First Impressions Matter

One day, the banquet manager at a resort hotel at a very big theme park in Orlando took his crew of dishwashers to the banquet hall. Spread before them was an immense sea of tables, flowers and decorations for a lavish wedding dinner.

The manager asked his dishwashers to imagine the same scene, but only with dirty dishes. "It wouldn't matter if we spent all week on the decorations," he said. "If the bride's glass is dirty it will ruin her impression of this day forever. Imagine if this was your own daughter's wedding...?"

His point is simple: contact = impression = experience.

Sometimes almost everything can go right, and yet the most essential task taken for granted can ruin someone's impression of your service or product. (If my glass is dirty, then how clean is the kitchen...?)