I'll never forget walking through a major hotel with the vice president of product development for Hyatt International, Frank C. Ansel III.  The food and beverage director of the hotel knew we were coming, so he had spruced up the place.  Everything at the hotel looked amazing to me, but twenty minutes into the walkthrough, Frank looked at his manager with obvious displeasure.  I asked Frank why he was upset.  "You think he's doing things well because you look but you don't see," Frank said.  He pulled me over to a table and pointed out that the service plates weren't all turned the same way, nor was the flatware placed consistently at each setting.  Frank nodded toward a waiter who was pouring out of the side of a pitcher instead of the spout -- a real no-no in table service.  These are subtle things, but they demonstrated a lack of standards and attention to detail.  When "little" things are off, it means more important standards are probably lacking.  That line, "you look but you don't see," has stayed with me ever since.

-Jon Taffer, Raise the Bar

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the others.

-Norman G. Shidle

It's easy to find information on how to build a team, but how do you know once you've got one?

Think about the businesses you recently walked into that made you feel welcome.  What did the employees do that made you feel welcome?  What aspects of the appearance of the business made you feel welcome?

-Renee Evenson, Customer Service Training 101

Why is the welcome mat such a ubiquitous item?  The mat itself is just functional, but the words on it are there because ultimately, we all want to feel welcomed in wherever we go.  This is especially true with a business: are you losing potential business before you even get your customers in the door, both literally and metaphorically, because they don't feel that sense of welcome? 

No matter who the visitor is or what the situation is, any time you come around from behind your desk and sit near someone, you set up a friendly climate for a more relaxed discussion.

- Emily Post's The Etiquette Advantage in Business

In the course of our consulting work, we've helped hundreds of companies.  With each new client, we often start by asking one simple question: "What do you want your customers to feel and experience when they are interacting with you?"  Seems easy enough to answer, right?  Perhaps - but here's the catch: We ask people to limit their answer to three words.

- Roy Barnes and Bob Kelleher, Customer Experience for Dummies