Page 99 - Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Principle 7 Delivering Authentic Customer Experiences

Enjoying the journey?

If you’ve ever travelled on public transport, you’ll have observed
a lot of seemingly miserable people on their commute. Being in
that sort of environment can really sap your energy. It makes me
grateful I don’t have to do it, because I can see how easy it would
be to catch those negative attitude germs and follow suit if
subjected to it day in day out. Whenever I do have to commute, I
find myself marvelling at the number of inventive activities people
find to distract them from having to make eye contact or, God
forbid, talk to anyone. iPods, Kindles, newspapers, books, big
headphones, iPads, PCs, mobile phones, even reading the ads on
the wall. You name it and its being used in one form or another as
a barrier, shielding the person from any potentially undesirable
encounter with a potential madman or madwoman. There seems
to be some unwritten rule that smiling and eye contact with your
fellow passengers is strictly forbidden. You smile on a train or tube
and people will either think you’re weird, barking mad or have
criminal intent!

So, what happens to these people when they get into work? Do
they step out of tube trauma into a working wonderland? If you
spend the best part of your life at work, you should really be doing
something you LOVE. Brian Mayne puts it beautifully by saying, Do
the thing that makes your heart sing. It’s a lovely sentiment, isn’t
it? So, are you doing that? If you aren’t, chances are work will
excite you as much as that tube journey I referred to, and no-one
who works with you or around will be having much fun either.
Frankly, life is too short to wake up dreading the thought of
getting out of bed to run a business or do a job you can’t stand.
George Burns had it right when he said, I'd rather be a failure at
something I love than a success at something I hate.

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