The attached photo is of Caroline St. which is located in my hometown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Caroline St. leads right into the heart of tourist district and it was the starting point to a recent afternoon with a close friend. Although I came in the way most folks take to view the city, I quickly diverted to some of the lesser known side roads. My friend has visited Fredericksburg a few times over the years, but readily shared that he never explored areas off the beaten path. His eyes were opened to new sites and experiences. As the afternoon progressed, we ended up at a local eatery along the Rapphannock River. As we took in the view, our mutual passion for sales and customer loyalty started entering into our conversation. My friend shared that he is most loyal to suppliers that make it a point to meet with him once a year to discuss the state of the union and provide ideas on how to do things differently. Bottom line, we both agreed that organizations that can build this philosophy into their processes will be the most successful at keeping their customers. Here’s how I see my road trip applying to most businesses. Customers need to be on the right road, but perhaps more importantly they need to be shown new roads to challenge the status quo and stimulate change within the organization.

Do you know how your customer’s really feel? It takes courage to reach out proactively and ask for feedback. Using a third party will get you the objective and actionable feedback you need to keep your customers. Don’t be afraid!

From the series King of Hearts/Southland Christian Church- “Don’t wear the expectations of others. You are not made for that. Just be you, and let God handle the rest.” Gary Black.

I watched a video on ambition yesterday. Evan McLaughlin from Northpoint church shared, “Surrendered ambition is leveraged by God to create the best destination for you.” I am keeping this in mind this Wednesday as I experience the ups and down of life.

This is from Andy Stanley’s talk on time. In terms of time, there is no purpose apart from context. We are like a pile of computer parts which all seem to be worthless until we know what they are connected to. Purpose requires connection. If you get disconnected from God, you are like all the computer parts just sitting in a box with no place to go.

I listened to Jon Weece this morning who is the author of Me Too! Here a couple good thoughts from the book:
1. Relationships struggle when one person thinks they’re less sinful than the other person.
2. We impress people with our strength, but we connect with our weaknesses.

I was listening to Darren Hardy this morning and made a good point. All of us want things like new cars, boats and peace of mind. Very few of us want to suffer what it takes to get these things in life. The sacrifices, discipline and suffering are just not worth the benefit. What are you willing to suffer for?

From the book Exceptional Service and Exceptional Profit.

5 Traits
Genuine Personal Warmth/Kindness.
Empathic Skill.
An optimistic, upbeat attitude.
A team orientation.
Conscientiousness.

Reading a book called Exceptional Service & Exceptional Profit. One of the key points mentioned about culture and attitude- Suggest in the strongest terms that you think of every one of your customers as a core customer and treat the loss of a customer as a tragedy to be avoided.

From the book Move Toward the Messes by John Hambrick-“We will never meet the best version of ourselves inside our comfort zones.” A comfort zone is not a great place to live because nothing much happens. It is a good place to recuperate, but it starts to get boring.