5 Reasons You Have to Spend Money to Make Money

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Today I visited Chick-Fil-A Corporate Headquarters.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!  Our tour included lunch in the cafeteria and seeing lots of workspaces.  I enjoyed seeing a wall in the innovation area displaying all the product release dates...

  • Chicken Sandwich 1962
  • Waffle Fries 1985
  • Chicken Biscuit 1986
  • Kid's Meal 1987
  • Spicy Sandwich 2010
  • There was lots of innovations through the years..these are my personal favorites!

Something that hit me as we toured was the way everything looked "nice."  From the cars displayed in the lobby to office areas, nothing was shabby or half-way done.  My favorite part of the tour was a mock-up of a Chick-Fil-A restaurant interior.  It was a fully functional restaurant mock-up built inside a warehouse.  It looked like a movie set from the back, but a Chick-Fil-A from the inside.  To build all that "set" for training and development purposes costs a lot of money, but I would argue that it is worth it.

Here are 5 reasons why you have to spend money to make money:

  1. What you model for your staff is how they will treat your customers.
  2. You can't cut corners when trying to make a change that people will notice (or a change that matters).
  3. Investing in the customer experience creates long-term fans.
  4. Generosity pays (for customers & for employees)
  5. Being a cheap-skate doesn't pay..... ever.

Demonstrating the Self-Explanatory (blog)

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When traveling on an airplane, do folks really need the demonstration of how to put on a seat-belt?  I’ve always wondered where that policy came from.  Now that seat belts are required in passenger cars across the country, it seems like this isn’t a skill that must be demonstrated to travelers.

And in the unfortunate event that the plan goes down, is that seat belt really gonna do much for you?  Probably only in a few of the mildest of air-emergency situations, right?

It makes me wonder if there are things that I spend time talking about at home or work or in training CentriKid camp staff that could be cut because it is self-explanatory.  If you think of something, please save me the public humiliation and direct message me so I can make the improvement. :)

"Babymoon" + Free Food = Great Day!

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BABYMOON TRIP... we drove down to Atlanta last night for our very last get-away as a family of 2.  (If you are new to my blog, you can check out the latest update to our Adoption Journey at my wife's blog.)

For today's adventures, our Babymoon included a tour of the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.  Then we went to IKEA for lunch and for shopping.  The IKEA cafe had a deal on the chicken fingers & fries where you buy one plate, get one free.  Score!

IN OTHER NEWS... In case you haven't seen my tweets or my facebook page, I've entered a video contest on the Which Wich facebook page.  So if you haven't seen it yet, you can go there to see it, and leave a comment & "LIKE" it.  (Help me win the contest...it ends at 5pm Sunday).

Finally, tonight when we got home, I had a facebook msg from the local manager at the Which Wich in Providence (because I featured their storefront in my Which Wich contest video)  ... and he offered to hook me up w/ a free t-shirt and a meal next time I came by the store.  Score!  So I went up there tonight and got my meal free, bought Emily's sandwich, and also got a Which Wich cup & t-shirt.

AWKWARD PERSONAL REALIZATION... I blog a lot about food and I'm not sure what that means.  I guess I enjoy the stories and experience with some of my favorite places.  I don't consider myself a "connoisseur" by any stretch of the word, but I just like to have fun!