By Terry Brock, for Business Journals
We’ve heard it before many times that it’s important to focus on the long term good rather than a short-term quick profit. Yesterday, while doing business in Cairns, Australia, I was reminded of an important principle which can help you and me.
We were having lunch at a sidewalk café in the beautiful city of Cairns, which is located on the Pacific ocean in Northern Queensland, Australia. This tropical environment is designed for relaxation, sunshine, and has lots of tourists there for both. When you visit one of their sidewalk cafés you wonder what kind of service you will get. Our server was a gentleman who I estimated would be in his early 20s.
There’s a chance that this gentlemen was working there part-time, or working his way through school. His job as a server might have been his full-time job while he plans for something later on down the road in his career. Whatever the situation, he seemed to be more interested in lots of details of the moment rather than being of service to us.
He was late in taking our order, did not engage in any conversation to get to know us, and seemed rather distant in his approach. On top of that, it took it took 45 minutes from the time we placed our order until we were served. He had no apologies, but only a feeble, “We’re busy,” as an explanation. He even walked away in the middle of a conversation that I was trying to have with him. I guess he had more important things to do than care for people paying his paycheck.
It would be easy to say he is relatively young and probably doesn’t understand the fine details of customer service. But the experience we had left me thinking about what he is missing. He might be focused on just getting through the day instead of serving customers better. However there is a much bigger picture that he’s missing.
Resort facilities like that attract people from around the world. He probably has served many people who are very well off, possibly millionaires, and others who are in the market to hire enterprising, customer-oriented people. Even though he can be very busy, taking a few seconds to connect with customers would serve him long-term.
Think about it. There’s a strong chance many people who he serves are looking for employees. This young server could find a wonderful chance of a lifetime to begin his career and move to something extraordinary later on in life. However, by focusing only on the current moment, he missed the opportunity, at least with us, to develop a further relationship.
Successful entrepreneurs and sales people know that relationships are not just a nice idea, but fundamental to life and business. This young man is also neglecting those contacts who might know someone who could also use his talents.
My point is not to condemn the young man who was our server. It is rather to remind all of us of the importance of being aware to create positive relationships, as much as possible, in each moment. You never know when you’re going to encounter just the right person who can help you in a profoundly positive way. Even a few seconds of kindness and human connection can make a world of difference.
If you get a chance to visit Cairns in Northern Queensland, Australia, I encourage you to visit that wonderful, enchanting place. In whatever line of work you do, make it a point today to make someone else’s life a little better because they encountered you. By constantly focusing on how to make relationships better, you’ll continue to improve your options for the future.
