Thunder Bay Business August 2012 colour

August 2012

Successful Thunder Bay Business Turns 50: Smith’s RV Centre See Inside Pages 5-12

YURI STEZENKO 2012 Recipient of the Life Member Designation ONLINE COUNSELLING GOES LIVE IN THUNDER BAY The Shocking Truth About Your Image Four bizarre reasons customers may not like you Toronto Is A Definite Place To Visit

THUNDER BAY CELEBRATES COMPLETION OF PHASE ONE SeePage 15 “2012 Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey Suggests Optimism See Page 2

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THUNDER BAY BUSINESS AUGUST 2012

“2012 Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey Suggests Optimism

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

Thunder Bay BUSINESS

Executive Summary Completion of the “2012 Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey” marks the fifteenth year since the inception of the survey, which gives a voice to the small business community of the region. The Thunder Bay Business Opinion Survey provides third parties with an in-depth analysis of the thoughts of small businesses. The findings of the survey include both quantitative and qualitative aspects, and also examine the recent and future environmental conditions that small businesses operate under. Every effort was made to ensure that the statistics and data represented the population and that all bias was eliminated.

The survey presented findings in several key areas that should be noted: 1. Hiring expectations for the next 12 months have decreased in comparison to last year’s results, with 49% of firms planning to hire additional employees, down from 51% in 2011. 51% of firms are not planning to hire additional employees, and 0% of firms are planning to lay off employees. The employment trends in the last five years indicate that the number of firms planning to expand is increasing. It is important to note that firms currently have an average of 6 full time workers and 4 part timers.

2. 74% of respondents feel that economic growth in Thunder Bay is positive.

There has been a significant trend in the past four years indicating that small business owners are more confident that the economy is on its track to recovery.

In 2009 only 28% of respondents had optimistic thoughts in regards to economic growth, and over the past three

years it has continually increased to its peak percentage of 74% in the current year.

3. The belief that the mining industry is having a positive impact on Thunder Bay’s economy has remained consistently strong over the past three years.

Thunder Bay’s small business owners gave mining a score of 3.85 out of 5, ranking it as the most important industry sector. Mining is also ranked very high in regards to its importance to the future of Thunder Bay, while respondents feel that forestry is not important to the future of our economy. The OLG Casino has a steady score of 2.45, indicating that business owners still have negative thoughts towards the impact of the casino. The score of the waterfront development has increased significantly since last year, from 2.99 to 3.55, indicating that small business owners are gaining faith in the benefits of this process.

4. Small business owners showed a significant increase in their feelings towards

future security. In 2011, 83% of small businesses possessed a feeling of security, while the 2012 survey saw that number increase to 85%. This increase shows a strong positive trend since 2005. This should be monitored closely in the future to determine what affect the current conditions are having on small businesses.

5. Respondents’ perceptions in regards to the City of Thunder Bay meeting their needs are not positive. Almost every factor that was questioned has dropped from last year’s results, all the results are below the midpoint of three. This indicates that the City of Thunder Bay is not meeting the needs of Thunder Bay’s small business owners.

6. Small business owners seem to have a reached a common opinion that raising taxes in the short- term to eliminate the deficits at a faster pace is not a good idea. 69% of respondents feel negatively about this idea, which is following a trend in comparison with the previous year’s results. However, this is a significant drop from the 87% in 2011.

Royden Potvin, Manager Thunder Bay Ventures “ When we ask small business about their future business prospects they come back positive. It is good news, hiring expectation are there. This is a very good indicator of how people are feeling about their business.” “ We have businesses generally under 30 employees, not franchises or big box stores. We want to get to the owner of the business that lives in town. Thunder Bay has an aging population in this city that is reflected in the age of our respondents to the survey.” “ We could see a dip in the economy but I think it may be more because of the government cut backs. Our real dip was when the forestry downturn occurred.

The waterfront is a positive now because they see action and people coming down to the waterfront.” “ In the mining area many of the investments are still developing.”

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YURI STEZENKO 2012 Recipient of the Life Member Designation TORONTO: June 20, 2012. . . Brent Battistelli, Chair of Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG), John F.T. Scott, President and CEO, and the CFIG Board of Directors are pleased to announce Yuri Stezenko of Quality Market as a 2012 recipient of CFIG’s prestigious Life Member Designation.

has rubbed off on his sons David and Dan, who continue to carry on the Stezenko name as leading entrepreneurs in Thunder Bay.” Yuri Stezenko will be officially recognized on Monday October 1st at Grocery Innovations Canada 2012, Canada’s premier grocery exposition and conference, during CFIG’s Luncheon of Honour, taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

In March of 1949, Yuri Stezenko came to Canada at the age of nine. His family fled the Communist regime and the second Great War. They settled in the small village of Hurkett, Ontario and Yuri began his education in a small one-room school. Five years later, the family moved to Port Arthur, Ontario (now called Thunder Bay.) It was there that he began his grocery career, when he was hired by Canada Safeway as a courtesy clerk. Yuri had aspirations of entering the diplomatic field, but the offer of a promotion to assistant manager changed his career path. After more than thirty years, managing numerous stores and acting as relief district manager, Yuri was offered an opportunity to open his own store.

This lined up well with his passion to serve his community and his life-long desire to have his own business. So it was with much prayer and the support of his wife and three children that the decision was made to purchase their first

store. Thus, Quality Market was born in 1988, and seven years later another store was acquired.

Yuri could not have envisioned a state-ofthe-art Quality Market Fresh store providing fresh and prepared foods for shutins and busy professionals, nor on-line shopping for local customers and as an outreach to northern communities. But these are some of the ways the company is growing.

After more than 49 years in the grocery business, Yuri retired and turned the stores over to his two sons, David and Dan.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG) is a non-profit trade association founded in 1962, which continues to be a collaborative community, equipping and enabling independent, franchised and specialty grocers for sustainable success. Representing over 4000 grocery retailers from every part of Canada, CFIG is a strong and united voice for independent grocers, providing programs for operational excellence, facilitating educational and training programs and fostering enabling-relationships among retailers and suppliers. CFIG is a respected organization that speaks confidently for its retail members to industry, government, and the consumer.

“For years, Yuri was the unofficial torchbearer for grocers in North Western Ontario” said John Scott, President and CEO of CFIG. “The passion and dedication he displayed towards his craft was infectious and his commitment to CFIG

ONLINE COUNSELLING GOES LIVE IN THUNDER BAY

By Sherry Aalto Recently the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, in partnership with Catholic Family Development Centre and Children’s Centre Thunder Bay, proudly announced that online counseling services would now be available. You now have the option to access professional counseling at the click of a mouse. Thunder Bay Counselling Centre Executive Director,

Nancy Chamberlain, says “The internet is changing the way people shop, connect with friends, do banking and as of today, also changes the way people in the city get access to health services. Online counseling completely changes the way counseling is conducted in Thunder Bay. Anyone who can navigate the web, can enter the world of online counselling.

The ‘go-live’ event was held at the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, located

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at 544 Winnipeg Avenue. Those in attendance got to witness the online service first hand as a counselor demonstrated how a session works. The service is based on confidential, secure e-mail exchanges, creating an automatic transcript of all sessions for the client. Children’s Centre Thunder Bay Executive Director, Tom Walters, says; “This is an effective way of providing counselling. Writing about one’s experiences can itself be therapeutic and the transcription allows for greater transparency as clients can go back and review previous e-mails.”

Online counselling records thoughts and feelings, similar to journeying and is a means to reach out to all age groups. The service has the power to reach out to clients that counselors typically wouldn’t get to work with. Catholic Family Development Centre Executive Director, Rob Barrett, says; “For some people it is almost a challenge getting to an office for a counselling session. With busy schedules and people living in remote or isolated areas, clients now have the option to

receive counselling right at their fingertips, on their own terms.”

Back in April of 2011, the three agencies announced that online counselling services were coming to the web in Thunder Bay. Since then, ten counsellors have gone through training and are now certified to provide the service.

Those interested in online counselling can contact the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, Children’s Centre Thunder Bay or the Catholic Family Development Centre.

All potential clients will go through a prescreen process to ensure serious cases are handled face-to-face. After determining that a client can get online treatment, they will be provided with a website to go to, where they can securely register and log into their very own confidential e-mail system.

A leading grant maker in Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities. There are many benefits to be realized for clients with the newly developed online counselling services.

From time constraints, physical mobility, cost of travel, even if it is just across town, transcripts of sessions for reflection and many more benefits. For further information, please contact Intake Services at (807)684-1880. Web sites are www.tbaycounselling.com , www.childrenscentre.ca , www.catholicfamilycentre.ca .

THUNDER BAY BUSINESS AUGUST 2012

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Continued from Previous Page Today Smith’s RV Centre is a goodsized business with a full time staff of 30.

They carry between $3.5 to $5 million dollars in retail inventory. The business also owns another 6000 square foot location on Squier Street they use for storage. Smith’s RV Centre specializes in RV, marine, snowmobile and ATV. The regular tow behind trailer is the most popular product for them today. The company is part of what is known as the dealer 20 group, which is a grouping of similar businesses as theirs located across Canada. It gives them better insight into how other dealers across Canada operate. “ We can share information and help each other to bring the levels of the group overall up.” said Jason. “ We have the largest parts store of anyone in our group across Canada. For areas of the same population we are a large store. In larger centers like Toronto they are bigger.” “ At Smith’s RV Centre we are famous for our parts store as it is a lot bigger than the average store across Canada and the US. We can serve the clients better.” said Scott Smith. “ In NW Ontario we serve a zone 4 hours around us but we don’t go into the US. We encourage customers outside of our zone to use their local dealer,” said

Sherry Johnstone, who performs controller duties at Smith’s RV Centre.

Smith’s RV Center is continually improving their main Cobalt Crescent location “ You have to keep up the building, its usability and presentation.

Customers like to go into an area that is

clean, nice, new and updated. You don’t want to look tired. We want to make sure we are clean, friendly and fresh,” said Jason Johnstone. This year a new floor was installed at Smith’s RV Centre.

What's on the horizon for Smith’s RV Centre? “ Short term we want to work with our

staff on process and procedures to get better and serve the client well. You need to improve. You get better, improve you systems and can offer customers products for less or equivalent money.” said Jason Johnstone.

Continued Next Page

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Continued from Previous Page “ It is an interesting business climate now, much more technical than in the past.

It has totally changed from when we started. It takes a lot of energy to keep up with all the product lines and training your staff.

The technology changes every 3 months,” said Scott Smith. “ Comparing the RV of

THUNDER BAY BUSINESS AUGUST 2012

General Manager, Jason Johnstone. “ My role is to train and supervise mechanics in the back shop and help with customer service. Service is our number one goal.”

Brad Johnstone and Jason Johnstone will assume ownership of the Smith’s RV Centre in the upcoming years. Brad’s job title will remain the same but he will take on a greater role with more emphasis on morale and taking care of the staff and customers in a different way. Service manager Bart Foglia will remain in his role. “ I love dealing with people. It is very rewarding when you can see a customer leave with a smile on their face. Also feeling your employees are happy working here and your customers are just as happy is important. It goes hand in hand that the employees and customers are both happy and treated fairly.” said Brad Johnstone.

today to say 1990 you get much more than what you got in many years. For what you get today it is cheaper than buying in 1990.”

Brad Johnstone is the Shop Foreman at Smith’s RV Centre and the brother of

Today the economy in Thunder Bay is very strong according to Jason Johnstone.

“The traffic flow is as good as I ever seen it here. People are excited about buying toys and enjoying their life away from work, spending time with their families on the water or what have you. It is a strong as I have seen it in the last 10 years. We are excited about the prospects for the economy. It has changed quite a bit over the last decade and I see a lot of potential.,” said Jason Johnstone.

Brad and Jason Johnstone will assume ownership at Smith’s RV Centre in the upcoming years to carry on the family tradition.

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The parts department of Smith’s RV Centre is one of the largest in Canada. Humble beginnings on the porch and the progression began.

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Above: Early beginnings of Smith’s RV Centre in Dorion, Ontario Technology today has really changed the business.

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Side: Jason Johnstone, General Manager, Sherry Johnstone, Controller, Scott Smith, owner, Doris and Alex Smith, founders of Smith’s RV Centre The current day showroom features a huge display of parts and accessories!

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Travel Feature : The Next La Costa Golf, Spa, and Food Equals Relaxation

BY SCOTT A. SUMNER

Thunder Bay BUSINESS The west coast of North America is always a nice place to visit and during the last week of April I had the opportunity to travel to the San Diego, California area and specially the famed La Costa resort.

Your trip to La Costa is really quite easy with a short flight to Toronto from my home city of Thunder Bay, Ontario to Toronto and then a direct Air Canada flight to San Diego. You will arrive a t 1pm at the San Diego airport and after a 30 minute car ride enter the beautiful 450 acre La Costa grounds. As the LAX airport at Los Angeles got bigger and reached their capacity the San Diego airport benefits with more direct flights. They also have the John Wayne Airport just North of here some 45 miles at Carlsbad.

Paul Joseph McCormick is the Vice President and General Manager of La Costa located in Carlsbad, California. He grew up in the Niagara Falls, New York side and came often to Trout Lake, Ontario near Barrie Bay in Canada where his family still owns a cottage. Paul went to college in Las Vegas, spent 6 years working in Hawaii, opened the Luxor in Las Vegas and worked at the Grand Traverse Resort, Michigan and PGA West Barton Creek before coming to La Costa.

The La Costa property was originally built in 1965 and at that time it was the place to go with a destination spa, one of the first in the US and a beautiful golf course. “ In those days the men's side of the spa was about 2 1/2 times the size of the ladies spa.

Then the old cronies would go in and get massages. Today it has all changed. The ladies spa is about 2 1/2 times the size of the men's.” said McCormick.

Through the years La Costa has had a high profile holding 37 PGA events and also having an array of the Hollywood set visit.

Even recently they have had many celebrities like actors, TV personalities and sports figures so La Costa has a rich history. In the old days the Rat Pack would do a warm up here with their lounge show and after that take a break and go to Las Vegas.

Once you are at La Costa you are with in a close distance to many other areas including 1 1/2 hours up the road to Los Angeles. La Costa was built in 1965, had its hay day and then a Japanese company bought it. They experienced some trouble and KSL bought it in 2001 and started a full renovation process. KSL owns Club Corp which has 160 golf clubs including the Club Link properties in Canada, Western Athletic Clubs, the Squaw Valley ski area, Orion Cruise Lines in addition to the KSL resorts which has 6 properties.

Their head offices are in Denver.

In 2006 KSL sold the property to Goldman Sachs and retained the management contract . They owned it for 4 years until 2010 and then KSL brought the property back from Goldman Sachs because they were having a rough go, as it was a tough time to be in the hotel business. " After buying the property back we started a $50 million renovation which included the Champions Golf Course, all of our food and beverage outlets, the meeting space, guest rooms and our retail outlets as

well as the overall aesthetics of the resort,” said McCormick. “ It is a stunning place.

Our plans are to move forward with some improvements to the second course including fairways, tees, greens, irrigation and then the aesthetics. On the Champions course 75% of the work we completed you can’t even see, as it was all underground.

We wanted proper drainage.”

room package which can run for a couple from $600 to $800 night. La Costa offers so much to do with 42 different classes every week in fitness as part of your expe-

“ Steve Pate and I started working together in 2003 and joined formally in 2006. We made 23 visits to the course during con-

La Costa is located on 450 acres on prime real estate in Southern California with a tremendous location an hour from Orange County, 1 1/2 hour from LA and 30 minutes north of downtown San Diego. They are in a sweet spot with a good density of population. La Costa has 610 rooms at the resort ranging from villa products with 3 bedrooms to your standard hotel rooms, some on the course and other near private pools. The property is spread out more campus style so there is lots of walking to enjoy the gardens and foliage. La Costa has received many accolades including the number 1-wellness spa in the nation. “ We leveled the first spa and rebuilt this brand new spa in 2003/4. It has it’s own courtyard and cafe, separate pool, roman waterfall showers and 42 treatment rooms.

We were the originals in Southern California. We look at ourselves as a wellness destination where 12 months of the year you can be outside. Our philosophy is fresh air equals fresh thinking. Our guests spend 80% of their time out side. The San Diego weather is probably our most wonderful benefit here at La Costa,” smiles Paul McCormick. “ We also have Deepak Chopra’s world wide headquarters right here on the grounds of La Costa. La Costa has something for everybody. As a family we have waterslides and pools, great camp programs and a kid center where you can drop your kid's off and mom and dad can go to the spa or go golfing and have a wonderful vacation. The kids do as well.

We have guys groups which come and play some golf, watch some sports, have a cocktail and can relax with our wonderful adult .The ladies have the spa which is great.”

At La Cost a package is the best option for guests which can include a spa, golf and

rience. The resort is also located 1 1/2 miles from the ocean. Another very unique aspect of La Costa is the close proximity they have to golf companies Calloway, Taylor Made, Titleist and Cobra Puma. In fact Cobra Puma have their testing centre located right at La Costa. Since March they also have the PGA Tour Academy, the west coast facility, right here at La Costa.

You can visit Calloway for instance and do a tour, which is pretty spectacular. You can even get fitted for clubs there. The manufacturers chose to be here because of the consistent weather where they can test their product in a wonderful environment.

The Champions course at La Costa has been totally renovated. “ We took about 30 acres of turf grass and replaced it with native grasses moving in a green direction saving on water costs.” said Damian Pascuzzo who along with partner former PGA Tour and Champions Tour player Steve Pate and architect Jeff Brauer returned the course to world class standard for which it had become famous. Jeff Brauer helped with 30% on the work. “ The flood water now stays in the rough away from the fairways.”

struction. It was a fast track renovation.

They wanted better playing conditions to overcome the reputation of being wet and soggy. The bones were bad and needed a new irrigation system. Our soils were high in salts and the sand capping we did helped flushing that out. The soils were a challenge to work with. Sand capping the fairways allowed the water to stay long enough to feed the grasses but then drain away.”

La Costa is one of the most beautiful properties I have visited in my frequent travels around the world. The grounds are just beautifully maintained and the over1000 staff members at La Costa make your time there very enjoyable. The recent renovations make your living accommodations first class and your dining, golf and spa experiences excellent. You should make your next vacation La Costa.

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THUNDER BAY CELEBRATES THE COMPLETION OF PHASE ONE AT PRINCE ARTHUR'S LANDING July 20, 2012 – Thunder Bay residents today celebrate the completion of Phase One of Prince Arthur’s Landing at Marina Park.

The completion of the first phase of this waterfront development project involved the construction of a Water Garden Pavilion, an Art’s centre, a splash pad that transforms into a skating rink during winter months, and the unique “Spirit Garden” that will allow people to participate in recreational and cultural activities.

Additional work to improve this waterfront attraction included the renewal and expansion of the trails, relocation of the breakwalls, and installation of electrical services, water systems and foundation piles for piers.

“Prince Arthur’s Landing is an important gathering place for the community and will remain a dynamic tourist destination for years to come,” said the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Member of Parliament for York–Simcoe, on behalf of the Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.

“Our government is proud to support community infrastructure projects that create jobs, stimulate the local economy and improve the quality of life of Thunder Bay families.”

“Infrastructure investments such as this one create jobs and opportunities for Ontario families,” said the Honourable Michael Gravelle, Minister of Natural Resources and Member of Provincial Parliament for Thunder Bay–Superior

North. “The Ontario government is proud to contribute to this project that ensures our renewed waterfront will become an important new community hub in Thunder Bay.” “This project was about building our community, and it has already had a very positive impact on our economy by creating hundreds of jobs, and employing dozens of

local companies,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs. “The sheer size and scope of this project is amongst the largest in our city’s history, and it represents an investment by all levels of government and the private sector of well over $100 million.”

The governments of Canada and Ontario contributed $14.65 million each toward eligible project costs through the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund. Through the Northern Ontario Development Program, the Government of Canada contributed an additional $2 million towards the design and contract administration, and $47,000 for an economic impact study and project business plan. The Province of Ontario, through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, contributed an additional $5 million towards infrastructure and public attractions to facilitate additional private sector investments and $100,000 towards an advanced energy study and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. The City of Thunder Bay has contributed the remaining balance of the total project cost of $58 million.

This project also supports Building Together, the Government of Ontario’s long-term infrastructure plan to repair, rebuild and renew the province’s roads and

highways, bridges, public transit, schools and postsecondary institutions, hospitals and courthouses. Through Building Together, Ontario plans to invest more than $35 billion over the next three years to create or preserve over 100,000 jobs on average each year. Infrastructure investments create high-quality employment, support economic growth and helps make Ontario’s economy more productive Michael Gravelle, MPP Minister “ When one looks around here and sees the reaction of the public here it is just extraordinary. Being a Port Arthur boy myself the waterfront is a big part of all of our lives. It is great to see this Phase 1 completing. Today is wonderful. The public has embraced the waterfront. I am proud as a citizen of Thunder Bay and a member of the provincial government.”

Peter Van Loan, Member of Parliament “ Quality of life is more important as to where people will live today. Thunder Bay has done a very brilliant job in this project combining an urban waterfront environment. It is a place that is very attractive to people. The waterfront may provide renewed confidence to Thunder Bay.”

The Shocking Truth About Your Image

by Jeff Mowatt Whether it's fair or not, we are often judged on first impressions. This harsh reality is nowhere better seen than in today's ultra-fast business world where customers size-you-up in a nano-second based on your personal image. Since their impression of you will determine whether or not they want to do business with you, the impact on your career and on your organization's bottom line can be staggering.

Ironically, when corporations bring me in to speak at conventions on how to boost customer retention, I often find that there's been little or no professional training for employees about personal image. Since it's often awkward to confront employees on these sensitive issues, you need some ammunition to make the task easier. Here are 4 imagerelated reasons that customers may not like you or your employees. Incidentally, customers will never tell you these reasons to your face -- they'll simply do business elsewhere.

1. You look different than expected.

Customers prefer conducting business with individuals who meet their visual expectations. So if you want to keep customers, dress in a manner that customers expect. A plumber dressed in an Armani suite makes the client uncomfortable. An alderman in khaki shorts would shock the council members of City Hall. A waitress with too much makeup, sporting tattoos and body piercing would likely put off a patron in an upscale restaurant. On the other hand, a bar tender in a conservative suit and tie may appall a customer in an alternative nightclub.

"But that's not fair!" decry so many employees at the thought of being told what to wear.

Again, first impressions may not be fair, but they are the realities of the business world.

You hire employees to take care of customers -- not for the sake of expressing their sartorial individuality. They can do that on their own time. Your job as a business owner or manager is to create an environment, including staff wardrobe, where your customers feel comfortable.

The most effective way to convey this message to employees is to have a written dress code. When writing your code, it's best to check with an attorney for the laws that

apply in your jurisdiction. The great thing about a dress code is it often weeds out would-be applicants who wouldn't feel comfortable in that environment. That's better for everyone. ". . . many employees tell customers more than they want to hear."

2. You're hard to understand.

Customers don't want to strain themselves to understand front line staff. If you or other employees don't speak the local language clearly, then customers will generally go to your competitors where they won't have to work so hard to communicate -- or to spend their money. This is doubly important when speaking on the telephone, where customers don't have the benefit of non-verbal communication to help them interpret what's being said.

This concept has nothing to do with discrimination based on ethnic differences or nationality. It has to do with basic communication skills that are essential to do the job. If it's a question of improving your knowledge of the local language, then take courses until you're fluent and easy to understand– not just enough to get by.

3. You exaggerate.

Don't exaggerate to tell customers what they want to hear. If a task will take 15 minutes to complete, don't say, "It'll only be 5 or ten minutes." This is called lying. Customers hate that. Organizations that stay in business over the long term, adhere to the age-old adage, under promise and over deliver. 'Nuff said.

4. You're indiscreet.

'Indiscreet' describes the cashier at a selfserve gas station who chatted with his friends while I entered to pay. He barely stopped his conversation with his buddies to take my money. I felt like I was crashing a private party. I never went back.

While this obvious display of rudeness is relatively rare, a much more common example is when employees converse amongst themselves in front of the customer.

Numerous times I've been on airplanes when the flight attendants, while rolling food carts down the aisles, are so engaged in their personal conversations that they barely stop long enough to take the dinner orders.

Meanwhile every passenger has to listen to their private conversations, whether they want to or not.

To top-off the indiscretion list, far too many employees inadvertently tell customers more than they want to hear. For example, when a customer asks a front line employee, "How are you?", they really don't want to hear complaints. It's just a greeting. Yet some employees take this as an excuse to complain with, "Oh, I'm 60-40", or as a security guard once told me, "I'm vertical." (Yikes)!

Some employees respond with, "I'll be great when my break starts." In other words, the employee will be happy as soon as he or she can get away from their job and us -- the customers. All of these indiscretions make customers wish they were dealing with professionals.

There is hope.

Awareness of these problems is half the battle. A lot of employees simply don't realize they're committing these offenses. Another part of the solution is training. Bringing in a professional trainer to address the employees as a group provides the advantage of third party objectivity, in a fun non-threatening manner. One thing is clear though, if you do nothing about these issues, your business will continue to suffer without anyone else telling you why.

Customer service strategist and professional speaker, Jeff Mowatt is an authority on The Art of Client Service . . . Influence with Ease®. For Jeff's other tips, self-study resources, and training services on image, click Enhancing Your Professional Image.

This article is based on the critically acclaimed book Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month, by customer service strategist and professional speaker Jeff Mowatt. To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit www.jeffmowatt.com or call 1.800.JMowatt (566.9288).

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