Tag Archives: Black Friday

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Black Friday, Chick-fil-a, and Leadership (part 2)

Don’t look now your values are showing.

In contrast to Wal-mart we went to lunch as a family the day after Black Friday at Chic-fil-a. It was crazy busy but didn’t feel busy because even though they offer food at a great price they value their customers over their prices.

Here is what my family and I experianced.

1. They had enough staff to handle the busyness of their restaurant.
2. They didn’t charge extra for the little things like sauces and refills.
3. They had a clean playground with one entrance and exit for our kids.
4. They checked on us at our table more than most servers do at a traditional restaurant.
5. They honored a promotion for us that another store was doing.
6. They answered all of our requests with “It would be my pleasure”

Why will I go back to Chick-fil-a next time I’m in the south? One word. Leadership.

I remember hearing a story about Chick-fil-a. They was a competitor that was expanding very fast and was putting the pressure on Chick-fil-a. All the young executives were trying to figure out a way that they could expand to grow the reach of Chick-fil-a and match their competitors aggressiveness they were concerned with growing their organization bigger.  The founder and CEO Truett Cathy started pounding his fists on the table until all his young executives where quite and he said the following “Better not Bigger. If we focus on getting better our customers will demand we get bigger.”

That is why Chick-fil-a is Chick-fil-a and wal-mart will always be wal-mart. It takes leadership to focus on the right things when everyone is focused on the bottom line. Better not Bigger.

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Black Friday, Chick-fil-a, and Leadership (part 1)

Don’t look now but your values are showing.

We all want to be what we are not. If you have brown eyes you want blue, if you have curly hair you straighten it. As a kid I had to wear “slim” jeans and so desperately wanted to wear “husky” it sounded so tough, and now skinny jeans are the rage. We want to be certain things and aspire to them but who we are shows through.

I recently went Black Friday shopping for the first time in my life. Saying it was crazy doesn’t do it justice. I am not a fan of crowds, and don’t ever feel like I have to have anything bad enough to wait in line for it. I’m just not that cool. But this year a deal came up I couldn’t pass up it was well worth an hour or two in line.

I was shocked by the confusion, misinformation, and overall craziness that transpired. There were no lines, no signs, no information and it wasn’t until last-minute someone handed out numbers. The cardboard container holding all the video games was destroyed and people were on their hands and knees looking for games. All of this could have been avoided with a little forethought. I have never seen so many shoppers in one place and every year it’s the same thing. You would think they would have put more thought into creating a system.

10:00 pm came people were screaming pushing and games where flying. I don’t think I will ever go to Wal-Mart for Black Friday again. What does Wal-mart value? – Cheap stuff sold to lots of people they make their money from bulk sales. No matter what values they put up in their break room they value bulk first customers second.

It doesn’t matter what you say your values are it’s what you do that shows what your values are.