This Christmas, my wife decided to go all out and really make this year special. She decorated the tree to make it look department store ready! She took pride and care to ensure each package was carefully wrapped and with beautiful ribbons. Needless to say, the tree looked amazing and the presents to the kids were carefully wrapped and beautifully arranged. It looked like an something from a Martha Stewart show. My kids were very impressed with this display and gave my wife many compliments on the tree and the presents! After a half hour my son pulled me aside in and asked the question, “OK Pops, what’s in the boxes?”

Whether we like the idea or not, your customer judges you and your company within microseconds. And, I have news for you – so do you, when you are the customer! We all do it; making judgements even when no words have been spoken.

How many people do you know who get to plan luxury trips for a living? I am sure it is not many, but at Signature Worldwide our mystery shoppers are some of the lucky few who spend their days dreaming and planning the ultimate luxury get away.

I love to travel.  It’s surprising since I travel extensively for work, that I also chose it as my hobby for leisure.  However, because I still work, I have limited time to vacation.  This means that when I plan a trip, it is going to be a special one.  In the past 10 years, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Patagonia, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, France, Italy again, Peru, Croatia, The Azores, Costa Rica, Nova Scotia, and of course Italy again.  I’ve also managed to fit in some great places in the US in between all those international flights!

Scientists have told us that a first impression is formed within the first 2-7 seconds of meeting someone.  That’s a very short amount of time for someone to form an opinion of you. And yet, we do. In person, on the phone, via email, over social media – no matter the medium, we form very quick decisions on whether we want to deal with the person we’ve met or not.

Online dating, job interviews, seeking out a guest - what do they all have in common?  Obviously, the need for a good first impression! However, where does that first impression take place? If you’re looking for that special someone, a long-term relationship, you complete the form, post it, take a photo, post it and then wait. I mean, wait! Isn’t there something else?

The lament that “there’s nothing good on TV” doesn’t deter me from wanting to be able to watch the tube whenever I want. If the cable company takes the system offline for ten minutes at 2:50 a.m. on Sunday morning, it’s a good bet that I’ll be in nocturnal mode and want to watch something at just that time.

Be careful what you ask for in your customer surveys, because you may get some actionable data.  Of course, this is exactly what we were hoping for when we sent our customer surveys, and our customers did not disappoint.

I’ll warn you: I’m a reader. Like Sesame Street’s Count (a Muppet obsessed with counting everything in his path), I read everything from the small print on soap wrappers to the large print on bus advertising.