Vancouver Wa Real Estate - Elite Realty NW

Quality Control - The Story of Handmade Potato Chips

I just read Set Godin's blog a few weeks back about lemonade stands and it reminded me of something that happened about 15 years ago.

I worked at Kodak for a long time and was part of a great team in the Consumer Imaging division. My position with the company demanded that I travel for a large part of the year. The members of our team developed a bit of a reputation for always finding the best food and entertainment in any given city.  Often times these places were little "hole in the wall" restaurants with awesome food and a fun atmosphere.

One trip found us at a little English style pub in (I think it was but it may have been somewhere else) Durham NC. I believe it was named The Double Dragon Inn and they were known throughout the city for their Double Dragon Ale and their hand made potato chips. My team mate had been bragging about this place for months!

As we sat down at the table, my buddy eagerly ordered several orders of the chips and pints all around. The ales were served right away but about 20 minutes went by and still no chips. My friend was getting nervous.

As the waitress served us our second round of ales, he asked about the chips. She ignored him, acting like she never heard a word

Five more agonizing minutes passed. Finally, he flagged her down and asked if she had forgotten about the chips.

"Well," she retorted in her thick English accent, "I can see that YOU must be new around here! Let me tell you a thing or two about how we do things. First, we have to wash and peel the potatoes 'cause you surely don't want dirt in your chips does ye? Then we cut them as thin as possible to be sure that they are extra crispy when they're done. That's the way you like them, Right? When they are sliced just right, we drop them into a vat of boiling oil. We fry them up until they are golden brown and crispy. Then we set them out to cool and we season them with sea salt and a kiss of vinegar. I have been here for over 20 years making these chips and I can assure you that I know what I am doing! Of course if you want yours prepared some other way then maybe you should come back into the kitchen and fix them yourself! Or did you want me to run down to the corner store and get you and your guests a tube of Pringles?!" She almost spit the word Pringles right into his face. We all sat quietly around the table, afraid to laugh lest we should become her new target.

When they arrived at the table, we all dug in to taste the crispy treats. (Of course I checked mine for spit first!) They were, as promised, the best chips that I have ever had.

How many times have you been asked to compromise the quality of your services? How many shortcuts have you been tempted to take? In this market, high quality service is more important than ever. Every client experience can be critical. Are they thrilled with the transaction and excited about recommending you to their friends and family? or are they smiling their way through the transaction just waiting for it to end so that you will stop calling? Did you take the time and care to do everything in your clients best interest or did you run down to the corner store and buy a tube of Pringles? Clients know what is going on and they can tell when someone is taking shortcuts.

*If you haven't read Seth's stuff, then you are really missing out. I have subscribed and now I get his latest post each day via email. Treat yourself - sign up!

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