A Million Dollar Lesson

A cab driver taught me a million dollar lesson in customer satisfaction and expectation．Motivational speakers charge thousands of dollars to impart his kind of training to corporate executives and staff．It cost me a＄12 taxi ride．

I had flown into Dallas for the sole purpose of calling on a client．Time was of the essence and my plan included a quick turnaround trip from and back to the airport．A spotless cab pulled up．The driver rushed to open．the passenger door for me and made sure I was comfortably seated before he closed the door．As he got in the driver's seat，he mentioned that the neatly fol-ded Wall Street Journal next to me was for my use．Hethen showed me several tapes and asked me what type of music I would enjoy．Well！I looked around for a“Can-did Camera！”Wouldn't you？I could not believe the service I was receiving！I took the opportunity to say，“Obviously you take great pride in your work．You must have a story to tell．”

You bet he replied I used to be in rate America．But I got tired of thinking my best would never be good enough．I decided to find my niche in life where I could feel proud of being the best I could be．I knew I would never be a rocket scientist，but I love driving cars，being of service and feeling like I have done a full day's work and done it well．

“I evaluate my personal assets and．．．Wham！I be came a cab driver．One thing I know for sure，to be good in my business I could simply just meet the expec-tations of my passengers．But，to be GREAT in my bus-iness，I have to EXCEED the customer 'sexpectations！I like both the sound and the return of be-ing‘great’ better than just getting by on‘average’ ．”