What Does It Take to Do a Great Job?

I was at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas yesterday with my husband. It was 80s and sunny in Vegas, and 30s and snow here at home... Why did we fly back here again? Oh well, I suppose that's another topic. Anyway, after making our way through security (which surprisingly was only a 5 minute ordeal), we stopped at one of the restaurants for breakfast. It's fun to watch people while you sit, waiting.

One of the people I noticed was a cleaning staff member. His job, at least while I was watching, was to sweep up any litter he saw. You know what I'm talking about; you see these sweepers at all theme parks, malls, etc. This guy tried to sweep a piece of paper into his dustbin and it (the litter) didn't budge from the floor. It must have been a sticker. He pushed at it with his shoe, and it still didn't budge. At that point, he walked away.

I remember the staff at Disneyworld encountering something similar. They carried scrapers so they could make sure they got all of the litter - including gum.

It seems to me that is an example of a good portion of a great customer experience: you get the job done right, even if it means carrying additional tools and using a bit of elbow grease.

 photo credit: istockphoto.com