When my brother Dan is not being an aerospace engineer, he is a volunteer magician. He has been doing magic since he was 14; one of his many passions. I will never forget when my daughter Leah was 3 and he was the magician at her birthday party. He turned an orange handkerchief into a goldfish right before her eyes. Unfortunately, the fish didn't make it by the next day. Leah said that turning into a fish from a handkerchief must have been too much for the poor thing. What a precious memory.
Right before the fish transformation, Dan asked the kids; "What is the magic word?" "Abracadabra?", one enthusiastic kid offered. "Open Sesame" another guessed. "No, think, you know what the magic word is", he encouraged. Finally, after a couple more misses, one of the kids squealed "PLEASE and THANK YOU". "Right!" he said, and then gave her a special toy for guessing correctly and then reminded the kids to always use the magic words.
It's important for us to use the magic words with our customers too. Please let me know how I can serve you better. Please let me know what you think of my service. Please allow me to help you with your problem. Thank you so much for being a customer. Thank you for letting me know what your real experience is of my service. Thank you so much for your referral.
We can't be great without please and thank you. Are you using these magic words enough? Who can you use them with today?
