Soon, Fake 's in, Real 's out

What's incredible about being with Jaden is the experience of everything that's real. Not a hint of the 'made up'. His laugh, the sparkle in his eyes, the way he beams in pleasure when complimented, is all too real. Even when he expresses anger, screams in frustration, or cries when hurt, is brilliantly real.

As he grows, I guess we and the world will get to him. He will know how to fake and when. Its almost a must for survival. What a pity. I hope, I'd have the guts to exhort him to live real.

The fake 's everywhere. When I walk up the gate of the airline to fly, I am greeted. I appreciate that. But most times, the fake enthusiasm shown at seeing me and the likes of me (read fliers) is apparent. At least to me. Oh, I've had genuine greets. Though rare, they warm you up.

Service brands that want to make it big with customers must get this 'warmth' right. And the only way they can do it, is by putting their people before their customers. It may sound risky, but it isn't. Its the smartest thing to do as a service business. You take care of your people, they take care of your customers. Genuinely.

Note Michael Gates Gill writing in his book, 'How Starbucks saved my Life';

'The ad you were working on was either great or a piece of shit. The game was win or lose. And it wasn't just the ad, that took the hit. You were either a great creative genius or a stupid piece of shit . If you won new clients, you were a hero; if you couldn't get any new clients, you were a bum. There was no in-between. And there certainly wasn't respect or dignity. Those words were literally never mentioned.

Here at Starbucks both Partners and the Guests seemed to agree tacitly that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity. I had never seen any work environment like it. The best fortune 500 companies I had encountered, despite spending months and lots of money writing and publishing high sounding mission statements, never practiced the corporate gobbledygook they preached'.

Comments

Rahul said…
I cannot NOT disregard the fact that you can’t do a good job at faking a smile or anything else for that matter especially if it’s repetitive and not linked to some incentive. Say for instance that an airline pays its cabin crew an additional X amount every time they greet a customer (convincingly), I am sure that the accuracy of the fake smile will go up.
Take a realistic example for the topic in discussion. D&G (Dolce and Gabbana) fakes made in China are increasingly becoming easy for Chinese Custom Authorities to spot and cease due to the sheer volume at which they are being made (A leading documentary and lifestyle channel recently aired a programme on the same). It is estimated that the world black market for fakes is at least 10% of the total world trade.

Rahul Gosain
Matz said…
Nice Post ...
After reading this, I am begining to miss Jaden more...

Popular Posts