Go the Blues

         

Edition 175 Monday February 25th 2013

Hi,just in case you don’t notice you are getting older time has a way of reminding you in an often not so subtle way! I got two such reality checks this weekend when my son Mark turned 30 on Sunday (Congratulations by the way son!)born 1983!!sobering thought for this Jones boy!Then I was found badly short of a gallop at step son Stephens stag do! You would think after a life time of training in pubs, clubs and Razzas the length and width of NZ I would have put up a better showing ,alas, not the case for this old fella. I was home tucked up in bed as my fellow stags amped it up to another level in the city !.....never mind Fletcher Jones will keep us young I am sure !

I was unlucky enough to watch some of the one day cricket decider on Saturday live at Eden Park, I was hoping NZ would make a better show of it but left disappointed well before the half way mark. My beloved Blues under new coach Sir John Kirwan salvaged the sporting day with a gutsy win away against the Hurricanes in Wellington. After the awesome match between the Chiefs and the Highlanders on Friday night this Jones household is looking forward to the coming ruggers season.

Busy family times continue at 48, long may it and the endless Summer continue.

I hope you are also making the most of your lives with family and friends. “Be slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.” Socrates

Have a great week, cheers Jonesey.

Harry and the Hendersons are loving Sir John and Sir Graham’s influence at the Blues!

“Every great business is built on friendship.”JC Penney

We have a favourite Indian restaurant in the city that we would visit at least once a month when we both worked close by.

The owners staffed the restaurant with family and friends and they in turn treated their customers like part of the family. They took a personal interest in us, knew us by name and always asked questions and showed genuine interest in the answers. We knew it was geniuine interest because they could always recount what we had talked about the last time they saw us. It was noticeably different and motivated us to return on a regular basis (The Butter Chicken is to die for as well).

We called in again on Saturday night, the restaurant was full and there were people waiting. They recognized us and made a huge fuss over Fletcher and Christine (I didn’t mindL).They made us instantly feel welcome like we were visiting them at their home and being hosted by them.

This approach to running a business is built around delivering a personalized customer service that creates friends and as a result drives a fierce loyalty to their restaurant, hence they are booked heavily most nights and always have a line of people waiting Thursday through to Sunday nights.

What an awesome recipe for making money,winning and maintaining friendships not just customers. Making those friends genuinely feel like part of the family and in turn being rewarded with a loyal and regular restaurant full of happy campers.

The other good thing about this approach to customers and service is that the happy campers are so happy they tell all the other campers about their positive experience and your business grows more.

A simple business model you may think but more than a paradigm shift needed in most businesses to achieve this mind set.

We can all influence this change in our businesses by taking this approach to our own relationships with customers. Treating them like friends, the way we would like to be treated, building the friendship genuinely and engendering fierce loyalty to our brand,product or service…….good luck!!

“Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you.” Chip Bell Founder The Chip Bell Company