Bashas’  just provided a little
community get-together space with no profit motive involved. Other stores
had no such tables or chairs. Every square inch was stuffed with shelves
where they were trying to make a profit. Did Eddie Basha take a loss on the number of square feet he had assigned
as a get-together area? Of cours e not. Also, he had a whole balcony where
people could get things in the bakery or the deli and go and sit, take as
much time as they wanted, eat, look over the passing scene, and sort of
sidewalk café it. In the bakery , it even said, “Baked with love.”  Of course,
the washrooms were right there. In addition, all kinds of convenience
machines, copy machines, wastebaskets, and other amenities were there and
had only to do with comfort. It was all there for the customers’  pleasure. So what is the sum total of all of this? What Bashas’  provided was a
friendly , warm, loving community experience. What happened, if others
were anything like me, was that people developed a loyalty . I didn’ t care
how many competitive superm arkets opened up in town. I didn’ t care if
their prices would save me a few pennies. What Eddie Basha captured me
with was . . . goodwill. Success is the automatic consequence of goodwill. If someone were to
imitate what Eddie Basha did and think that thereby they’d also become a
success, they’d be fooling them selves altogether . This success was coming
from the way he was. It was obvious he would be a success no matter what
he did. His customers felt included in his experience. We felt like we were
sharing it. We felt like we were part of it. We almost felt like he was part of
our larger family . The power was in the attitude of goodwill and intention of
motive. Let’s compare that to visiting the nearest motor vehicle department. It’s
obvious that no one particularly  cares about us there. The furniture is gray,unattractive, steel, and cold. The attitude of the clerk is one of annoyance,
irritation, and even contempt. We’re forced to wait in long lines under
grimy circumstances. It’s a lousy experience. Everyone hates going to the
motor vehicle department, but we go there because we have to. Given an
option, none of us would go there. It has no power of attraction. This brings us to the next princ iple. We can see that with force people
exhaust themselves trying to get things. With attraction, the universe brings
people to their feet. We might say that power is like a magnetic field: There
are some people  whose fields repel us, and there are other people whose
fields attract us. When we go to particular places or parties, there are certain
people whom we look forward to seeing. If we ran into them, we’d feel like
we got energized. Yet there are other people whom we walk on the other
side of the street to avoid, because after we meet them we feel drained. So the question we ask ourselve s is: How do we make other people feel? Filling out a long application form, standing in a long line, going to lousy
toilets, sitting on uncomfortable  chairs, and parking cars in the blazing sun
with no provision for shade does not make people feel good. That brings us to the entrance of the restaurant. Is there a canopy? Other
than the aestheti c decor , which totally changes the energy of the place and
attracts a different crowd (I will guarantee this), a canopy provides for the
comfort of the customers. If we get all dressed up to go to a restaurant for
dinner , who wants to walk in the rain? If it is a restaurant that warrants it,
valet parking should be available—not mandatory , but available. I know
lots of people who used to avoid certain discos because the valet parking
was mandatory . I’m sure the owner thought he was squeezing a few more
bucks out of the customers, but he was actually turning them away in
droves. Everyone on some intuitive level gets the motive. They aren’ t
fooling anyone . The same valet will either represent the owners’
consideration for our convenience or their greed to squeeze another buck
out of us. We know the dif ference on some unconscious level. As we go inside  the restaurant, decor , lighting, and music hit us with the
whole atmosph ere. This is a whole book in itself. The total lack of
consciousness in this field is staggering to consider . The music is too loud. It’s progressive jazz or it’s heavy metal. Plus, it never stops. Research
shows that people need to have relief periodically from music , and those
who have studied it program in periods of silence. Thos e who are
unconscious leave the music tuned to some terrible station, or theyunconsciously put on some tape that they like. Owners shoul d forget the
tape that they like and pick the music their customers like. There was an Italian restaurant in town where the owner must have been
a fan of early rock ’n’ roll and that whole era. The music was an
abomination. I never once went to that restaurant where the crowd I was
with did not comment on how terrible the music was. This guy loved it;
everyone else hated it. What kind of music do people expect at an Italian
restaurant? We want to hear Verdi, Italian street songs, something quiet and
subdued, so we can have a conversation, or so the waitstaf f can hear our
orders. Acoustics are all-important, and owners of most restaurants must be deaf
indeed. Sounds  bounce back and forth and reverberate; hard surfaces
amplify them. There’ s nothing wrong with a din if owners have created a
din because that’s the kind of atmosphere they want in their business. What
I’m talking abou t is oppressive din. We want to have a busines s discussion
or a romantic conversation, and the acoustics are horrible. Plus the vibration
of the air-condit ioning system and the sound of the high-speed exhaust fans
in the kitchen add to the problem. Sound is one of our major senses. It is the
same for smell. How much does it cost to create a nice smell in a business? Practically nothing. Color and decor is a whole other subject. The thing that impre sses us is
that it was either treated as important or not, not necessarily whether we
agree with the style. Rather , the amount of energy that was put into trying to
create an experience for us, the customers, is what matters. Location can also be overwhelmingly important. A lot of peopl e find out
only through bankruptcy that the big difference between success and non-
success on the east side of New York City depends upon what side of the
street their restaurant is located. The best after -theater traf fic goes east. The next thing to watch is whether previous businesses in this location
have gone bankr upt or failed. If even one has gone bankrupt or failed in that
location, I would say the strike against opening a new one there is 50
percent. If two have failed in that location, I would raise it to 95 percent. If
three have failed in that locatio n, it’s idiotic to even consider it. I knew
buildings in the town where I lived where a dozen businesses all in a row
had gone bankrupt. There was something very wrong there, obviously . There were facto rs operating here that I’m not going to go into in this book.But in common parlance let’s say that some places had bad energy, and no
amount of paint and powder was going to fix them. The main thrust of this chapter has been achieved. The whole awareness
of the goodwill derived from customers’  experiences and business owners’
efforts to genuinely create enjoyable experiences are important indeed. To
be thoughtful and solicitous is profitable and enjoyable, and will cause the
compliments to pour in. Everyon e is charmed by charm. If we haven’ t got it
ourselves, we must hire it! The success of Disney World is due in considerable part to the
extroverted, friendly politeness of all employees who have contact with the
public. They treat people as if they were family . It’s importa nt to make
customers “feel  at home.” That’ s just ordinary decency and hospitality ,
which are so lacking in today’ s boring business enterprises. A boring
environment creates boring employees and brings in dull and boring
customers, which makes the whole experience boring. People will forgive
us most anything except for boring them! And so, on to dinner . . . OceanofPDF .comTHE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
So, the business enterprise has intrigued us, or lured us, or somehow
gotten us inside its doors. If it’s a poor example, by now we’ve practically
lost our appetites. If it’s a good example, we are looking forward
expectantly because it has already been a positive experience. Our future
experience with this restaurant or business is full of optimistic expectations. We know that expectation tends to determine the quality of experience. If
we expe ct somet hing to be lousy , very often it is. Our expectatio ns set up all
the attitudes and positions that are going to determine what kind of
experience we have. Customers’  expectations, therefore, are critical. Are we
looking forward to the next encounter with this establishment, or are we
dreading it? At this point in our restaurant experience, what happens next is going to
be very importa nt. I wonder why the owners of restaurants or any other
businesses totall y go oblivious at this point—that is the problem  of the wait. The wait is that gap between the setting up of customers’  expectations and
their fulfillment. The reason this is super important is that every customer is
coming from a space of need. We need that place, or that product, or that
food, or that service; therefore, we are impatient. We are frustrated. At this
point in the encounter , we have  to be handled with kid gloves. It’s at this
point that our pride comes into play. If we’re handled like we’re important,
we will love them. If our need to be attended to is not met, there’ s nothing
that business can do to make us happy . They have not treated who we are
with respect.I am talking about the unexciting (or nonexistent) lounge and the endless
wait for the waiter or waitress to come over and finally take our orders. When we’re hungry , five minutes is forever . When we’re full, five minutes
is nothing at all. There’ s a big difference here. The purpose of having
someone come over to the table the minute we sit down is so we feel
attended to and that our needs as people are being met—not just our
stomachs, but our persons too. A lot of shortsi ghted cooks and restaurant owners concentrate on our
stomachs as though there were no people there around those stomachs. When we’re taken care of, we’ll be pleased with whatever is put in our
stomachs. And so the rule is, out of consideration for our experience, out of
knowing what it’s like to put themselves in our shoes, the successful
establishment will see to it that this is addressed. How to handle it will
resolve itself from situation to situation, but the principle is that their
purpose and motive to handle this will see to it that it gets done. The
customers will get the intention there. We ask: Why doesn’ t the restaurant just have one person who does
nothing but go around and promptly take the orders of every person as they
sit down and are ready to order ? Why don’t they have a little light where
they can flick the switch that tells the server that we’re ready? Why do they
always disappear into the kitchen at this crucial point? They will do the
same thing later, guaranteed, when it’s time to get the check. The two most
critical points in the whole experience are blown: the start and the finish. We got annoyed having to wait to get waited upon, and now we’re annoyed
again when it comes time to pay. This is not the way to win friends and
influence people. At this point the personality encounters come with the waitstaf f. They are
either perfuncto ry, mechanical, and uncaring, or they have high energy and
we enjoy them. What’s the difference? The difference is the degree to which
they are “present.” They are either “there with us” or they are not. The
waiter or waitres s who is there with us makes twice as much in tips as those
who are not there with us. The feedback comes in the form  of the tip,
popularity , reputation, and return customers. If we’re treated like royalty ,
we will remember that restaurant and we will come back. What annoys me about being unsuccessful is that it is boring. Not that it’s
bad; rather , it’s just boring. Can you tell me what is more boring than sitting
in a resta urant waiting for someone to finally saunter over and feign interestby asking that famous question: “Are you ready to order yet?” Good night! We wer e ready to or der ten minutes ago,  is what goes through our minds. This is typical of cold impersonal corporations, such as fast-food chains. There is no one there. There isn’t any person  there. We have the same
experience in the giant superma rket chain or today’ s run-of-the-mill retail
businesses. We wander throug h the shelves. We can’t find what we’re
looking for anywhere. We look around and nobody’ s there. Not only that,
but in many businesses they don’t even demarcate, for our identification,
who is an employee. We have to go through the barrier of possible
embarrassment by addressing a likely looking person, only to be told, “I
don’t work here.” Finally we say , “The heck with it,” and walk out. We get up and walk out of restaurants that make us sit there and wait. We
are too hungry and impatient. But more importantly , the reason we get
angry is because of their contempt for our needs, our happiness, our
convenience, and the pleasure of our persons. They just want our money;
that’s obvious. Okay , so if we’re hungry enough to eat there, so what? It’s
possible to give customers practically nothing and still extract money out of
them. It’s like they’re blackmailed by their stomachs. What else can they
do? The next thing we run into if we keep going back to the same restaurant
is that the menu never changes from year to year. It’s like the cook learned
something back  in school, and he’s never learned how to cook anything
since. These are the principles of inflexibility , rigidity , and being stuck only
in the ease of those things one has learned how to do. It shows a lack of
creativity , versat ility, inventiveness, and awareness of how easily people get
bored in this world. Some things should be the same, yes, on a fixed menu. And some things should be constantly different, creative and fresh, so that
customers have new experiences—something tantalizing, interesting,
exciting, and a choice. I’m thinking of a little local restaurant that was sort of ridiculou s because
it was so self-consciously ostentatious in its menu. When I asked for a salad
dressing, they told me they had raspberry vinaigrette and that was all. Raspberry vinaigrette or feta cheese, phooey! I hate feta cheese. I hate
raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I’m just a mundane person in a lot of my
tastes. I like Thousand Island. I like bleu cheese. If you haven’ t got it, I’m
not going back.I’m also a chocolate freak, and I’m not alone—there are a lot of
chocolate freaks in this world. Some restaurants obviously make an effort in
the dessert department: They have this big, impressive dessert tray, but
everything is fruit. I like chocolate. If a restaurant doesn’ t have anything
chocolate on its menu and they persist in that, I won’ t go back. At this local restaurant I’m think ing of, I asked every time I went there if
they had someth ing chocolate. If they were able to hear anything the first
time, they would have heard this; they would have gone back to the owner
and said, “You know , some of our customers like chocolate. Some of our
customers like ginger ale and diet soda. Some of our customers like bleu
cheese. So why not provide it?”
It doesn’t mean they have to cancel the pseudo-prestige they thought they
were getting from just having raspberry vinaigrette. They could have
raspberry vinaigrette, and they could feature it because they were coming
from that strange little idea of status that raspberry vinai grette in a
restaurant made  it a very special restaurant in some weird way. But they
could also have kept in the back a bottle of Thousand Island dressing. What
does it really take to have a can of Hershey’ s syrup, or a can of Diet Pepsi,
or a bottle of ginger ale? Is that asking a lot? Apparently . We know how many enterprises fail completely because there is no
solicitude. There is no caring and no responsiveness. There is no capacity or
willingness to observe, listen, and learn. Evidently , the people are satisfied
with where they are. They have a perfunctory business, run in a perfunctory
manner , with the perfunctory degree of success. They have perfunctory
customers who are served in a perfunctory style, in perfunctory
surroundings. Their whole life is lived on the level of boringness that, to my
view , is fatal. If the truth were known, probably more people in the world
are killed by boredom than by much-blamed stress. Being bored is one of
the biggest stressors there is. Isn’t that so? The business we call that puts us
on hold just lost with us, didn’ t they? The longer we’re kept on hold, the
more they lose with us. That’ s why when I ran an enterprise back east I had ten incoming
telephone lines. The minute someone said, “I had trouble getting your line,”
I instantly put in another one. How many times have we tried to reach a
business, been put on hold, and finally said, “The heck with it” and hung
up? Who  needs it? They don’t care about the customers, that’s obvious. Thevoice at the other end is like a cold machine. Or they act like they’re
annoyed that someone called them. I called a coupl e of aluminum manufacturers in Phoenix, for instance. One wom an sounded like she was almost angry that I had calle d: “Are you
sure you have a business transaction tax number?” She went on and on as
though for a wholesale company to mistakenly make a retail sale would be
the end of it for them. Well, the proof in the pudding is tested by eating it. If we get past the
wait barrier at the restaurant, the next encounter is the food itself. If
someone is going to be a cook or chef, then be the best one the world has
ever seen. Peopl e will get the intention in the food, strangely enough, when
someone cares how the plate looks, how it’s arranged, so as to create a
beautiful visual experience. There’ s a place I knew that advertised that it specialized in omelets. Yet if
I went there I got an ordinary omelet, which was strangely always flat. Maybe it had a little piece of parsley and some token potatoes. Even so,
they did business. They did business because they were there and because
people got hungry for breakfast. Now , if you ever get the chance, go to Mont-Saint-Michel off the coast of
Normandy , whic h to me is one of the great wonders of the world. After
walking up the narrow winding little street, I encountered a restaurant that
specialized in omelets. When I got in there, there was a blazing  fire. There
were chefs with tall hats, big copper bowls, and whisks. With great creative
display they whipped the heck out of the eggs, plus whatever other secret
ingredients they put in it. (Maybe there wasn’ t anything else they put in
except elbow grease.) Anyway , they really went to it. All of the customers saw this, and they sort of joined in the whole
creative process. That an omelet was more than just a little dish was quite
obvious. The whole place seem ed to be involved in the creation of this
omelet that someone ordered. When it came it had to have been  four inches
high—not a flat half-inch thick —four inches of delightful creation! What
was the difference? One was done on the level of mastery of excellence, of
pride. If I was the owner of a flat-omelet restaurant and I was served one
like that, I would die of shame. I would have to know instantl y, How is it
that they cr eate these incr edible omelets at Mont-Saint-Michel? After we leave a bad restauran t, we say to ourselves, “I wonder if this
guy ever eats anywhere else. Doesn’ t he know what a good dessert lookslike? Where is this guy’s head?” A successful business owner wants to
create an experi ence for the customers, sharing with them the finest he can
possibly do, learn, create, and imagine, out of respect for them (and
himself) and the quality of their experience. Out of that, success comes
automatically . The whole impo rtance of “excellence” has been written about elsewhere. Suffice it to say, it is not something that can be imitated. Excellence is a
quality coming out of the comm itment to excellence, which is the obvious
result. It is not the cause. Here again, the resistive left brain will say, “Yeah,
but I’m not a creative person. Those are right-brained people. They’re born
that way, I’m not. I don’t have  a creative imagination.” In fact, no such
thing is true. Everyone has a creative imagination, otherwise it would not
even be possible  to stay alive on this planet. It’s our creative imagination
that provides all the expectations that lead us to do everything that we do all
day long. Of course we have creative imagination. It’s just that we fail to
realize its importance. A truly creative  person is one who is coming out of attitudes of caring,
sharing, loving, participating, and imagining what the other person’ s
experience might be, then genuinely trying to create the best possible
experience for them. The best substitute that a lot of businesses survive on
is cheap  prices. If they haven’ t got anything else, they fall back on cheap
prices and volume. If they’re not too good at what they do, they’ve got to
do a lot of it to make up for the dif ference. I’m not putting down profit margin. Rather , I’m saying that profit margin
is the consequence and not the cause of the true profit. Anything we do with
complete mastery , excellence, and respect will automatically show a profit. The secret of so many successe s is that they do what they like doing best,
and they do it to the max. That means we can be a success cutting out paper
dolls, or making  fake mustaches, or homemade scarecrows, or birdhouses,
or toilet seats, or whatever we like—the mastery itself is coming out of our
intention. The excellence is its representation to the world of our own
integrity . The real power of the truly successful person is coming out of
their genuine attunement to the humanness of the other person.The relationship then is to the humanness of the other person and not just
the specifics of their itty-bitty purchase requirements. Truly successful
people know that the purchaser of their services, whatever they are—be
they entertaining, singing, dancing, engineering, whatever—is  always the
same customer . There is only one customer in this whole world. Once we
know who that is, there’ s no problem selling anything or being successful
with that person. The name of that customer is “human nature.” The reason
we sign up for anything, whether it’s a language course, an automobile
lease, or a contr act, is because it appeals to something in our human nature. There’ s only one customer , and that’s human nature itself. Each individual
customer is only the representa tive of human nature in their given case. What is being brought to them is that which is universal. I said that power comes from the recognition of the truth of that which is
universal, and not addressing that which is limited. Huma n nature is
universal, whether it’s a man, a woman, or a child. It’s only human nature
that brought them here, and it’s only human nature that will determine
whether they continue with a business and whether it will be a success or
not. A better gimmick doesn’ t mean anything. It’s only if that better
gimmick serves some human need that matters—the needs of
acknowledgment, importance, celebration, and the fact that these things are
recognized as important by someone. It’s obvious that I’m talking about an attitude which differentiates cheap,
greedy , and grasping from generous, expansive, and giving. Once again the
left brain might say, “Well, I don’t have those qualities.” Again, that is
trying to imitate what is “out there.” Those attitudes of generosity , caring,
bigness, creativity , resourcefulness, and adaptability are all automatically
rising out of the fact that the one directing the enterprise has human nature. These are qualities of human nature itself; therefore, they exist in all of us. All we have to know is where the switch is located and how to turn on our
electromagnet of power . How do we attract success instead of trying to
purchase it? Success is suppose d to chase us. We’re not supposed to chase
success. The whole world is chasing success. So what? Those who have it
don’t even pursue it. By the time we’ve finished this conversation, we’ll have finished our
dinner . It’s time to get the check. This is the next big disaster . Every single
member of a waitstaf f knows when it’s time for the check. It seems that
they hide out in the kitchen on purpose, because now is the time when they
finally realize their profit: their tip. Everyone makes a living and leaves
with a positive feeling and goodwill, right? At this final crucial point, as the
success of the entire experience hangs by a thread, the waitstaf f disappears. How many times have we sat in a restaurant with an appointment to
catch, a theater opening to make, or whatever , clutching our money and
begging someone to please take it? Even after they’ve decided to reluctantly
take our money , they now disap pear for another 20 minutes. What are they
doing with the check? Where did they go? We wonder if they’ve run down
the alley  with our change or something. Or, when they finally do appear
with the change, it’ s the wrong amount. If the lunch bill is $20, for instance, they bring back the chang e from a
$50 bill with a $20 and a $10. Inasmuch as we would like to good-naturedly
leave the minim ally expected 15 to 20 percent, even though the service was
lousy , they now have us successfully blocked from doing so easily . We have
the choice of stiffing the waitress or blowing another ten minutes while we
try to catch her eye again. She makes another round-trip to the cash register ,
where who knows what all goes on, because it takes forever . She finally
comes back with five singles and an attitude like we’ve impo sed on her. What the heck, we say. It’s her money . On top of it all, they add the insult of
adding the tax to the bill and giving it to us as one sum. So we’re now
expected to tip 15 to 20 percent on the tax as well. The $75 dinner requires a minimum 15 percent tip on the bill, doesn’ t it? The fact that there is at least a $5 tax then makes it a minimum of $80. This
means the waite r now expects at least 15 percent of $80. That brings up the
next principle: taking responsibility for the customers’  welfar e. We should
watch out for their bucks. We should protect their money and prevent them
from getting fleeced. We should protect them from inconvenience and
aggravation. As the owners of our enterprise, if we don’t do it, who will? An occasional good employee will do it, if we’re lucky , because it’s an
expression of who they are. We can’t imitate it. We either have it or we
don’t. Success is completely unavoidable if we express the right set of attitudes. This is why top-notch people turn down many offers. It’s not that they don’tknow that they can make a success of it. That’ s a foregone conclusion—of
course they can. Success is automatic. What they’re trying to figure out is
whether it’s worth the bother , or whether they’re really even interested. Why can’t we buy the very top people then? Because they’re not for sale. They’ve got it made, thank you. Curiously , the fact that they cannot be
bought is one of the things that powerfully attracts us to them. OceanofPDF .comHAVING IT MADE
We know  from our own experiences that some people have it made in
this world and other people don’t, no matter what they do. If we have it
made, little we do goes wrong. Most everything we touch turns a profit. When we watch  people unsuccessfully try to mimic success, they try to
grow a flourishing garden without having a green thumb. What we are
interested in is having a green  thumb. If we have a green thumb, we’re
going to grow a successful garden no matter where we go because a green
thumb is an attitude of the gardener . It’s not something that grows in the
garden. What grows in the garden is the result; the cause is in the green
thumb. Having it made then means having the know-how that goes with us no
matter where we are and express es itself no matter what we do. Having a lot
of accumulated data is interesting; all kinds of training courses, universities,
and books will fill us up with data. I’ve never been interes ted in data. Acquiring data is a very mecha nical thing—it’ s what computers do. What
we need to know is where the data is available so we can put our fingers on
it. There  is no point in carryin g all that useless information around with
ourselves. It’s a convenience, but it’s irrelevant. It’s nice, but it’s not the key
to success. The next time you see a stunning dancer , try to mimic every motion they
make and see what it looks like in the mirror . It’s not the same thing at all. What’ s missing is that you haven’ t caught on to the source of the essence of
their abilities. The years of practice are merely the perfecting of the
expression of something that already exists within the person. Of course ifyou practice many hours a day, your expertise and your capacit y to express
will increase, but you still won’ t be able to produce more than you have. Lots of people have mastered low levels of accomplishment. The boring,
flat, mechanical waiters have mastered that. They’re superb at being bored,
disinterested, in debt, unpopular , and endured by their fellow employees
and the boss. Yet what have they actually mastered? Purposeful ly try being
boring, and you’ll see what I mean. It’s very hard to do. It’ll drive you
crazy . Let’s not put down boring, because mechanically functional has its place
in the world and I’m sure the world can’t live without it. There are some
people whose level of mastery is so low that they’re not even up to boring
yet. There are plenty of others who are very satisfied with the mundane, the
routine, and the boring, because  it provides a sense of security , comfort, and
safety . It serves a worthy purpose. We all need feelings of comfort and
security , areas that we feel are nailed down and areas that frankly are just
not interested in growing yet. So the point is not whether we’re boring or
perfunctory , but whether it serves our happiness. When I was in the service, a lot of guys passed up promotions or chances
to go to officer candidate school . “No, thanks,” they’d say. “I’ve got it made
right where I am.” The feeling that they had it made is one of the evidences
of success. They didn’ t need to search further because they’d already found
it. To have found your niche and be happily and comfortably immersed in it
is grand and fine. Beware of the people who are constantly trying to nudge
you out of it. They’ve undoubtedly done a whole lot of “con sciousness”
programs and are full of enthus iastic and wondrous ideas. If they’re given
too much crede nce, pretty soon you will find that they have upset your
apple cart. It’s important to understand that happiness can come from satisfaction in
the completion of a goal. So for the guys I was with in the service, there
was no need to go further . What was wanted had been attained. Let’s look at
it from a different perspective: If what you want is obtainable and limited in
its scope, then two things happen when it is achieved: satisfaction and
happiness. Or you find boredom and disillusionment because it did not
contain within it what you were hoping to find there. Picturing action in the world as going from here to there, as
accomplishing a given task in time, as moving from this place to another
place, is what this is all abou t. The question is: What happens to ourenterprise after it’s been achieved? Our lives alternate between what we
don’t have and what we do have; we don’t have it and now we do have it. Each time a new goal is set, it is set from the experience of we don’t have it
and we want it. Then what happens is either we get it or we don’t. If we
don’t get it, we say we’re unhappy . If we do get it, we say we’re satisfied. If
our goal is limited, the success  will be limited. If our commitment is to a
more universal principle, our goal is always in the process of becoming
accomplished and there is no end. There is no end because each moment is
in itself complete and already the end. If our goal is to make our customers’
experiences delightful, profitable, enjoyable, and a positive contribution to
their lives, there  is absolutely no end to how we can express that. Every day
is a new delight. There are restaurants like that, where the decor is just fascinating, where
the menu options are delicious,  where the whole experience is unique and
irreplaceable. The motivation of the owner of the enterprise behind this
experience is different from the carrot and the mule. The person who is
coming from that whole program of “want, work, get” is constantly running
after the carrot. There’ s always a time/space between what is desired and its
fulfillment or accomplishment. From that set of attitudes, people spend their
entire lives waiting impatiently to get to the destination. Hence, happiness is
always at the end of the rainbow; it’ s never where they are right now . If we’ve decided that one of our purposes, goals, or motives is to enjoy
ourselves, we will be successful. One of the earmarks of truly successful
people is that they always enjoy what they’re doing in the moment—they
enjoy the process. I know artists who have worked on the same painting for
years, or writers  who have worked on the same novels for years. They’re
already enjoyin g themselves, so what’ s the rush? People who are truly
successful have within them the capacity to create an endle ss series of
successes. Once we know the secret of how to make a million, a lot of times
we don’t even bother , unless something that captures our interest comes
along and makes it worth doing. “Having it made” is not coming from need. It’s not coming from looking
for results “out there.” Having it made is an attitude that comes from
connecting with that certainty within ourselves. Others get it—that’ s why
they want us. They obviously need us. We have the capacity to serve them,
and that’s what makes us valuable. We have the intention to serve them, andthat’s what makes us sought after by them. Doing it that way is our style,
and that’ s why we’re popular . It’s common in pop psychology to put down “people pleasers.” I know a
lot of individuals who are not people pleasers. As a matter of fact, they are
people dis-pleasers. So let’s take apart people pleasing and see what it’s
made of. It isn’t the people pleasing itself; it’s the “how” and the intention
behind it. If we don’t please people and some quality of their human nature,
we can forget success. Success is achieved only because we have attuned to,
pleased, and satisfied something  within the human nature of our customers,
readers, listeners, or whomever . “People pleasing” is the common put-down because it’s inferred that it
means the selling out of one’s integrity . People equate it with subservience,
passivity , or masochism; those with this limited understandin g think that
people pleasing is wrong. Consequently , we have the “me generation” with
its narci ssistic orientation of pleasing itself, letting it all hang out, and
making a solo out of the dance of life. The goal here seems to be the
satisfaction of one’s own inner vanity . There’ s no genuine connectedness
with real human values. How do we genuinely please people and be successful? We do that by
being a champion; that’s what pleases people. It isn’t our product. It’s the
quality that our product conveys . It’s what goes with the product that people
buy. Think of all the famous singers, the really great celebrities, who didn’ t
have a voice at all—yet Fats Waller, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Dylan all had
a magic that we like to call charisma. What it means is the presentation of a
certain kind of pr esence. We’re getting closer to the core of it now. We see that success comes
automatically to people because of their presence. All of these people, we
will notice, seem  to have the guts and the self-assurance to just be who they
are. They capitalize on what to other people would have been limitations. As we said, facts are not what carry power . Rather , it is our attitudes about
them. Why did everyone clam or after Bob Dylan? Was Jimm y Durante
handsome? Was he a great pianist?What made Thomas Edison one of the greatest figures in history? His
accomplishment illuminated the world and changed the lifestyle of all of us
forever , but nowadays I’m sure he’d be sent to see the neares t analyst to
overcome his obsessive-compulsive workaholism. Wasn’t it 8,000, or
10,000, or some staggering sum of different substances that he tried to make
the filament of a lightbulb until he finally hit on the right one? All along he
knew that it was there; it was just a matter of searching it out and locating
it. What was there was absolutely certain to him because he knew the
underlying princ iples involved. He knew how to capitalize on resistance. The light comes not from the electricity , but from the resistance of the wire
to it. He capitalized on the quality of the resistance to force and not the
force itself. The answer was not to keep increasing the voltage ; instead, it
was to find a resistance that came so close to the energy of the force that the
interaction and impact created the desired outcome. Thus, we see that there
are no obstacles in the world. Resistance is not something to overcome; it is to be included, capitalized
on, and used as a springboard. The reason Roger Banniste r broke the
world’ s record of the four-minu te mile was because the four-minute time
was not an obstacle to him—it was a springboard. Before he broke through
it, no one else had done so. After he broke through it, one after another did
so as well. Where were they all that time? Bannister ’s position about that
four-minute time limit was different. To him it became an invigorator , a
motivator , the lure, the prod, the lever . He made it serve him. What thrilled
us all was the stature of the man. His accomplishment was only the
expression of that stature. Prese nce is stature. It’s a way of holding oneself. Bannister had it made; it was only a matter of when. In the great restaurant in the town where I grew up, the owner always
came around to greet us and sincerely made sure that everything was being
handled to our satisfaction; sooner or later the chef himself also came out, if
only for a moment. The chef would be carrying a huge tray with a gorgeous
roast turkey , or a brace of ducks, or a giant salmon surrounded by dots of
mayonnaise. We all got to at least say hello and share in being a part of this
delightful dining experience. The chef got a chance to get some energyfeedback, and the whole encou nter was always a highlight. Doesn’ t that
kind of experience make us feel like honored guests instead of just
customers whos e money the owner is after? It creates a whole different
ambience. Success, therefore, is only success when it is shared. The restaurant
owner shares the joy and the delight of his success. The chef comes out and
displays the joy and delight of his creation, which is obviously for the
customers’  joy and delight as well. The whole place abounds in goodwill. Everyone has it made in this experience. What’ s crucial is that the
customers also have it made  in experiencing the owner and chef’s
enterprise. Pleas ing people is a matter of knowing genuinely what they
enjoy . There was this terrific little Chinese restaurant in San Francisco that
everyone loved. The food was fantastic. The service was terrific . The place
was jammed. This restaurant was super popular , yet it was rather homely . There was no partition to the kitchen, and the tables were plain. The man
who ran it, I think his name was something like Crazy Charlie, told his
customers where to sit, what they were going to have for dinner , what was
good and not good. He was going to please his customers no matter what
they said. He was surly , rude, short, unattractive, and everyone adored him. His commitment to the excellence of the food was what drew people,
along with the humor of his gruff style. What could have been a turnof f
became a turn-on with him. What could have been repellent became
attractive. He was good at what he did and he knew it. He cooked the best
Chinese food anyone had ever tasted. Plus, he did it in a hurry; there was no
waiting there. At this point a lot of opportunistic entrepreneurs would have started
raising prices, but not Crazy Charlie. Part of his being perfect at what he did
included not only serving terrific food, but making it available at a
reasonable price as well. If someone tried to order what he didn’ t
recommend, he would order the person out to one of those expe nsive, fancy
places with awful food. If someone got on his bad side, they didn’ t get in
again. It was obvious he didn’ t need their business, as people lined up to get
in his restaurant . He was comp letely interested in training people to know
what was excellent and what was not. His purpose and his joy were to share
the expe rience of that excellence with everyone. Otherwise, there would
have been no purpose in his having his restaurant.Crazy Charlie was not worried or anxious about anything. He could make
a success of it anywhere, and he knew it. The honesty of his commitment,
purpose, and means of achieving his goal meant that he was highly
respected. We honor that whic h is genuine. We give lip service, but we
don’t really respect that which is fake. Fame follows excellence
automatically . Among Chinese-food lovers and aficionados, Crazy Charlie
was a celebrity . His fame spread of its own accord. I was in a little one-horse town in southern Arizona. By one-horse, I
mean it had two restaurants, one motel, two gas stations, and not much else. The population was 600, and no one had ever heard of it. In wandering
through the little shops, I found  an interesting-looking one that dealt with
saddlery , belts, and buckles. I just got the feeling that some kind of a master
craftsman was there even though the place was messy . Sure enough, it
turned out that he was the one who made silver belt buckles for John Wayne
at $6,000 apiece. He had orders from all the famous people in the world. A
nowhere person  in a nowhere town, and his fame spread so that he had a
long waiting list. I knew a barbers hop in New York where one had to be recomme nded and
introduced by a friend to get an appointment. Everythin g was by
appointment only. The barber ’s whole business was closed but to the elite—
he had a waiting list like an exclusive club. People practically had to wait
for one of his customers to die before they could start getting their hair cut
there. He charged plenty , and at four customers an hour he was making
more money than most professionals. For one thing, he cared about people’ s time. Successful businessmen
loved him. If someone had a 3:00 haircut appointment, he sat in the chair at
exactly 3:00. At exactly 3:15 he was finished. It was a guaranteed 15-
minute haircut, and there was never a wait. This barber treated every
customer as though they were very important. If someone even mentioned,
“Where’ s the last issue of Esquir e magazine?” the next time that person
went there they would find Esquir e magazin es. He was instantly responsive. He remembered names and everything about his customers. He was
solicitous and non-imposing, but obviously coming from having made it. He was not arrogant about it as some successful people were. He did not
have the artificiality of prideful ness. No, it was rock-solid self-esteem that
came from knowing he was good at what he did.When someone is good at what they do, they become the true people
pleaser . We are all extremely  pleased with excellence, with a great
performance. What pleases us about a great performer is the heart involved. It is the heart of the champion. We applaud their creativity . We congratulate
their enterprise. We praise their commitment to excellence. We commend
the way they hold themselves in front of us, as well as the way they hold
themselves to themselves. What makes Pavarotti great is not just his voice,
as there are a lot of magnificent Italian tenors in the world. He has the true
humility of the great. Genuine people pleasing is not catering; it’s
manifesting excellence. The whole world applauds excellence. It doesn’ t matter whether someone
is a waiter , a movie star, a mother , the best cook in the neighborhood, or the
fastest gun in the West. Their fame will spread. They won’ t have to do
anything about it. They won’ t have to seek interviews, or pay publicity
experts, or fawn over gossip columnists. They won’ t have to sell out
anything to anyone because they’re not buyable. Integrity and the power
that comes out of it means they can’t be bought. It means they’ re not going
to veer from the principles involved for the sake of expediency . Selling out to expediency makes  people weak. In doing it, they lose their
power . We see the careers that have gone down the tubes because people
did just that. They had real success in their hands; however , they made the
mistake of selling it out for expediency and became some of the “has-
beens” of history . OceanofPDF .comBLOWING IT
Like any enterprise, success comes from not only knowing what to do,
but knowing what not to do. Understanding what not to do comes out of
understanding the principles of what to do. Really blowing it is one
example of an opportunity out of which we can make lemonade out of
lemons. The purpose is to analyze a mistake in such a way that it serves us,
so we can come out the better for it. It is also important that we resolve all
regret and bitterness and find a silver lining in the cloud. Let’s again return
to the restaurant business for an example. One of the most easily observable instances of blowing it is when a
successful restau rant decides it’s going to expand. To tell the truth, I know
very few restaurants that remain successful once they make this decision. The same thing happens with many businesses because they’re not
conscious of what the quality is that’ s bringing about success. Luigi’ s Spaghetti Station is jammed. There are oilcloth tablecloths. It’s in
a lousy part of town, yet it’s going great guns. So Luigi decides that what he
needs to do is expand. When the lease on the store next door comes up, he
takes it. He sits down with pencil and paper , and figures that if he’s got
twice as many tables, he’ll have twice as many customers, and he’ll make
twice the profit. So he starts changing everything. The partition between his
restaurant and the space next door has to be removed. The oilcloth
tablecloths are no longer accept able. If he wants to quicken the disaster he
puts up a sign: CLOSED FOR REMODELING . If he really wants to collapse his
business, that’s the way to accelerate it. See to it that all the habits of his
customers who come there on certain nights of the week are disrupted, andthey’re forced to find another Italian restaurant where they can eat on
Monday nights. I can assure you they will. Luigi has forced them out, and
they will be resentful. They’ll come back once he’s reopened, just out of curiosity . But
strangely , it’s not the same anymore. Why? Because it was that very
ambience of crowdedness, the family informality , the unpretentiousness, a
place where people could roll up their sleeves and just be themselves, where
they didn’ t have to dress up or need a reservation. That was what drew them
there. The food at Luigi’ s Spaghetti Station was good, fast, and cheap. To pay for this expansion, prices  had to be raised. Luigi borrowed a lot of
money . The interest payments alone would choke a horse. In fact, he’s
facing Chapter 11. So what happened to his old crowd? Well, they went
elsewhere, because the very thing that attracted them in the first place was
now gone. There was just such a place in the town where I lived. All the townies
hung out at this wonderful Western restaurant for years. They had red
checkered tablecloths; it was super informal. Suddenly , it was closed for
remodeling. When it reopened, the red tablecloths were gone. Instead of a
friendly , relaxed  atmosphere, there was now the efficient briskne ss of a fast-
food restaurant chain. True, it was cleaned up a bit. True, from an objective,
aesthetic viewpoint, it had been improved. But the old crowd went
elsewhere, feeling that their value as customers had been decreased. We see the same thing happen to that terrific little place the minute some
newspaper or magazine writes about it as a perfect travel hideaway . The
area’ s whole energy changes. The town where I lived went through such a
change. Years ago it was easygoing and casual. People could wear blue
jeans anywhere. Prices were low. Everyone trusted everyone. We cashed
checks without asking for a driver ’s license. When I first moved there, a lady had advertised a Volkswagen in the
paper for $5,000. So I went over and asked her, “How’ s it run?” She said,
“Fine.” I asked, “Do you have any problems with it?” She said, “No.” I
took it for a test drive and said, “Okay , I’ll take it.”
She agreed to accept a personal, out-of-state check from a person she
didn’ t even know . Then she told me that she didn’ t have the certificate of
title because she was making payments on the car. The bank had the
certificate of title, which could be mailed to me. So she accepted an out-of-
state check from an unknown person for $5,000 and gave away herproperty . I accepted it without certificate of title, or even know ing if I had
the certainty of legal ownership. At that time, in that space, there was no
problem. There wasn’ t any question. That’ s how things were, because that’s
how people  were. It wasn’ t the things. It was the people. Then a big article about this town appeared in the New York Times
financial section , proclaiming that real estate here was the second best
investment in the United State s. Within no time at all people came into
town with a totally different motivation, way, and style of being in the
world. They were looking to make a profit, to exploit, and to capitalize. Now everyone has to show a driver ’s license. I’d never give someone
$5,000 without a certificate of title. No one would take an out-of-state
check from an unknown person . The integrity is gone. It went down the
tubes in the mode of seeking success as something “out there,” hoping that
it was profit. Profit then justifie d exploitation. No matter how much money
was shown on a transaction on that level, it only had the appearance of
success. When the goodw ill is gone, success is gone. When the goodwil l is gone,
trust, faith, satisfaction, attitude , customer loyalty , and all that makes life
worthwhile go with it. It all goes down the tubes together . Now we have to
lock our doors in town. Now we have to take the key out of the ignition of
our cars. If we’re not coming from being a friend of life and a friend of
human nature, there’ s no guara ntee the world is going to be our friend
either . So what should Luigi do if he wants to expand his enterprise? Instead of
expanding that which is already successful and thereby destroying all the
elements that were making it that way, he would do far better to merely
repeat the enterprise in another town or in another section of the city. He
could have Luig i’s East and Luigi’s West. But Luigi’ s West had better be
exactly the same as Luigi’ s East, otherwise all his customers are going to go
visit it once and never go back again. One of the best demonstrations of this principle is what happened to a
very famous nightclub in the East Village in New York back in the late ’60s
and early ’70s. It was a pacesetter for the country . It was the first
multimedia disco, freestyle, strobe-light breakthrough in the entertainment
field. It was famous. People lined up outside while the avant -garde went
there—Andy Warhol and you name it. Obviously , it was not set up with a
lot of money . It was upstairs and used canvas for backdrops because theycouldn’ t afford anything else. Yet it was absolutely perfect the way it was. The place was mobbed. It was the “in” place to go. Then the inevitable happened. Either it changed hands or who knows
what, but the decision was made to improve it. And so it made that fatal
mistake: It was closed for remodeling, which seemed to take forever . If I
remember corre ctly, it was a number of months before it reopened. Sure
enough, the hand-painted canvas  had now become slick alabaster walls with
ultra-modernistic, curved surfaces. Everyone went back once to see what it
was like and never went back again. The curved, smooth, shiny , hard
surfaces totally changed the acoustics; the ambience was gone. The
qualities that had made it a winn er were now being exploited. Without even
knowing the details, everyone got that this was what happened. Nobody
went there anymore. The principle here is when we’v e got a winner , we must stay with it and
not get greedy . Those who focus solely on profit margin often lose it. It
doesn’ t matter how successful they are—giant corporations file Chapter 11
every day . Do these examples mean that we shouldn’ t improve? Of course  not. It is
a matter of knowing what  to improve. The thing to improve is what is
working so that it works even better . It means to ride the horse in the
direction it’s going. The fact that we’re good polo players doesn’ t make us
winning jockeys . Those are two different games. It’s okay to learn to be a
jockey , but let’ s not blow the polo playing in order to do it. Look at all of the successful and incredible cars that Detroit produced
over the years. Where are they now? They have a design that made that
particular car top dog, so they decided to change the design—the very thing
that was winning for them. The 1946 Lincoln Continental, for example, was
elegant, sleek, clean, and stunning at the time. Look at the cars with the
same name that have come out over the years since then. They are not the
same. The marketing motive behind the constant change in the design of cars is
so obvio us to everyone that it’s laughable. Making obsolescence part and
parcel of the design is one of the reasons for Detroit’ s constant struggle to
survive. Whatever we buy is going to become outdated within a year. They
think they’re making a profit by that strategy; actually , they’re taking a big
loss. If we knew that our cars were going to stay in style for years to come,
we would be willing to spend a lot for them. We’d be willing to spend a loton replacement parts. (I understa nd the profit on parts is higher than on new
autos.) Look at the prices for which classic cars go. If that design is worth such
an astronomical price, then why doesn’ t Detroit turn out the classic designs? Ask them. I’m sure their computers have reasons for what they do. So what
pulled Chrysler out of its slump? The personage of Lee Iacocca did. Was it
his knowledge of marketing, or his knowledge of mechan ics, or his
knowledge of investment? What made the difference? The whole public
knew that Chrysler was a different company with Iacocca at the head in the
1980s. Like Eddie Basha of Bashas’  supermarkets, there was a different
man in charge. The whole corporation turned around for the better . Whatever Iacocca did was a consequence of who he was; the manifestation
of who he was. As we said before, power is in the presence. Power is in
charisma. Power is in just being  a certain way . Besides overambitiousness, unwise expansion, and greed, the next tripper
with success is pride. Blowing it happens when our excellenc e begins to
manifest itself in a response from the world and we let this go to our heads. What was solicitude for our customers’  convenience and pleasure now
becomes indifference. We can’t be bothered anymore because of that sense
of importance. That is the great collapse of wonderful careers. It happens to celebrities
in the entertain ment field so visibly . The drugs, the alcoh ol, and the
eventual overdoses are merely the symptoms of what has already happened
—they couldn’ t handle it. The guarantee of success is the inner knowing
that it was the consequence of your awareness of some inner truth of human
nature that doesn’ t belong to you as an individual. It gives you the humility
you need  to withstand the assaults of success. A real test it is . . . one of the
biggest tests in the world. Don’ t let your ego spoil and exploi t that which
was the very source of your charm. Gratitude is one of the best defenses. If you’ve discovered your gift and
now it is bringing home the bacon, then be grateful for it. Be thankful and
seek to share the success with others rather than to show it of f pridefully .In the world of super successful people, an expensive car doesn’ t mean
anything, as they all can afford an expensive car. In the world of “would be”
successful peopl e, however , the expensive car is a must. It’s like they still
feel called upon to prove it. Real success brings such an inner state that they
don’t need to prove anything to anybody . They don’t need to impress
anyone. If others are impressed , that’s nice; certainly the applause of the
crowd is a legitimate pleasure and it frequently ener gizes them. By not realizing that it was dealing with human nature rather than
customers’  cash, Coca-Cola pulled the great “new Coke” blooper , which
was when they changed their original formula and thus made  one of the
most impressive gaf fes in business history . The company was one of the most beloved success stories in modern
times—all in America knew about it—and their image became incredibly
tarnished. They really blew it. The comfortable, secure, home-life image of
Coca-Cola as part of the Americ an way of life was suddenly sent reeling by
corporate decisions and the disregard for human nature and human
relations. Whatever the compute rs told the executives about the move they
made, we have to remember that computers don’t have feelings. Computers
don’t have human nature. They just deal in numbers. We all know that Coca-Cola had to back up, try to recoup its losses, and
make whatever attempts it could to regain its steadfast image and public
loyalty . But we were all indignant because something within our humanness
had been  violate d. It wasn’ t the quality , or the availability , or the price of
the product; we were indignan t because we felt we’d been manipulated,
exploited, and played. The company meddled with something that should
not have been meddled with. Our dignity as human being s had been
violated. Some things are priceless, and people won’ t forgive those who
violate them. Their trust and confidence are some of those things. What did Coca-Cola do about that problem? To the company’ s credit,
their executives  listened and responded to the public outcry . After only a
few months, Coca-Cola returned its original formula to store shelves. That
announcement resulted in network newscasts and front-page coverage of
the story in virtually every newspaper in the country . More than 30,000
calls poured into the company  applauding that decision. The Coca-Cola
brand soared to new heights, and customers continued to remem ber the love
they had for it. Trust was restored.We really can’t fool the public with lip service. When we blow it, one
way to recapture what we had going for us is through absolute honesty . The
reestablishment of our integrity and credibility is accomplished  by openly
admitting a mistake when we make one. As a result of that, we demonstrate
to the world a genuine change of heart. The world will for give us. Everyone’ s made mistakes. Mistakes are not the cause of failure—they
are merely springboards defining what was out of alignment, correcting it,
and coming through it at a higher level. We come out either a loser or a
champion, depending on how we handled the mistake. The purpose of
sharing a mistake has to be genuine. It cannot be done to manipulate others
into sympathy or pity, or to dump guilt. Rather , it must be done to genuinely
share what we have learned so that others can learn from our experiences. They will be grateful to us for it, and we will have reestablished  our stature
in their eyes. On the sports field, in the celebrity arena, or in any area of human
endeavor , every one applauds and stands behind the one who is making a
comeback or at least giving it a try. They’ve already won 50 percent of the
game simply by exhibiting their willingness to do so. Anybody who is
willing to take another shot at it earns the world’ s respect, because they
know the gamble involved. They know what it takes to do that. There’ s no
reward in being a hangdog; that’s just self-indulgence. People will
cooperate and feel sorry for such a person, but they won’ t give their respect. Can we make a successful comeback if we’ve really blown it? Of course
we can. There are a lot of successful businesspeople who have  earned and
lost multiple fortunes in their lifetimes. We all have different learning
styles. Some people only find out where the manholes are by falling into
them. That’s their style of learning things, and there’ s nothing wrong with
it. At least when  they get it that way, they get it permanently . The likelihood
of going down that wrong alley again is unlikely . The value of a big blooper is that we’re finished with that one for this
lifetime. From the examples in this chapter , it’s clear that power comes
from goodwill, and goodwill is associated with an image. If we blow the
goodwill, we blow the image, and true success goes down the tubes. In successfully maneuvering around the world, I’ve always put great
value on credit rating rather than on cash or capital. Cash or capital comes
and goes; a credit rating is forever . If we have good credit, all we have to do
is write a check on one of our override accounts and we can get out of anyjam and buy ourselves some time. And with that time there are 12 ways to
deal with it. In the meantime, the interest is tax-deductible and, frankly , no
one can corner us. If we have enough credit lines, we only end up paying
tax-deductible interest. Naturally , we reach our max with this style of
expansion when our cash flow can’t handle the interest payments. When
that happens, we know that we have guessed wrongly . Financial power comes from credit. I’m not impressed by how much
money people have in business, but how much money they can raise. What
money is raised on is integrity , reputation, value, and assets. I spent huge
sums of money on major enterprises without even having a contract. It’s an
old saying that a contract is as good as the paper it’s written on. What that
means is that the value of the contract is strictly based on the integrity of the
one we’re doing business with. If they don’t have that kind of integrity , we
shouldn’ t be doing business with them in the first place. If the only reason
they deal honestly with us is because if they don’t we can take them to court
and sue them, who needs them? The whole business world is played in that
arena. If we are truly successful, our value to others is of such a dimension that
they automatica lly see to it and make the check good if it bounces. The
reason for this is that like goes to like. We draw people of a similar nature
into our circles of intimates. People of powerful integrity tend to deal with
each other . That’ s the very attraction—one champion recognizes another . For our last example, let’s look at one of the biggest bloopers of the last
century , the whole principle of what was responsible for its complete
recovery , and then a position of world leadership. That is the story of Japan
in World War II. Japan emer ged from the ultra-defeat and being the ultra-
villain; from international disgra ce on a scale that we will never know; from
the ultimate shame in a nation that places so much emphasis on honor and
pride, creating the greatest humiliation, defeat, and fall from grace. One
couldn’ t have been in a worse position than Japan after World War II. Not only that, but Japanese nationals had been interned in the United
States and were in our version of the concentration camp. Their worldly
goods had been confiscated. They were treated as enemy aliens , despite thefact that the majority were loyal Americans. They had race and color
against them. They were the focus of national hatred. They were the
ultimate of going down the tubes. How much greater disaster could be
experienced, not to mention the violent deaths of hundreds of thousands
through the explosion of the atomic bomb and the shock wave that it sent
through the emotions of the people? That was on the international military
level. What about the commercial level? Before World War II, “Made in Japan”
was a joke. What it inferred was a cheap imitation, commonness. It meant
that people weren’ t willing to pay much if it was made in Japan.
_OceanofPDF.com_Success_Is_for_You_-_David_R_Hawkins.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Bashas’  just provided a little
community get-together space with no profit motive involved. Other stores
had no such tables or chairs. Every square inch was stuffed with shelves
where they were trying to make a profit. Did Eddie Basha take a loss on the number of square feet he had assigned
as a get-together area. Of cours e not. Also, he had a whole balcony where
people could get things in the bakery or the deli and go and sit, take as
much time as they wanted, eat, look over the passing scene, and sort of
sidewalk café it. In the bakery, it even said, “Baked with love. ”  Of course,
the washrooms were right there. In addition, all kinds of convenience
machines, copy machines, wastebaskets, and other amenities were there and
had only to do with comfort. It was all there for the customers’  pleasure. So what is the sum total of all of this. What Bashas’  provided was a
friendly, warm, loving community experience. What happened, if others
were anything like me, was that people developed a loyalty. I didn’ t care
how many competitive superm arkets opened up in town. I didn’ t care if
their prices would save me a few pennies. What Eddie Basha captured me
with was. goodwill. Success is the automatic consequence of goodwill. If someone were to
imitate what Eddie Basha did and think that thereby they’d also become a
success, they’d be fooling them selves altogether. This success was coming
from the way he was. It was obvious he would be a success no matter what
he did. His customers felt included in his experience. We felt like we were
sharing it. We felt like we were part of it. We almost felt like he was part of
our larger family. The power was in the attitude of goodwill and intention of
motive. Let’s compare that to visiting the nearest motor vehicle department. It’s
obvious that no one particularly  cares about us there. The furniture is gray,unattractive, steel, and cold. The attitude of the clerk is one of annoyance,
irritation, and even contempt. We’re forced to wait in long lines under
grimy circumstances. It’s a lousy experience. Everyone hates going to the
motor vehicle department, but we go there because we have to. Given an
option, none of us would go there. It has no power of attraction. This brings us to the next princ iple. We can see that with force people
exhaust themselves trying to get things. With attraction, the universe brings
people to their feet. We might say that power is like a magnetic field: There
are some people  whose fields repel us, and there are other people whose
fields attract us. When we go to particular places or parties, there are certain
people whom we look forward to seeing. If we ran into them, we’d feel like
we got energized. Yet there are other people whom we walk on the other
side of the street to avoid, because after we meet them we feel drained. So the question we ask ourselve s is: How do we make other people feel. Filling out a long application form, standing in a long line, going to lousy
toilets, sitting on uncomfortable  chairs, and parking cars in the blazing sun
with no provision for shade does not make people feel good. That brings us to the entrance of the restaurant. Is there a canopy. Other
than the aestheti c decor, which totally changes the energy of the place and
attracts a different crowd (I will guarantee this), a canopy provides for the
comfort of the customers. If we get all dressed up to go to a restaurant for
dinner, who wants to walk in the rain. If it is a restaurant that warrants it,
valet parking should be available—not mandatory, but available. I know
lots of people who used to avoid certain discos because the valet parking
was mandatory. I’m sure the owner thought he was squeezing a few more
bucks out of the customers, but he was actually turning them away in
droves. Everyone on some intuitive level gets the motive. They aren’ t
fooling anyone. The same valet will either represent the owners’
consideration for our convenience or their greed to squeeze another buck
out of us. We know the dif ference on some unconscious level. As we go inside  the restaurant, decor, lighting, and music hit us with the
whole atmosph ere. This is a whole book in itself. The total lack of
consciousness in this field is staggering to consider. The music is too loud. It’s progressive jazz or it’s heavy metal. Plus, it never stops. Research
shows that people need to have relief periodically from music, and those
who have studied it program in periods of silence. Thos e who are
unconscious leave the music tuned to some terrible station, or theyunconsciously put on some tape that they like. Owners shoul d forget the
tape that they like and pick the music their customers like. There was an Italian restaurant in town where the owner must have been
a fan of early rock ’n’ roll and that whole era. The music was an
abomination. I never once went to that restaurant where the crowd I was
with did not comment on how terrible the music was. This guy loved it;
everyone else hated it. What kind of music do people expect at an Italian
restaurant. We want to hear Verdi, Italian street songs, something quiet and
subdued, so we can have a conversation, or so the waitstaf f can hear our
orders. Acoustics are all-important, and owners of most restaurants must be deaf
indeed. Sounds  bounce back and forth and reverberate; hard surfaces
amplify them. There’ s nothing wrong with a din if owners have created a
din because that’s the kind of atmosphere they want in their business. What
I’m talking abou t is oppressive din. We want to have a busines s discussion
or a romantic conversation, and the acoustics are horrible. Plus the vibration
of the air-condit ioning system and the sound of the high-speed exhaust fans
in the kitchen add to the problem. Sound is one of our major senses. It is the
same for smell. How much does it cost to create a nice smell in a business. Practically nothing. Color and decor is a whole other subject. The thing that impre sses us is
that it was either treated as important or not, not necessarily whether we
agree with the style. Rather, the amount of energy that was put into trying to
create an experience for us, the customers, is what matters. Location can also be overwhelmingly important. A lot of peopl e find out
only through bankruptcy that the big difference between success and non-
success on the east side of New York City depends upon what side of the
street their restaurant is located. The best after -theater traf fic goes east. The next thing to watch is whether previous businesses in this location
have gone bankr upt or failed. If even one has gone bankrupt or failed in that
location, I would say the strike against opening a new one there is 50
percent. If two have failed in that location, I would raise it to 95 percent. If
three have failed in that locatio n, it’s idiotic to even consider it. I knew
buildings in the town where I lived where a dozen businesses all in a row
had gone bankrupt. There was something very wrong there, obviously. There were facto rs operating here that I’m not going to go into in this book. But in common parlance let’s say that some places had bad energy, and no
amount of paint and powder was going to fix them. The main thrust of this chapter has been achieved. The whole awareness
of the goodwill derived from customers’  experiences and business owners’
efforts to genuinely create enjoyable experiences are important indeed. To
be thoughtful and solicitous is profitable and enjoyable, and will cause the
compliments to pour in. Everyon e is charmed by charm. If we haven’ t got it
ourselves, we must hire it. The success of Disney World is due in considerable part to the
extroverted, friendly politeness of all employees who have contact with the
public. They treat people as if they were family. It’s importa nt to make
customers “feel  at home. ” That’ s just ordinary decency and hospitality,
which are so lacking in today’ s boring business enterprises. A boring
environment creates boring employees and brings in dull and boring
customers, which makes the whole experience boring. People will forgive
us most anything except for boring them. And so, on to dinner. OceanofPDF. comTHE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING
So, the business enterprise has intrigued us, or lured us, or somehow
gotten us inside its doors. If it’s a poor example, by now we’ve practically
lost our appetites. If it’s a good example, we are looking forward
expectantly because it has already been a positive experience. Our future
experience with this restaurant or business is full of optimistic expectations. We know that expectation tends to determine the quality of experience. If
we expe ct somet hing to be lousy, very often it is. Our expectatio ns set up all
the attitudes and positions that are going to determine what kind of
experience we have. Customers’  expectations, therefore, are critical. Are we
looking forward to the next encounter with this establishment, or are we
dreading it. At this point in our restaurant experience, what happens next is going to
be very importa nt. I wonder why the owners of restaurants or any other
businesses totall y go oblivious at this point—that is the problem  of the wait. The wait is that gap between the setting up of customers’  expectations and
their fulfillment. The reason this is super important is that every customer is
coming from a space of need. We need that place, or that product, or that
food, or that service; therefore, we are impatient. We are frustrated. At this
point in the encounter, we have  to be handled with kid gloves. It’s at this
point that our pride comes into play. If we’re handled like we’re important,
we will love them. If our need to be attended to is not met, there’ s nothing
that business can do to make us happy. They have not treated who we are
with respect. I am talking about the unexciting (or nonexistent) lounge and the endless
wait for the waiter or waitress to come over and finally take our orders. When we’re hungry, five minutes is forever. When we’re full, five minutes
is nothing at all. There’ s a big difference here. The purpose of having
someone come over to the table the minute we sit down is so we feel
attended to and that our needs as people are being met—not just our
stomachs, but our persons too. A lot of shortsi ghted cooks and restaurant owners concentrate on our
stomachs as though there were no people there around those stomachs. When we’re taken care of, we’ll be pleased with whatever is put in our
stomachs. And so the rule is, out of consideration for our experience, out of
knowing what it’s like to put themselves in our shoes, the successful
establishment will see to it that this is addressed. How to handle it will
resolve itself from situation to situation, but the principle is that their
purpose and motive to handle this will see to it that it gets done. The
customers will get the intention there. We ask: Why doesn’ t the restaurant just have one person who does
nothing but go around and promptly take the orders of every person as they
sit down and are ready to order. Why don’t they have a little light where
they can flick the switch that tells the server that we’re ready. Why do they
always disappear into the kitchen at this crucial point. They will do the
same thing later, guaranteed, when it’s time to get the check. The two most
critical points in the whole experience are blown: the start and the finish. We got annoyed having to wait to get waited upon, and now we’re annoyed
again when it comes time to pay. This is not the way to win friends and
influence people. At this point the personality encounters come with the waitstaf f. They are
either perfuncto ry, mechanical, and uncaring, or they have high energy and
we enjoy them. What’s the difference. The difference is the degree to which
they are “present. ” They are either “there with us” or they are not. The
waiter or waitres s who is there with us makes twice as much in tips as those
who are not there with us. The feedback comes in the form  of the tip,
popularity, reputation, and return customers. If we’re treated like royalty,
we will remember that restaurant and we will come back. What annoys me about being unsuccessful is that it is boring. Not that it’s
bad; rather, it’s just boring. Can you tell me what is more boring than sitting
in a resta urant waiting for someone to finally saunter over and feign interestby asking that famous question: “Are you ready to order yet. ” Good night. We wer e ready to or der ten minutes ago,  is what goes through our minds. This is typical of cold impersonal corporations, such as fast-food chains. There is no one there. There isn’t any person  there. We have the same
experience in the giant superma rket chain or today’ s run-of-the-mill retail
businesses. We wander throug h the shelves. We can’t find what we’re
looking for anywhere. We look around and nobody’ s there. Not only that,
but in many businesses they don’t even demarcate, for our identification,
who is an employee. We have to go through the barrier of possible
embarrassment by addressing a likely looking person, only to be told, “I
don’t work here. ” Finally we say, “The heck with it,” and walk out. We get up and walk out of restaurants that make us sit there and wait. We
are too hungry and impatient. But more importantly, the reason we get
angry is because of their contempt for our needs, our happiness, our
convenience, and the pleasure of our persons. They just want our money;
that’s obvious. Okay, so if we’re hungry enough to eat there, so what. It’s
possible to give customers practically nothing and still extract money out of
them. It’s like they’re blackmailed by their stomachs. What else can they
do. The next thing we run into if we keep going back to the same restaurant
is that the menu never changes from year to year. It’s like the cook learned
something back  in school, and he’s never learned how to cook anything
since. These are the principles of inflexibility, rigidity, and being stuck only
in the ease of those things one has learned how to do. It shows a lack of
creativity, versat ility, inventiveness, and awareness of how easily people get
bored in this world. Some things should be the same, yes, on a fixed menu. And some things should be constantly different, creative and fresh, so that
customers have new experiences—something tantalizing, interesting,
exciting, and a choice. I’m thinking of a little local restaurant that was sort of ridiculou s because
it was so self-consciously ostentatious in its menu. When I asked for a salad
dressing, they told me they had raspberry vinaigrette and that was all. Raspberry vinaigrette or feta cheese, phooey. I hate feta cheese. I hate
raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I’m just a mundane person in a lot of my
tastes. I like Thousand Island. I like bleu cheese. If you haven’ t got it, I’m
not going back. I’m also a chocolate freak, and I’m not alone—there are a lot of
chocolate freaks in this world. Some restaurants obviously make an effort in
the dessert department: They have this big, impressive dessert tray, but
everything is fruit. I like chocolate. If a restaurant doesn’ t have anything
chocolate on its menu and they persist in that, I won’ t go back. At this local restaurant I’m think ing of, I asked every time I went there if
they had someth ing chocolate. If they were able to hear anything the first
time, they would have heard this; they would have gone back to the owner
and said, “You know, some of our customers like chocolate. Some of our
customers like ginger ale and diet soda. Some of our customers like bleu
cheese. So why not provide it. ”
It doesn’t mean they have to cancel the pseudo-prestige they thought they
were getting from just having raspberry vinaigrette. They could have
raspberry vinaigrette, and they could feature it because they were coming
from that strange little idea of status that raspberry vinai grette in a
restaurant made  it a very special restaurant in some weird way. But they
could also have kept in the back a bottle of Thousand Island dressing. What
does it really take to have a can of Hershey’ s syrup, or a can of Diet Pepsi,
or a bottle of ginger ale. Is that asking a lot. Apparently. We know how many enterprises fail completely because there is no
solicitude. There is no caring and no responsiveness. There is no capacity or
willingness to observe, listen, and learn. Evidently, the people are satisfied
with where they are. They have a perfunctory business, run in a perfunctory
manner, with the perfunctory degree of success. They have perfunctory
customers who are served in a perfunctory style, in perfunctory
surroundings. Their whole life is lived on the level of boringness that, to my
view, is fatal. If the truth were known, probably more people in the world
are killed by boredom than by much-blamed stress. Being bored is one of
the biggest stressors there is. Isn’t that so. The business we call that puts us
on hold just lost with us, didn’ t they. The longer we’re kept on hold, the
more they lose with us. That’ s why when I ran an enterprise back east I had ten incoming
telephone lines. The minute someone said, “I had trouble getting your line,”
I instantly put in another one. How many times have we tried to reach a
business, been put on hold, and finally said, “The heck with it” and hung
up. Who  needs it. They don’t care about the customers, that’s obvious. Thevoice at the other end is like a cold machine. Or they act like they’re
annoyed that someone called them. I called a coupl e of aluminum manufacturers in Phoenix, for instance. One wom an sounded like she was almost angry that I had calle d: “Are you
sure you have a business transaction tax number. ” She went on and on as
though for a wholesale company to mistakenly make a retail sale would be
the end of it for them. Well, the proof in the pudding is tested by eating it. If we get past the
wait barrier at the restaurant, the next encounter is the food itself. If
someone is going to be a cook or chef, then be the best one the world has
ever seen. Peopl e will get the intention in the food, strangely enough, when
someone cares how the plate looks, how it’s arranged, so as to create a
beautiful visual experience. There’ s a place I knew that advertised that it specialized in omelets. Yet if
I went there I got an ordinary omelet, which was strangely always flat. Maybe it had a little piece of parsley and some token potatoes. Even so,
they did business. They did business because they were there and because
people got hungry for breakfast. Now, if you ever get the chance, go to Mont-Saint-Michel off the coast of
Normandy, whic h to me is one of the great wonders of the world. After
walking up the narrow winding little street, I encountered a restaurant that
specialized in omelets. When I got in there, there was a blazing  fire. There
were chefs with tall hats, big copper bowls, and whisks. With great creative
display they whipped the heck out of the eggs, plus whatever other secret
ingredients they put in it. (Maybe there wasn’ t anything else they put in
except elbow grease. ) Anyway, they really went to it. All of the customers saw this, and they sort of joined in the whole
creative process. That an omelet was more than just a little dish was quite
obvious. The whole place seem ed to be involved in the creation of this
omelet that someone ordered. When it came it had to have been  four inches
high—not a flat half-inch thick —four inches of delightful creation. What
was the difference. One was done on the level of mastery of excellence, of
pride. If I was the owner of a flat-omelet restaurant and I was served one
like that, I would die of shame. I would have to know instantl y, How is it
that they cr eate these incr edible omelets at Mont-Saint-Michel. After we leave a bad restauran t, we say to ourselves, “I wonder if this
guy ever eats anywhere else. Doesn’ t he know what a good dessert lookslike. Where is this guy’s head. ” A successful business owner wants to
create an experi ence for the customers, sharing with them the finest he can
possibly do, learn, create, and imagine, out of respect for them (and
himself) and the quality of their experience. Out of that, success comes
automatically. The whole impo rtance of “excellence” has been written about elsewhere. Suffice it to say, it is not something that can be imitated. Excellence is a
quality coming out of the comm itment to excellence, which is the obvious
result. It is not the cause. Here again, the resistive left brain will say, “Yeah,
but I’m not a creative person. Those are right-brained people. They’re born
that way, I’m not. I don’t have  a creative imagination. ” In fact, no such
thing is true. Everyone has a creative imagination, otherwise it would not
even be possible  to stay alive on this planet. It’s our creative imagination
that provides all the expectations that lead us to do everything that we do all
day long. Of course we have creative imagination. It’s just that we fail to
realize its importance. A truly creative  person is one who is coming out of attitudes of caring,
sharing, loving, participating, and imagining what the other person’ s
experience might be, then genuinely trying to create the best possible
experience for them. The best substitute that a lot of businesses survive on
is cheap  prices. If they haven’ t got anything else, they fall back on cheap
prices and volume. If they’re not too good at what they do, they’ve got to
do a lot of it to make up for the dif ference. I’m not putting down profit margin. Rather, I’m saying that profit margin
is the consequence and not the cause of the true profit. Anything we do with
complete mastery, excellence, and respect will automatically show a profit. The secret of so many successe s is that they do what they like doing best,
and they do it to the max. That means we can be a success cutting out paper
dolls, or making  fake mustaches, or homemade scarecrows, or birdhouses,
or toilet seats, or whatever we like—the mastery itself is coming out of our
intention. The excellence is its representation to the world of our own
integrity. The real power of the truly successful person is coming out of
their genuine attunement to the humanness of the other person. The relationship then is to the humanness of the other person and not just
the specifics of their itty-bitty purchase requirements. Truly successful
people know that the purchaser of their services, whatever they are—be
they entertaining, singing, dancing, engineering, whatever—is  always the
same customer. There is only one customer in this whole world. Once we
know who that is, there’ s no problem selling anything or being successful
with that person. The name of that customer is “human nature. ” The reason
we sign up for anything, whether it’s a language course, an automobile
lease, or a contr act, is because it appeals to something in our human nature. There’ s only one customer, and that’s human nature itself. Each individual
customer is only the representa tive of human nature in their given case. What is being brought to them is that which is universal. I said that power comes from the recognition of the truth of that which is
universal, and not addressing that which is limited. Huma n nature is
universal, whether it’s a man, a woman, or a child. It’s only human nature
that brought them here, and it’s only human nature that will determine
whether they continue with a business and whether it will be a success or
not. A better gimmick doesn’ t mean anything. It’s only if that better
gimmick serves some human need that matters—the needs of
acknowledgment, importance, celebration, and the fact that these things are
recognized as important by someone. It’s obvious that I’m talking about an attitude which differentiates cheap,
greedy, and grasping from generous, expansive, and giving. Once again the
left brain might say, “Well, I don’t have those qualities. ” Again, that is
trying to imitate what is “out there. ” Those attitudes of generosity, caring,
bigness, creativity, resourcefulness, and adaptability are all automatically
rising out of the fact that the one directing the enterprise has human nature. These are qualities of human nature itself; therefore, they exist in all of us. All we have to know is where the switch is located and how to turn on our
electromagnet of power. How do we attract success instead of trying to
purchase it. Success is suppose d to chase us. We’re not supposed to chase
success. The whole world is chasing success. So what. Those who have it
don’t even pursue it. By the time we’ve finished this conversation, we’ll have finished our
dinner. It’s time to get the check. This is the next big disaster. Every single
member of a waitstaf f knows when it’s time for the check. It seems that
they hide out in the kitchen on purpose, because now is the time when they
finally realize their profit: their tip. Everyone makes a living and leaves
with a positive feeling and goodwill, right. At this final crucial point, as the
success of the entire experience hangs by a thread, the waitstaf f disappears. How many times have we sat in a restaurant with an appointment to
catch, a theater opening to make, or whatever, clutching our money and
begging someone to please take it. Even after they’ve decided to reluctantly
take our money, they now disap pear for another 20 minutes. What are they
doing with the check. Where did they go. We wonder if they’ve run down
the alley  with our change or something. Or, when they finally do appear
with the change, it’ s the wrong amount. If the lunch bill is $20, for instance, they bring back the chang e from a
$50 bill with a $20 and a $10. Inasmuch as we would like to good-naturedly
leave the minim ally expected 15 to 20 percent, even though the service was
lousy, they now have us successfully blocked from doing so easily. We have
the choice of stiffing the waitress or blowing another ten minutes while we
try to catch her eye again. She makes another round-trip to the cash register,
where who knows what all goes on, because it takes forever. She finally
comes back with five singles and an attitude like we’ve impo sed on her. What the heck, we say. It’s her money. On top of it all, they add the insult of
adding the tax to the bill and giving it to us as one sum. So we’re now
expected to tip 15 to 20 percent on the tax as well. The $75 dinner requires a minimum 15 percent tip on the bill, doesn’ t it. The fact that there is at least a $5 tax then makes it a minimum of $80. This
means the waite r now expects at least 15 percent of $80. That brings up the
next principle: taking responsibility for the customers’  welfar e. We should
watch out for their bucks. We should protect their money and prevent them
from getting fleeced. We should protect them from inconvenience and
aggravation. As the owners of our enterprise, if we don’t do it, who will. An occasional good employee will do it, if we’re lucky, because it’s an
expression of who they are. We can’t imitate it. We either have it or we
don’t. Success is completely unavoidable if we express the right set of attitudes. This is why top-notch people turn down many offers. It’s not that they don’tknow that they can make a success of it. That’ s a foregone conclusion—of
course they can. Success is automatic. What they’re trying to figure out is
whether it’s worth the bother, or whether they’re really even interested. Why can’t we buy the very top people then. Because they’re not for sale. They’ve got it made, thank you. Curiously, the fact that they cannot be
bought is one of the things that powerfully attracts us to them.
He provided a community get-together space with no profit motive involved.
What did Eddie Basha do differently from other stores to create a loyal customer base?
The successful business creates an experience for the customers, while the unsuccessful one focuses on making a profit.
What is the difference between a successful business and an unsuccessful one?
It is not about chasing success, but about being a certain way, and that is what attracts people.
What is the key to success, according to the author?
He is saying that data and knowledge are not the key to success; it is the attitude and intention behind it.
What is the author saying about the importance of data and knowledge?
He is warning against greed, overambition, and the exploitation of others for personal gain.
What is the author warning against in the context of business?