Many years ago, when I was in the financial industry, we had a speaker come into our office. His name was Ira Gadan. I remember him well because he had this little phrase that stood out to me called, “Remember the peanuts.” What that meant was to remember the little things that were important to people, like maybe a birthday, an event they attended, or a special vacation place. So, when we bring this up in a future conversation, they’ll feel important as we’ll make them feel special. It also simply shows that we care!
Recently I just returned from Thailand on a two-week vacation/conference, and I want to share some of the events that I experienced in Thailand. First of all, we paid a premium to fly business class on Qatar Airlines. (Which is the only way to go on such a long flight.) As soon as we walked up to the Qatar Airlines counter, all we had to do was hand them our passport and they took care of everything from there.
When we stepped onto the plane, it was an absolute blessing. The attendants were very courteous, kind, and cheerful. We were given pajamas, blankets, chocolates, and toothbrushes. They served us a beautiful, delicious meal, and a couple of glasses of wine. They would make our bed when it was time to sleep. It was truly a wonderful experience. Believe it or not, I actually slept for 9 hours straight.
We had a layover in Doha of where their facility was first class, we were able to get a bite to eat, have a cocktail, relax, and take a little nap. Very unlike the airports here in the United States, where there’s a lot of hustling and bustling.
A couple of experiences I wanted to share about our stay in Phuket. We got together with some friends and went down to Old Town Phuket. We went to this beautiful little restaurant where we had the entire staff wait specifically on us. We were seated at a beautiful table where they made us feel like royalty. What stood out for me was I ordered a Macallan neat and my colleague ordered a Macallan on the rocks. Thought nothing of it, however, the glass came on a little wooden plate, and on this little wooden plate was my drink, a little piece of chocolate, a thin grilled slice of orange with a little starfruit, and a cinnamon stick. This presentation was impressive as it was beautiful. Anywhere else I order a glass of scotch; I just get the glass of scotch. But here, there was a beautiful presentation. And of course, the staff were so cheerful, very kind, and always gracious, of which all those little things stood out to me.
Also, we went to this small place to get fitted for some clothing. Anyone who’s been to Thailand knows that the clothing’s pretty inexpensive. We met Tick, which was her name, she greeted us with a cup of her house coffee. She was the master of sales, I walked out of there with a full custom fitted tuxedo, a sport coat, and three shirts, and I paid a lot less than I would’ve paid in the United States. She was a master of her trade, most importantly, she made it an experience to remember.
And of course, two weeks later, it was time to return home as the trip back was just as nice on Qatar Airlines as it was on the way up.
I share all this because these little experiences that happened along the way stood out and exhibited excellence and caring. All these people and what they’re doing in these organizations, they’re remembering the peanuts, the little things that a lot of people don’t notice, but make a big difference that makes the experience wonderful.
I encourage you to take this reading and think of how you can do little things so the people that deal with you will always remember you and your organization.
COACH MICHAEL DILL is an Award-Winning Certified Business Coach, global speaker, and published author. He is a proud Action Coach Franchise partner as well as the President of Power & Ice Wealth Creation a strategic leadership company that works with business owners, leaders, teams, and entrepreneurs to both develop a systematized and structured organization while accelerating their mindset, efficiencies, and effectiveness to grow both personally and professionally to achieve extraordinary results. He brings more than 40 years of business and entrepreneurial experience in his leadership, team training, and mentoring practice. Businesscoachmichaeldill.com