Vacation – it’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Apparently not in the United States. ABC News reports that only 57% of Americans take all of their vacation time, compared to the French who use 89% of their vacation days. When I read these percentages, I wasn’t surprised. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been on vacation with friends who have assumed the hunched, round-shouldered position of typing into a Blackberry or laptop when they could be reclining on a beach chair soaking up the rays or hiking on a cool and refreshing mountaintop trail.

I, too, am guilty. The minute we see an email, text, tweet  or other form of correspondence from work, we immediately go back into “work-mode.” Those messages from the office start a chain reaction of worry and dread. With so many Americans concerned about the security of their jobs, it’s easy to understand why the old cliché “out of sight, out of mind” is so popular. If we are at least emailing and texting, we’re present and accounted for, right?  Seems that Americans will do whatever they have to in order to protect their jobs even if it means compromising their health and relationships. The popular trend right now is to take long weekends, but does this approach really allow us to relax and let go? Somehow I doubt it, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

But let’s look at the benefits of really taking time off from work and fully enjoying our vacation days:

• Reconnecting with family and those we love
• Reduced stress
• Improved creativity
• Improved job performance
• Burnout prevention
• Reestablishing priorities
• Creating vacation memories for our children
• Treating our customers better

As CEOs, managers, and supervisors, it is our responsibility to set the example for our employees. We need to let them know that it is not only okay for them to take time off from work, it is highly encouraged. If you haven’t had a vacation in a while, maybe it’s time you scheduled one. While you’re at it, schedule the next one, too. You’ll be ahead of the game and maybe even get a better rate for the flight.

Now if you’ll please excuse me, I need to hop online to see if there are any good vacation deals going on out there right now…I hear the beach calling!

“His heart’s not in it.” It was an odd remark to overhear, especially given the profusion of red-and-pink heart shapes that fill the pre-Valentine days.  A young man was describing how his supervisor was skipping meetings and stalling on big and small tasks that keep a workplace humming.  Apparently the boss was busy counting the minutes till his retirement. He no longer cared about anything or anyone else, including bringing his replacement up to speed.  So unfair to everyone counting on him, from bewildered staff to unhappy customers—some of whom might assume the guy’s not only retiring, but the business is history too.

Contrast that with a woman I know whose two retail boutiques were always a source of ready enthusiasm. “You HAVE to see this!” she’d bubble to a newly arrived customer. “I know you’ll want it.” No matter the season, or if she was coming down with the flu, whether her part-time helper was late arriving, or a shipment was missing, she’d stay upbeat. She put her heart into every sale and every task. Her enjoyment at matching customers to the perfect new product was genuine, and her eyes sparkled when she took special orders, delighting in the idea of finding the ideal accessory or color to please a particular person. Even when business slowed, she kept the pep quotient high. You couldn’t go in her boutique without feeling a charge of energy.

When she decided to pursue a different career path, gradually closing her shops, she remained enthused up to the end, no matter how few customers browsed the deeply discounted treasures. Her drive and her pride remained in high gear.  “I’m making a transition, but that doesn’t mean I stop the music,” she said. “When you care about something, you carry it through to the end.”

Is your heart still in what you’re doing? If not, revive it with a dose of recalled enthusiasm. Revisit a past success, or check out a colleague’s idea.  Keeping your heart in anything will keep your energy up, and that will hearten the customers around you. Contact Market Viewpoint today to learn about our motivational training and leadership programs, all designed to help you retain more customers.

Competition is steep these days, but how does this impact the customer experience? If you have a good idea for a new product or service, it won’t be long before a bunch of competitors will be trying to steal away your market share. But is competition really a bad thing? I spent some time thinking about the impact it’s had on my business and customers over the years are here are five things I’ve come up with that are very positive in nature – and in the long run, have helped me feel better about having to compete.

First, competition makes us take massive action in our businesses. Because competition is a looming threat for all businesses in all industries, it forces us to act quickly to bring new ideas to the market.

Second, competition forces the creation of new products and services. It challenges us to think of ways to improve existing brands in our product/service lines. Without the competition breathing down our necks we may never feel the need to be creative and innovative and many products and services might never make it to market.

Third, competition forces us to take better care of our clients. It impresses upon us the need to keep the customer at the center of our focus every single day. If we’re not taking care of our customers, someone else will.

Fourth, competition keeps us honest and practicing our trades and professions in fair and equitable ways. It gives the customer comparisons so they can make an intelligent choice of which products and services are right for them.

Fifth, competition keeps our sights set on the future – constantly looking for that next idea, next service, next great thing that will improve the lives of our customers and keep them asking for more.

Be good to your customers so your competitors never get the chance to!

Mystery Shopping reports are a gold mine of information. It never ceases to amaze me how much our clients get out of each and every single report.  I was making some client contact calls today, and had the good fortune to actually talk to some of our clients in person rather than leave a voicemail. One of our relatively new clients confessed that, at first, the mystery shopping process was very intimidating to the staff. Most feared this was a tool that would be used to fire people and in a down economy, I am not surprised that employees felt this way. As the conversation contiuned, my client told me the employees were at a point where they actually look forward to getting the results of the evaluations. At first, I thought this was a bit unusual but the more I thought about it, the more I could see how this could happen and it all has to do with the way a program is introduced and managed. Here are some of the ways this company put a positive spin on their program:

• The mystery shopping process was launched as a way for management to assess operational procedures not individual employees. Big difference here.
• Employees were encouraged to think of mystery shopping as a way for everyone to improve and be more competitive.
• Supervisors and subordinates use the mystery shops each month as a way to open up discussions. The employees see management as coaches, there to help them be the best they can possibly be.
• Good performance is rewarded. What gets rewarded gets repeated.

So as you think about the impact that a mystery shopping program might have on your employees, consider the fact taht it just might be the best thing you could possibly do to coach your staff to higher levels of achievement.