It is a sad day in the rock-n-roll world.
Meatloaf has died.
Marvin Lee Aday (aka Meatloaf) died Thursday,
"Paradise By the Dashboard Light,” and “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad,” being two of his biggest hits.
I met Mr. Loaf back in the mid '80's when he performed in Springfield, MA. And quite frankly, I am surprised he lived this long as his health was not the greatest, even then. In his performance contract, 6 tanks of oxygen were to be just off stage, just in case he went into some type of conniption.
I often compare Meat to Freddie Mercury, the former lead singer of Queen (now fronted by Adam Lambert).
They both had a commanding stage presence, outsize personalities, but above all, they were performers.
And they never forgot that.
During every show, concert or TV appearance, they gave it their all.
They held nothing back; accelerator pressed to the floor, a massive show.
Could you imagine the disappointment, not to mention the loss of revenue and fans, if they performed at only 70%, or 80% or even 90%?
Even Freddy performed at 110% during the Live Aid concert, all the while dying of AIDS.
What about you and your employees?
Do you give every encounter, transaction,
purchase or service 100%,
100% of the time?
I mean, your first phone call of the day is just as important as the last call of the day. But do the phones get answered the same way each time?
Do you have vehicles in a fleet? How do they look? Are they only cleaned once a week? Do they look as good by Friday as they did on Monday?
Do your serve clients of patients in an office? At the end of the day, is Marge at the front desk as cheerful as she was at 10:00 AM? Is the coffee still fresh? Reception area cluttered?
Adopt this strategy to your business
At Disney,
every employee is called a cast member, and they perform roles in their show.
Let's unpack that one:
- Employee = Cast Member. Their title implies that they are on stage, performing their roles for their audience (the guests).
- Work = Perform: They don't 'work', they perform. Sweeping the streets is a performance. Serving dinner is a performance. Early in the morning, lunchtime and late at night, they perform in the show. they perform the show the same way, no matter what time of the day it is.
- Experience = Show. The show is what the guests have purchased. The experience is what the cast members deliver. Day in and day out.
What do you do? What system(s) do you have in place to insure that your show is performed at 100% every time for every customer?
Send me your thoughts.