The Ultimate "Trick" question!                               Home Page

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Trick, or treat? Most of us quickly answer, “TREAT”. It brings back childhood memories

of Halloween, or those we’ve enjoyed with our children. It is the one day of the year

when weird is ordinary, ghosts are normal and candy passes for a health food. But the

“Trick or Treat” question is applicable 364 other days of the year. And, it haunts a lot of

businesses and homes.

If you’re in business, it’s trick or treat every day when people enter into your store or

office. Often experiences range from one extreme to the other. Customers feel treated

and brag about the experience, or worse customers feel tricked and never go back!

Businesses that offer great service create loyal customers. It’s a real treat to find a

company that consistently delivers what it promises. Most of the time it is simple;

master the basics, serve customers well, and treat employees like the company can’t

do business without them. The trick here is to treat others by demonstrating that

their business matters.

These same concepts apply to our homes. Whether it’s family or visitors, that trick or  

treat question defines the atmosphere people find when they walk through the front door.

Unlike business, there is little or no on-the-job training for skills that prepare us for our

jobs within the home. So, it is important to inventory the areas where we invest our time,

to ensure that we create an environment that is a treat!

It’s always great to be in a home where family and friends not only we thrive, but where

everyone is encouraged to be their best. So how do we apply simple principles that make

it a “treat” to come home at the end of every day?

Here are a few ideas to encourage a positive experience, no matter where you are:

1. Master time for conversations without distractions, choose times to turn off                                                                                                                 the phones to offer undivided attention to someone
2. Master the art of consistency; it’s no more fun living in a home that’s an                                                                                                     “unpredictable roller coaster” than it is working where the place is always up or down.
3. Choose words wisely: nothing impacts relationships like words spoken in haste with                                                                                                  poor judgment, and nothing encourages others like words that uplift and encourage.
4. Learn from others. What’s different about the places where you spend time that make you                                                                                        want to return? Strive to recreate the characteristics that make it a treat.
5. Live life like there is no tomorrow! It’s contagious to be around people with a passion                                                                                                    for life, they are magnets.

Well, trick or treat turns out to be a really good question. This Halloween, have fun when 

you hear that one phrase over and over again. But instead of just giving out candy, make 

some minor adjustments to create an atmosphere in your business or home that answers 

“TREAT” every time!