... focusing on what you can control
Traveling is an amazing way to experience a different way of life, build empathy toward other people, and enjoy what was meant to be enjoyable. During my recent travel I’ve been paying attention to experiences that I had elsewhere.
Once more I proved to myself that our experience is based on so many different things. Some of them people can control, while others they can’t. Take a traditional restaurant somewhere in Lyon. The person who owns this place can cook fantastic food, have excellent service, and traditional design - everything we need to have a memorable experience. Even though he is doing everything right, there is a chance that someone won’t like this place. Why is that? Because he can’t control his customers: our moods, our past experiences, our day before we came to his place.
But there is no point in trying to change something that is almost impossible to control and predict. It’s pointless to spend time and money on it. So why don’t we focus on doing something extra and putting all our efforts into something that we have the power to do well - creating an experience that stands up anyway?!
Treat your customers with a complimentary dessert if you own a restaurant, give a free consultation on how to blow dry someone’s new haircut if you are a hair stylist, or invest more money into creating a great user experience with your website. By doing things that we can control, we are doing our best bet and thinking long term.