Talk of the Town

Welcome to the 132nd edition of “In Touch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so please hit reply and let me know what you think.

Story of the Week: “Talk of the Town”

Last month I took my son for a haircut at a barbershop in Limassol called “The House of the Butcher.” It’s a modern place with real personality – football memorabilia on the walls, a touch of boxing, and a funky pop-art portrait of the owner that gives the whole space its signature. This is no ordinary barbershop and its properly branded customer experience has made it the talk of the town.

As we waited for my son’s turn, we noticed that Connor Goldson, who plays for Aris FC, was sitting in one of the chairs. Since I had an appointment with a customer of mine, I paid for the haircut and left.

A few minutes later, my mobile phone was buzzing crazily as four SMS messages arrived, one after the other. One of them read: “Dad, you won’t believe this. Giorgi Kvilitaia is here now, too. He’s sitting right next to me!”

So, two footballers from the same team had chosen the same place and put their trust in the same pair of hands. Suddenly, a simple haircut appointment turned into a reminder of how reputation travels in today’s world. Because people talk to people. Footballers talk to footballers. Customers talk to customers. And what they say matters.

So, in addition to an excellent haircut, my son also received an early business lesson last week. I later told him: “One day, you’ll choose a profession and, whatever it is, you must make sure that you work on it in such a way that your clients and customers are happy to pass on positive descriptions of their experience with you. Your level of excellence will become your introduction to the world.”

Whatever your career, if your work is good enough to make you the talk of the town – even for a short time in this fast-changing world – you will continue to feel the benefits of your customers’ positive word of mouth recommendations for a very long time. You might even get to meet your favourite footballers.

Words of Wisdom

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is – it is what consumers tell each other it is.” Scott Cook

A Question to Ponder, dear friend.

If people talked about your work the way they talk about their favourite places, what would they be saying?