
An extraordinary person is someone who consistently does the things ordinary people can't do or won't do.
So if we want our ordinary people to become extraordinary people, we simply need to give them strong reasons to do the things ordinary people won't do and teach them to do the things ordinary people can't do.
An extraordinary person doesn't have to be extraordinarily gifted. Many people with great knowledge and skills are barely getting by in their professions, while others with much less ability are doing extremely well.
The fact is that success is available to anyone who will learn a few simple principles and consistently put them into practice daily.
All your people can become extraordinary if they are willing to exert persistent effort.
The kind of quality that establishes market leadership rarely comes from one-time breakthroughs. It stems from small incremental improvements day in and day out.
Fred Friendly established Federal Express on the basis of a potent idea: the promise of overnight delivery, absolutely and positively.
But the reputation of Federal Express was built on the fulfillment of that promise day in and day out, with numerous little improvements along the way. For example, Federal Express went one step beyond picking up a shipment on one end and delivering it on the other.
At its Memphis hub, it established a warehouse operation so that major shippers could stockpile frequently ordered goods. When a customer placed an order, the shipper could notify Fed Ex and the company would ship it from Memphis to anywhere in the world.
You don't have to be a Federal Express to deliver quality service day in and day out. You can do it whether you're in the business of delivering packages, making widgets, selling real estate or providing financial services.
The key is to help your people cultivate an attitude of excellence, and to make it a part of their everyday activities.
An attitude of excellence can turn ordinary people into extraordinary people. Ordinary people look upon a 99% quality standard as good enough, if not a little stringent.
Extraordinary people know that if we were to settle for the 99% standard, everyday life would become a horror story. We would be without telephone service for 15 minutes each day. The Post Office would lose 1.7 million pieces of first-class mail daily, and you'd see three misspelled words on each page of type. What's worse, every year, doctors and nurses would drop 35,000 newborn babies, 200,000 people would get the wrong drug prescriptions, and 2 million people would die of food poisoning.
Extraordinary people reach out for quality standards that set your company apart from its competitors. They help you develop a differential advantage.
That differential advantage (DA) may come from doing things faster, cheaper, more skillfully or more thoroughly than any of your competitors.
It may come from having more experience, more specific knowledge or more convenient locations.
It may come from being the biggest, the most flexible or the most accessible of all the companies in your business.
Or it may consist of the ability to meet the needs of customers in a way no one else can quite match.
Whatever it is, your DA must be an advantage that is tangible and that you can demonstrate. People must be able to see it quickly.
Your DA provides the basis for your marketing strategy. People have to perceive that you are different from the competition and that this difference provides a direct benefit for them.
Really, the key to all effective marketing is identification. When people can readily see themselves using and benefiting directly from your products or services, they become interested.
When they can instantly spot the value in it for them, they will believe your marketing claims.
When they see more value in your unique resources than in the resources they are currently using, they will want to know more about them.
When they see that what you can do for them has more value than the money they'll have to invest in it, they will become customers or clients.
The better you can translate your unique marketing advantage into specific value to the customer, the stronger will be your marketing appeal.
But before you can sell your clients and customers, you have to sell the people within your company.
That means we have to market internally. We have to sell our own people -- even ourselves -- on investing the necessary resources so we can get the job done and get it done right. That calls for leadership.
In the past, leadership centered on such things as control. Those who had the upper hand ruled. Leadership meant that managers made expectations clear and checked to see that jobs were done.
That kind of leadership is no longer effective. Instead of controlling, we must learn to influence. In today's successful corporations, more and more decisions are being made from the bottom up, with accountability at much lower levels.
In the business of the future, motivation will focus more on job satisfaction, the quality of work and the team spirit.
Supervision will look more like cooperation, with greater emphasis on peer-group control.
As I've worked with management teams in the corporate world, I've noticed a number of qualities that extraordinary leaders have in common. Here are some of them:
Teachability.
Modern leaders must be open to new ideas and methods; new ways of doing things. They must be willing to listen, observe and learn constantly.
Adaptability.
They must be willing and able to adjust to constant change.
Flexibility.
They must be willing to work more fluidly with people, dealing with people of many different talents, temperaments and behavior styles.
Creativity.
They must be willing to try it, fix it, and do it -- and encourage others to do the same.
Sensitivity.
They must have a keen awareness of the needs, interests and concerns of other people.
You can develop such extraordinary leaders and an extraordinary work force if you're willing to provide opportunities for them to learn and to apply what they've learned.
Remember that the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary is a little "extra."
Give your people an extra portion of education and development. Share with them an extra measure of enthusiasm. And challenge them to put a little extra something into their relations with co-workers, customers and clients. The little extras will add up to extraordinary performance.
I wish you extraordinary success.

THE CARE AND KEEPING OF CUSTOMERS

The first question any business must understand is WHAT business they are actually in. Most people think McDonald's is in the restaurant or hamburger business, but many analysts have observed that they are actually in a variety of businesses. They are in real estate development. They are in the entertainment business. But most of all, they are in the customer service business. Every business is first, last, and always in the business of providing superior service to its customers. It costs a fortune to attract a new customer. The time, money, energy, anxiety and effort to get a new first-time customer in the door is a huge expense. No business has the resources to attract and serve only new customers. The key is in keeping and serving the customers you already have and profiting from their repeat business over time. No matter what business you think you are in, your first business is in serving and partnering with your customers. It's called customer retention. Sometimes it's called "up- selling." It goes by many names, but the principle is the same: Nurture and keep your customers! Customer service is about reliability and relationship. It's about trust. It's about the quality of your product, but even more, it's about the quality of your service before, during and long after the sale. Quotes of the Week "He's no failure. He's not dead yet."-- William Lloyd George "We don't know who we are until we see what we can do." -- Martha Grimes "Continuous effort -- not strength or intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential." -- Winston Churchill "The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult." -- Mme. Du Deffand

BE REALISTIC: THERE IS NO LIMIT TO WHAT YOU CAN DO

Have you ever thought about what you could do, if you really decided to? I'm not merely talking about what your skills, education and talents are capable of. I'm talking about what is really possible for you. There is a very real possibility that you can do virtually anything. Not alone, not with out new information, but certainly within your ultimate grasp. Now many people would say to me, "Jim, be realistic. Some things are just not possible." To them I say, a realist is simply a pessimist who doesn't want to admit it. I've never heard a "realist" take an optimistic posture on any topic. They always say, "Let's be realistic." and then go on to explain why your idea can't be done. Imagine a realist saying, "Realistically, we don't yet know what the possibilities are. This could be easier than we think!" Better, eh? One thing I have learned over the years is that luck really does come to those who commit to a goal. Scientists and philosophers call it "synchronicity." It is when things come together in an unexplainable way to help you reach your destination. Sometimes you just happen to meet someone who has the answer you need or shares your interests. At other times it is written off as "timing" or blind luck. I don't see it that way. I believe that there are some universal principles at work which most people miss. There have been references to this phenomenon in philosophical and religious literature throughout history. Without waxing poetic, here is what goes on. When any person makes a decision to bring about a certain outcome, the entire universe starts the process of making it happen. As long as the person persists in the belief that they are creating the desired result, the process continues. When doubt, hatred, or fear dominate the person, the process stops and other forces direct the world's energies in other positive directions. This is why there is "power" in positive thinking. Sometimes we express a strong desire and the result occurs immediately. We call this a miracle. At other times we strive long and hard without visible progress. The operative word there is "visible". There are too many elements in the world for us to be conscious of how they all interact. But the moment we decide to do what it takes to create a result, the universe bends toward us to assist. This continues unless we do something to stop the process. That is why I say there is nothing you can't do. There are things that might not be worth doing but almost anything can be done somehow. To do such things requires a certain state of mind. It requires optimism, determination, clarity, love for all mankind and humility. Optimism is the only productive way to think. Not pollyanna blind faith in spite of the facts, just the continuing belief that there is a way and that you will ultimately find it. Determination is to do what is necessary even if it is not convenient, if you are not in the mood, if it takes more than you expected, and if it is not fair, meaning that you have to contribute more than others. Clarity of focus is essential in order to activate things in your favor. So goal setting in writing is essential to get things going. The clearer your focus, the more compelling your influence becomes. When you believe unflinchingly in your cause, others will be drawn to you. Love of all humanity means respect for the dignity of and sensitivity to the needs of others. Contrary to Gordon Gekko's line in the movie Wall Street, greed does not work, because it separates you from others. Only love and respect will connect you to all who might ultimately help. And finally, humility. The biblical way of expressing this thought is, "Not my will, but Thine, be done." If we realise how little we know, we will be a lot more humble. Emerson said, "Desire is possibility seeking expression." If you truly want something, the possibility of it surely exists. That does not mean that it is a good idea for you. It just means that it could happen. But if you are dedicated to achieving something deeply and sincerely, then it is incumbent upon you to pursue it. Where the problems arise is when we decide that we already know what it will take to do the job. Far too many variables exist for us to really "know" what it takes in any instance. So we must move forward based on what we know, while listening to the messages the world is sending us. We sometimes find that an even better outcome is available to us through a simple change in direction. At other times we simply need to learn the lesson life has to teach us at a given point and then move on in a new direc tion. We never know how valuable that life lesson will be later on as we pursue a greater goal. So I encourage you to be realistic, there is no limit to what you can do.

PROSPECTING, PRODUCTION AND PROFITS

Most small businesses reflect the personality of their
owner, and that is both their strength and, too often, their
weakness. Specifically, some entrepreneurs love to sell more
than they care about details of production, while others
focus so much on perfecting their products, they starve for
customers.
The key is balance.
If you are not prospecting every day, your business will
eventually stall. Yes, repeat sales and word of mouth are
vital, but in the end, business grows because new customers
hear about you, check you out, and decide to buy. As Mary
Kay Ash said, "nothing happens until somebody sells
something," and you can't sell without prospecting.
Marketing, promotion and publicity are essential, and some
business owners relish this part. It comes naturally and
they love it. They naturally go "where the action is."
Networking comes easily to them, and selling is "the name of
the game." Good for them!
Except when they neglect the details of delivery. In the
end, what you sell has to be produced, packaged and
delivered on time, on budget and in excellent condition.
Some sales people forget that, and it comes back to haunt
them.
The key is balance.
You need prospects in order to sell, and you need superior
production in order to deliver. When the two are balanced,
profits soar.

Quotes of the Week
"We often spend so much time coping with problems along our
path that we only have a dim or even inaccurate view of
what's really important to us." -- Peter Senge

"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and
reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so." -- Belva Davis

"When you follow your bliss doors will open where you would
not have thought there would be doors; and where there
wouldn't be a door for anyone else." -- Joseph Campbell

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the
things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So
throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain

FIVE STEPS TO PERSONAL POWER

There is a five-step power process that you can use to keep yourself positive and to achieve your goals faster. This five-step process brings together several of the very best techniques ever discovered for permanent mind change. It contains and illustrates all of the key principles that you need to know to become a highly effective, positive "possibility thinker" in your own life.
Imagine Your Perfect Future
Perhaps the biggest obstacle to creating a wonderful life is "self-limiting beliefs." Everyone has them, and some people have so may of them that they are almost paralyzed when it comes to taking action. A self-limiting belief is an idea you have that you are limited in some way, in terms of time, talent, intelligence, money, ability, or opportunity. The way you free yourself from these negative brakes on your potential is to change your thinking about who you are and what is truly possible for you.
Show Me the Money
Start with your income. How much do you want to be earning, one, two, three, and five years from today? Look around you and ask, "Who else is earning the kind of money I want to earn, and what are they doing differently from me?" If you don't know or you aren't sure, go and ask them. Do your homework.
Design Your Perfect Life
Imagine your perfect lifestyle. If you had no limitations at all, how would you like to live, day in and day out? If you were financially independent, what kind of home would you live in? What kind of car would you want to drive? What kind of life would you like to provide for your family? What sort of activities would you like to engage in throughout the week, month, and year?
Turn Your Ideal into Reality
When you sit down and design your ideal lifestyle, you can then compare it to what you are doing today and notice the differences. You can then start thinking about how you could bring your real or current lifestyle closer to your ideal. When you idealize your income and your lifestyle, you develop vision for your life. You begin to practice a key quality of personal leadership. You begin projecting into the future and making plans to turn your future dreams into a current reality.
The Person you Become
Create an ideal future self in terms of your personal and professional development. What kind of person do you want to be in the future? What additional knowledge and skills do you want to acquire? In what areas would you like to become absolutely excellent? What subjects would you like to master? What do you need to learn to move up in your field? What is your growth plan to get from where you are to where you want to go?
Action Exercise
Look for something good in every problem or difficulty. Practice being an inverse paranoid, convinced that there is a vast conspiracy to make you successful.

ELIMINATE THE TIME WASTERS IN SELLING

The first major time waster in selling is procrastination and delay. This occurs when you find every conceivable reason to put off getting there with people who can and will buy from you. Everyone procrastinates. There is always too much to do and too little time. The difference between successes and failures is determined by people's choices about what they put off. Losers put off the important things that could make a difference in their lives. Winners put off low-value tasks and activities. Stop Wasting Time According to Robert Half International, half of all working time, in all fields, is wasted. Most of this wasted time is taken up with coffee breaks, phone calls, and personal business, or other useless activities that make no contribution to your work. Resolve to Overcome Procrastination The best way to overcome procrastination is to plan each day in advance, set priorities on your activities, and then make your first sales call as early as you possibly can. Get up and get going. When you launch quickly into a workday, doing something important as early as possible, you will work at a higher level of effectiveness all day long. The Incomplete Sales Call Another major time waster is the incomplete sales call, requiring a callback. This occurs when you have not thoroughly prepared your presentation or taken all the materials you need for your sales call. When you are with the customer, you find you're missing the correct order forms, or other materials needed to close the sale. You then have to make arrangements to go back and see the prospect a second time, something that often does not happen. Inaccuracies and Deficiencies You waste a lot of time in selling when you find yourself with a prospect, but without all the information needed to make an intelligent presentation. You may have the wrong facts, the wrong figures, or the wrong specifications. You have misunderstood what the prospect said she wanted and made a proposal that does not solve the prospect's problem or satisfy her need. Lack of Product Knowledge This weakness can cost you hours of hard work. It boils down to ignorance of the product or service you are selling. This is invariably caused by laziness on the part of the salesperson. Fortunately it can be very easily overcome with time and study. Poor Preparation Thorough preparation separates the sheep from the goats among sales professionals. The top salesperson takes the time to diligently study every detail of her product or service. She reviews and then reviews again. She takes notes. She decides in advance that no one will ever ask her a question that she cannot answer intelligently and completely. Unconfirmed Appointments Here's a common scenario. A salesperson sets off across town to see a prospect for an appointment. It was arranged in advance, so everything should go as planned, right? But when the salesperson arrives, the prospect has been called out of town, is in a meeting, or cannot see him for some reason. As a result, he has wasted the entire trip, including the time it now takes him to get back to the office. Sometimes a salesperson can lose half a day because he did not reconfirm an appointment. Action Exercise Plan every day in advance; make a list of everything you have to do, and then set priorities on your list; always start with your number one, most important task.

COPING WITH OVER-WHELM

Every business owner or manager has far more to do than anyone can accomplish in the time available. We all have marketing and research to do, meetings to attend, people to supervise or a website to build. It’s easy to feel over- whelmed. What’s a leader to do? Failures succumb. They let themselves get over-whelmed and have the feeling that it’s "too much," or that they "can’t do it all." Winners, on the other hand, accept reality. Of course you can't do it all! No one could! That’s the way life, and business, is. You can’t fight it. Winners employ three simple steps, and I highly recommend them. 1. They say, No! They understand that some of the have-to's are simply unrealistic and they say no, even if it would be nice if they could do them. Some of the things on any manager's list simply won’t get done, at least not today. Delegate or out-source as many things as you can. When necessary, just say No. 2. They Sequence. This is another word for prioritizing. A few things must be done now, or soon. Others must be done, but can wait until tomorrow or next week, perhaps even until next year. Do the things of most importance, leave everything else until it’s turn. 3. They Focus. Successful leaders do one thing at a time, and each individual item, at that critical moment, gets their full attention. When you’re in a meeting that you’ve decided is the most important thing at the moment, BE THERE! Pay attention. Be alert. Stay focused.

CUSTOMER LOVE

Southwest Airlines' Mission statement reads: "The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a Sense of Warmth, Friendliness, Individual Pride and Company Spirit." Nothing too unusual about that, except that it doesn't mention planes. Southwest, more than any company I know, has created a wonderful service culture by hiring nice people who like to have fun; fun with each other, and, fun with their customers. Not long ago, I flew Southwest and the flight attendant announced, "I'm pleased to say we have a 99-year-old gentleman on board today. He's celebrating his birthday and this is the first time he's every flown." We, as you might imagine a light round of applause broke out. Then she said, "On the way out stop by the cockpit and wish him happy birthday." The cabin exploded with laughter. Dan Zadra, the president of Compendium, is a friend of mine. He has his own theory about Southwest that came straight from Sheila, a flight attendant he met on a trip from Seattle to Phoenix. Dan watched Sheila move with boundless energy to calm a crying child, plump an old man's pillow, trade jokes with passengers, and answer questions in English, Spanish, and Japanese. At one point, Sheila spilled an apron full of pretzels in the aisle and Dan instinctively moved to help her. She said, "That's okay, Dan, it's my turn." Dan then said, "How did you know my name, and what do you mean it's your turn? I haven't done anything yet." Sheila smiled and answered, "I saw your name when I took your ticket. I always try to remember my passengers' names. It's polite. And taking turns is something I live by. I believe we all take turns serving each other in life. Right now, it's my turn to serve you, and I want you to really enjoy yourself on my flight. Someday, you may have the chance to serve me or my daughter or my dad. And when it's your turn I'm sure you'll do a great job." There is a great quote that says "laughter is the fastest way to the heart." How true it is. And, whenever we can find ways to have fun with our customers - to make them smile or laugh - we can create moments they won't forget. Just like I will never forget the moment the flight attendant told the story about the 99-year-old man, and Dan will never forget his "Southwest moment" with Sheila. Tom Asacker, business author and speaker, said, "People will forget what you say, but they will never forget how you make them feel." The question we always need to ask is, "How am I making my customers feel?" The bottom line according to Tom is this, "The really hard stuff is the soft stuff." It's the feelings of your customers and employees. Because in the end, as Southwest Airlines knows, that is the real competitive advantage. Today, I'm pleased to offer Customer Love for just $10 US, regularly $15.95 US. As an added bonus, the first 1,000 customers will receive a free autographed copy with your purchase of $28 US or more. This offer is only good through today, so don't miss your chance to get Customer Love now!