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Lesson #1: “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.”

John Willard Marriott Articles
Lesson #1: “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.”

Lesson #1: “Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers.”

Marriott got to where he did in the business world by relying on a strong team of colleagues and employees around him. He rose through the ranks by focusing on honing his managerial skills, by ensuring that he was building the best possible team around him.

“Employee loyalty is of great importance,” he once said. “That comes by treating employees the way management would like to be treated.”

Marriott took care to make sure he was building a positive work environment for everyone he employed. The first step he took towards doing that was by making sure that his employees’ needs were met. From providing clean and professional-looking uniforms for his wait staff, to installing hose reels on the sides of his buildings so that workers could easily hang up the hoses they used to clean, no detail was too small for Marriott to consider in trying to make his employees’ lives better. He understood that big picture things like building employee loyalty and pride began with small picture things like clean uniforms and proper equipment.

To that end, Marriott also understand what it meant to lead a balanced life. “Don’t let your work hurt your family relations,” he said. He made the effort and took the time to communicate with his employees, to show them he was sincerely interested in them and in improving their work environment.

“It’s important to listen to employees, ask questions of them, say ‘Good Morning’ to them, ask about their families, and get to know a little bit about their aspirations, ambitions, home life and work motivations,” Marriott said. “We have great morale in our restaurants, hotels, and other operations because our employees know we are interested in them and do all we can for them.”

That is why, in his early years, Marriott could call all of his employees by name. “When we had six or seven Hot Shoppes, I'd drive to every one of them every day, sometimes twice a day,” he said.

As the company grew, he could no longer maintain that practice, but the principle behind it remained. To that end, Marriott encouraged property visits and regularly scheduled meetings between management and staff, staying as hands on as he possibly could.

Marriott also understood that workers appreciated incentives, and the opportunity to move forward. “There is great opportunity for advancement in a large company,” he said. “In our business an hourly employee can become a department manager and general manager in a short time.”

Everything that Marriott did was based on the principle of working hard, and finding ways to encourage his employees to do the same, which he quickly discovered, meant treating them as he would want to be treated.

“You can't have a service business with a lot of employees without having people who know how to manage,” said Marriott. “So we have been teaching our management how to manage, as well as our employees how to take care of their jobs. Good management and trained personnel are the most important factors in our business.”





Lesson 1 Take care of your people and they will take care of your customers

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Jay Kubassek
(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek)  In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.

 

As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)

 

Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. 

 

Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper.  Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

Jeff Foster
WebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas.  We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing
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John Brennan
John Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website

Stephanie Robey
Stephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals.

She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com   Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences.  Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University.

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