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One day when I was out of town, I stopped by McDonald’s to grab a quick breakfast. When asked by the cashier, I ordered a McGriddle, a large coffee, and a hashbrown. The lady immediately asked me if I’d like to make that a meal deal, which, of course, would be cheaper. I told her that I would indeed like her to make it a meal deal. I mean, who wouldn’t, right? We’re all in the business of getting more bang for our buck.

The more I thought about this, I wondered, was that a stupid question? Now, bear with me. I know everyone says that there is no such thing as a stupid question. And I am in no way implying that the lady herself was stupid.

But come on, might that be a stupid question? She’s offering me the same meal for a cheaper price. I am in no way inconvenienced by this change in the transaction. I do not have to wait any longer. My order is not altered in any way, other than how it is rung up and charged to me.

Can you honestly think that there is ANY reason that I would say no? If there is NO reason that a customer should object to our adding value to a transaction, should we even ask? Or is asking a marketing a tool? Is it a way of communicating an increase in value and making the customer aware that we’re looking out for them?

If that’s the case, maybe it wasn’t such a stupid question after all.

How can I create something that critics will criticize?

That might sound like a strange question to ask yourself, but take a second to truly think about it. In his book Tribes, Seth Godin says this is a question you must ask yourself if you are ever going to lead a tribe of any kind. He echoes this point again in Linchpin when he argues that people are scared to stand out and become indispensable because attempting to do so attracts criticism. Keeping your head down and following the status quo is safe. No one notices you when you do this. Therefore, no one criticizes you. The concept is pretty simple, right?

I have to admit that I have unintentionally bought into this mentality. I didn’t realize it until Seth Godin made the point so clear to me.

People think it’s fear of failure that keeps them from being brave and breaking norms. But it’s really the criticism that accompanies failure that keeps us from trying something different. (In all fairness, Seth Godin may have made that point also, so credit to him if necessary).

Failure wouldn’t be nearly so bad if people wouldn’t constantly criticize you and remind you of how you went wrong…

Quitting your job and starting your own business didn’t work out so well, did it? Don’t you wish you’d stayed where you were?

That book you spent two years writing didn’t get published. What a waste…

I guess you’re an okay guitarist. I mean, you’re no Jimi Hendrix.

Yeah, criticism like that can hurt. I feel your pain because I’m not nearly as thick-skinned as I wish I were. But even Seth Godin admits that he’s vulnerable to criticism.

When you do something different — when you’re criticized — for some reason, you’re making an impression on someone. You’re standing out in some way. When you fail to push the envelope, you don’t get noticed and you don’t get criticized.

I’ve realized that I need more critics — scratch that, I need more haters — in my life. Rather than doing everything we can to steer clear of the haters, we need to do what we can to get them doing their thing — hatin’. When you do something meaningful, you’re going to have haters. You can count on it. But when you have no haters, no one deterring you from your goal, that’s when you really need to worry. Because that means there’s no chance of failing. And that means there’s no chance of achieving anything worth talking about. No one sees you as a threat, no one is bothered, no one is paying attention.

Again, I want you to take a little time and think about a question: Do you have enough haters in your life?

Having read and enjoyed Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, I decided to try to find some videos of the authors talking more about their philosophies on social media. During the Q&A section of this (50-minute) video, an audience member made a great point. To paraphrase, the audience member made the point that when the Internet was first catching on, the great thing about it was that it was private. People could browse and engage via the Internet while maintaining a level of anonymity. Now, the Internet is becoming more and more transparent. Many of our activities on the Internet are forever — it’s there for all to see, thanks to our friend Google. And it’s no secret that Facebook is doing all that it can to become more open every single day. Think of your interactions on the Web as your “permanent record” now.

After the audience member made up great point, he followed with this question: How do you make people move from that privacy-mindset about the Internet to the open mindset that we’re now moving toward?

Brogan eventually concluded that that’s a tough issue and was unable to give a straight-forward answer to the issue. That’s because you can’t make someone accept it. People don’t like change; some are always going to cling to the way things were.

But they need to accept it. Because the Internet’s opening up, whether we like it or not. There’s no use in talking about whether it’s fair or unfair. This is one of those cases where you’re better off forgetting about “fair” and worrying about what is and what is not.

It is what it is.

I understand the concerns with the open Web. It’s not just about security and identity issues. It’s also about having the freedom to express ourselves without consequences. If someone wants to learn about you, chances are that he’s going to research you through Google, Facebook, or Twitter first. The problem with this transparency is that you never know what will turn someone off. How personal should you be? If someone gets a chance to discover your religious or political views before getting a chance to know you, will he even give you a chance? What if you’re profane or vulgar in an intimate setting but know how to flip the switch over when in a corporate setting? Will someone get the wrong impression about you? By the way, if you think having different personas in these scenarios is simply being two-faced, I’d argue that all of us act differently in different settings with different people. You likely do the same thing; perhaps you’re not aware of it.

As I said, I understand these concerns because they’re some of the same concerns that I have. However, I feel that these fears cause us to be less human. Some of us may tend to hide certain parts of ourselves that we may not hide so much in offline interactions. If I unintentionally say something insensitive or politically incorrect among my friends in an offline setting, word of my slip-up might stop at that group of friends. Or maybe we’ll tell our significant others or some friends outside of the group, but chances are that the whole world won’t be notified. But if I make the same mistake on Facebook or Twitter or somewhere else online, it’s chronicled for all to see, and concrete proof of my slip-up is readily available for distribution.

So we hold back. We reserve. We make sure to conduct ourselves in a corporate-friendly manner, and as a result, we dehumanize ourselves and our networks.

But when the Web opens all of us up to everyone, can that humanity be restored? When everyone is under the same microscope and living under the same fear, can a simple slip-up or differences of philosophy be forgiven and forgotten? Could it teach us to be more tolerant? Or will the open Web only feed our ignorance and prejudices?

This is all just thought with no definite answer. Obviously, I hope that the open Web can add a degree of humanity to our online interactions. But I can’t predict one way or the other.

If there were only one thing that I took away from reading Trust Agents, it would be this: the fundamentals of communication and building trust have not changed. The world of TV, newspaper, and radio advertising that we grew up with were actually quite brief when you look at the history of business and mankind. The best way to build trust now is to get back to basics, to treat people like people and remember that they are people. (Remember, they are not perfect; neither are you).

I’ve accepted that my friends are not perfect offline. Why should I expect them to be perfect online? Why should we expect anyone to be such?

What are your thoughts on this? Could the open Web bring a fundamental shift, or am I just daydreaming?

We spend so much of our time trying to eliminate mistakes. And with good reason — mistakes aren’t usually pleasant. Sometimes it’s just the fact that you messed up that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. Or the criticism that accompanies failure. Or it could be the fact taht you let someone down or angered others.

If you’re looking for a surefire way to eliminate mistakes, you’re going to be disappointed to discovers that it’s impossible to do so. You can minimize the chance of mistakes, but if you’re going to accomplish something worth talking about, eliminating mistakes is impossible.

So, the question is not whether you’ll screw up. The question is, How will you respond?

There’s a certain restaurant nearby — Joe’s Pizza Pasta — that my wife and I love. Perhaps you’ve heard me talk about it before. We usually go on Wednesday nights — Pay What It’s Worth Night. On these nights, the menu has no pricces. You get what you want and pay and tip what you think it’s worth. It’s fun and something worth talking about (obviously, because I’m talking about it right now!)

On one particular night, my wife and I had what could have been a negative experience. But it ended up being very positive. Our waitress had brought our drinks and taken our orders, so we were sitting around and talking while we waited for our food.

After a while, my wife commented that we had been waiting for an unusually long time. You know how it is when you’ve been waiting; you start noticing that the patrons who’ve come in after you are getting their food before you. Soon, I was on board with my wife, we had been waiting a while. Just when we were getting ready to say something, our waitress approached.

She started with an apology. Uh oh. Somehow, our order had gotten lost. The cooks hadn’t even begun cooking our food. She acknowledged that we had waited a while and understood if we wanted to leave. But she gave us another option: we could wait and get our meal for free. Since it was Pay What It’s Worth Night, they couldn’t really give us much of a discount. (What were they going to say — pay half of what you think it’s worth? Or, we’ll give you a free dessert that you technically didn’t have to pay for anyway, given the nature of the night’s special).

So we stayed and enjoyed our free meal. We still tipped our waitress. After all, these things happen. But she and Joe’s Pizza Pasta did the right thing and we left in a good mood.

Rather than leave angry, we were fully and happy. And we’ve been back since then. Sometimes your mistakes are not just screw-ups. They’re opportunities for you to correct something and make yourself a hero. Okay, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic, but I hope you get the point.

As I said, mistakes are inevitable. But now I know that if I go to Joe’s Pizza Pasta and they make a mistake again, they will do the right thing and correct the wrong. Because fo that, they will continue to get my business.

In some ways, because of how they correct it, that mistake may be more valuable than all the orders they ever got right.

If you’ve ever bought or bartered for anything during your lifetime, you have been a customer at some point. As customers, we expect a lot from the people we do business with. We expect the best service and we want it in a timely manner and we want to see a smile on that other person’s face, no matter the circumstances of the transaction. I can’t say that these expectations are unfair. After all, that’s what we pay them for.

In order for a business transaction to take place, two parties must be involved. This is where you come in and play the role of the needy customer. You have a need or a want that must be satisfied. You’ve sought out the service of others and you’re willing to pay — and you’re willing to pay good money. And for that, you want to be treated as if you’re that person’s #1 customer and primary concern. The next time you receive service that isn’t quite up to par and leaves a bad taste in your mouth, ask yourself this one question: Are you a good customer?

Surely you’ve heard the expression “You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”. Do you keep that in mind when you act as a customer? As I said before, it is the responsibility of a customer service representative (whether the person be a waiter, a retail clerk, or a salesman) to give you the best service imaginable. But you can make it easier for someone to give you the service that you deserve.

There was a time when I was a car salesman. The job was a bad fit for me, and as a result, it lasted about 6 months. The wealth that I accrued in that short stint didn’t come in the way of hefty commissions — it came in the way of life lessons. While working as a salesman, I got beaten and abused (okay, I’m exaggerating; it was nothing personal, just purely business). But I did interact with some customers that I felt could have been a bit easier to deal with. After that experience, I’ve made an effort to be a good customer.

If I go to a restaurant and someone gets my order wrong, I don’t yell and curse and make a scene. These things happen to all of us. I’ve goofed up before, and I know I’ll goof up again. All I can ask is that the waiter make an honest effort to correct the mistake. If I feel that the waiter couldn’t care less, then I get upset. But not before that point.

Sallie Mae has angered my wife and me far too many times. Over the course of a year, they’ve messed up my wife’s payments three times. The first time she made a payment on her student loans, they didn’t disperse the payment evenly amongst her loans and said that she had a late fee. A couple of months ago, they credited her payment to my account, even though the checks had separate account numbers on them. And then last month, they said they hadn’t received her payment even though they had. Oh yes, it’s been a fun ride with Sallie Mae. But when I call customer service, I don’t yell at the representatives. After all, it’s not the fault of the individual I’m talking to. Unfortunately, it’s his job to take the flak and fix the situation.

I don’t want to be the customer that people hate to see coming. I like to think that by being nice to the people I do business with, I make it possible to receive the best service that they have to offer. And believe me, I want the best service that I can get.

So, now I ask you: are you a good customer?

In his wonderful book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the battle for the soda pop market during the 1980’s between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. In a nutshell, Pepsi did blind taste tests and asked consumers whether they preferred Pepsi or Coca-Cola, and the results were overwhelmingly in Pepsi’s favor. When Coca-Cola heard the news, they freaked out. The end was near, it was inevitable. They were losing their share of the market and Pepsi was taking over.

How did Coca-Cola respond? By changing its classic formula. After developing “New Coke”, they tested it with consumers and were satisfied with the results. Feeling that they’d found their solution to their Pepsi problem, the company decided to push New Coke to the masses. Their tests and research proved that they were ready to regain their position as the undisputed leader in the soda industry.

But a funny thing happened when New Coke hit the market. People freaked out. They hated the change. They wanted their old Coke back. I didn’t get to see these freakouts personally, but I imagine that it all went something like this. In order to calm everyone down and restore order to the chaos, Coca-Cola went back to their old formula, giving people the “Classic Coke” that they’d fallen in love with in the past.

Now, you might be saying: Jake, that’s a great story, but what does that have to do with anything? Well, let’s think about this for a second. Pepsi had administered these test and had data and research that showed that they were going to overtake Coca-Cola as #1 in the soda market. Coca-Cola changed their formula, and they had data and research that concluded that their new formula was going to get them back on top. But that blew up in their faces. So they went back with the original formula – and guess what – they kept their spot as #1.

By doing nothing different, Coca-Cola maintained its success. What does this tell us?

Sometimes you can’t rely only on data. Sometimes you have to go with your gut and see that your ideas and dreams are executed.

I’m sure there was a time when research would have shown that Google’s culture could not succeed in corporate America. Research and data did say that Raising Cane’s, a fast food restaurant that serves only chicken fingers, could not succeed. I’m sure you can think of other businesses that defied the odds and conventional wisdom and went on to be the envy of the business world. And those people who create such businesses – you know what we call them? Entrepreneurs.

So stop being so damn analytical. Defy the data; take a chance every once in a while.

There’s a local coffee shop that I’ve fallen in love with during my short time of living in North Richland Hills. I’m so sick of Starbucks and I’m always looking for alternatives wherever I go. However, like it or not, Starbucks is good at what it does. Unfortunately, that means that they make it incredibly difficult for the local coffee shops to survive. But there’s one that I try to visit whenever I can — Roots Coffeehouse on Highway 26.

One reason I love Roots is their live music. Every Friday and Saturday night, artists get to stand on their small stage located at the front of the shop and play a few tunes. It’s free for the customers and it’s a pleasant way to spend a weekend night. I love music but can’t afford to go to concerts as often as I’d like, so the price is perfect for me! And it’s only a few miles from my place, it beats driving all the way to Dallas.

Recently I went on a Saturday night. Minus the baristas, there were only three people present. One was yours truly and one was a guy waiting to play his acoustic set. I have no idea who in the hell the other guy was. In my short time of going to Roots, I’d never seen it so empty. As the 8 o’clock showtime approached, I wondered if the artist would play his set. And when 8 o’clock rolled around, he did.

I’m sure he wasn’t particularly excited about the lack of crowd, but he proceeded to do his thing. And he didn’t halfass it. He played with enthusiasm and dedication, nothing sloppy. The artist talked to “the crowd” and thanked us for coming out. And, by the way, his voice was pretty good, even if he was fighting off some allergies.

How many people might not have performed under such circumstances? How many people would have let the awkwardness of the situation discourage them? How many times have you slacked off when no one was watching? How many times have I done the same? How many times have we passed on this moment to shine — those rare opportunities that we have to make a name for ourselves?

Everybody knows who Michael Jordan is. He’s often heralded as the greatest basketball player that the world has ever seen. His resume is very impressive: 6-time NBA champion, 5 league MVP awards, 14 NBA All Star game appearances, 10 scoring titles, three steals titles, and 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, to name a few (thank you,Wikipedia). All of that is impressive. But another thing Jordan is often given credit for is playing his heart out in practice. Legend has it that he was just as competitive when the primetime lights were off, when the rest of the country wasn’t watching. How many players truly do that? Allen Iverson never did.

Are you thinking about starting your own venture in the future? Or are you in the beginning phases right now? Guess what, nobody’s watching. But if you keep performing and catch the right person’s eye, maybe the word will spread and more people than you could possibly imagine will be watching someday. If you expect people to care, you’ve got to give them something to care about. And nobody cares about that guy who halfasses it. You’ve got to perform hard. Always.

Oh and if you’re wondering who I was talking about who kicked ass at Roots on that Saturday night, his name is Israel Gonzales. Give him a shot, you might like what you hear.

Imagine this scenario:

It’s your typical workday morning. You hit the snooze button a few times and struggle to pull yourself from the bed in time to shower and groom and dress yourself before heading off to the office. You think about making some coffee before you leave, but you don’t quite feel up to the task and you’ve got a few bucks burning a hole in your pocket, so you decide to stop somewhere to get a cup of java.

Before getting to the office, you stop at your local coffee shop. You’re greeted as soon as you walk in the door. The people behind the counter are full of energy, happy and smiling, and eager to make you the perfect drink to kick your day off. You make a special request — something not on the menu — and the barista just smiles and accommodates. She makes sure that your drink is made just the way you want it. And she delivers it to you — still smiling — and thanks you for stopping in and wishes you a good day when you walk out the door. You say thank you back and head out the door and rush into your car, hoping that you make it to the office in time.

Now imagine this scenario:

Before hopping in your car, you realize that you don’t have as much money as you initially thought, so you decide to stop at the local convenience store for your cup of joe. When you walk in, the attendant doesn’t acknowledge you. He’s too busy texting on his phone. You walk up to the coffee pot. Before pouring a cup, you ask the attendant how fresh the coffee is. He just shrugs and mumbles something that sounds like “I don’t know,” but you’re not sure. You decide to take a chance and pour a cup and you walk to the counter. The attendant rings you up, all while never looking up from his phone. He never makes eye contact, never smiles. When he takes your payment card, he doesn’t even ask if you want it to be run as debit or credit! And you have to ask for a receipt. You walk out the door, annoyed and angered. And the attendant can’t even look up from his phone to thank you for your time and business.

I’m sure we’ve all had experiences like both of these scenarios. When we experience the first scenario, chances are we don’t think much about it. At least not consciously. We’re not angered, so there’s not much to say.

But in that second scenario, you notice everything the attendant does. Or doesn’t do.

Which brings me to my point: People might not notice what you do, but they will notice what you don’t do. The little details — those little things that take a little bit of effort — might not be recognized. You might not get a lot of praise for them. But what if you don’t do those little things? What if you cheap out with your time and effort and give people the bare minimum? Well, maybe you won’t hear about it then either. But you can be damn sure that everyone your customers associate with will hear about it.

Don’t overlook the details. People might not notice what you do, but they do notice what you don’t do.

A few months ago, a friend of mine told me that he got to watch a presentation given by Myra Golden, Customer Loyalty Expert. My friend’s group was already excelling at customer service. Their scores were consistently high and they were the shining star of their company.

It would seem that Myra had nothing to talk about. But he told me about an interesting question she asked, something along the lines of: “How is your internal customer service?” How is your customer service among yourselves?

I never really thought of it like that before. We all know the importance of relationships inside a firm or organization. But to call it customer service? You mean that we’re customers to each other even though we work together?

Maybe not exactly, but that’s a great way of looking at it. The fact is, that if you and I are in the same organization — the same team, if you will — we will have to collaborate at some point. I will need something from you, and you will need something from me. The last thing we need is to dread interactions and transactions with each other. We should do as much as possible to make our professional relationships work. When we do this, everyone wins. We get things done, we’re more efficient, and we look like rock stars. We’re happy, our employees are happy, and our external customers are happy because they get the best service in the easiest manner.

But if we spend all our time, failing to cooperate and pointing fingers at others, everyone loses. Especially our customers.

Friday afternoon my wife and I went for a spontaneous walk into the woods. We don’t do things like this too often, so it was quite the little adventure. The moment we set foot into the woods, my eyes were wide open and working overtime, anxiously waiting for some ferocious critter to jump out at us. Fortunately, no such thing happened. However, we did spot a rabbit near a tree and a few turtles sunbathing on a log in a pond. Our walk was a pleasant break from the norm, and it’s something that we should do more often. The most amazing part of the walk was that my wife was on her planning period. My wife teaches at a charter school and the woods we were exploring were part of her school’s 22-acre campus. If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

My wife enjoys many perks teaching at her charter school. As I just mentioned, the physical environment of her school is unique. I can’t think of many public schools that get to enjoy being so close to nature. Often, at PE, the kids go on hikes. Don’t worry, there are trails clearly marked for them to follow.

But some of her perks aren’t so obvious to the naked eye. My wife has more freedom in the classroom than most public school teachers enjoy. She has a set of things that she must teach, but she doesn’t have to stick to a strict schedule. If she feels the need to tweak her lesson plans just a bit, she can do so. Her school has a more relaxed environment. If she felt that a lesson could be better taught with the help of the great outdoors, she could hold class outside. Think how much that 22-acre campus must come in handy to a middle school science teacher.

Also, my wife takes full advantage of her school’s casual faculty dress code. And I can’t say I blame her, I’d do the same if I could.

Along with all the other teachers at her school, my wife could teach at an ordinary public school and likely earn close to $10,000 more a year. But we’ve both decided that the extra money isn’t worth it. Why? You can’t beat the environment that my wife works in. She’s happy where she is, and many of us search our whole lives seeking happiness in the workplace and never find it. So many of us make the mistake of thinking that higher wages will translate to happiness. But that’s not true. We all know that.

Think of what we can accomplish if we create an environment that people want to be a part of. What if we create an environment that people talk about. And brag about. An environment that others envy.

We all know what it’s like to work in a miserable environment. At least I know what it’s like. And it’s not fun. It makes the job seem much worse than it actually is. But what about an environment that you look forward to seeing every workday. An environment worth getting excited about. I wonder what that must be like.

Oh yeah, I can just ask my wife. She says it’s awesome.