This won’t take long.

As I dig through the rich earth that is business experience and best practices, I sometimes find the greatest discoveries are closest to the surface.  This is probably one of those cases.

Since the beginning of time, business has been defined by someone providing a product or service and someone else consuming it.  Somewhere along the line, probably when caveman realized that the cave down the path was bartering skins of equal quality to his, the seller realized that customer satisfaction was an important factor in getting the customer to purchase and return to purchase again.  For countless years thereafter, the seller has worked hard to provide that positive buying experience and to convey his appreciation for the buyer selecting him to conduct that transaction.

At some point in recent history, this seller-buyer interaction seems to have degraded.  I am not exactly sure when it happened, but I do remember the first time that I realized it.  The discovery happened something like this:

Seller (in some store/restaurant)- “Alright, here’s your receipt.”

Buyer (me)- “Ok, thank you.”

Seller- “No Problem.”

Transaction complete.

Buyer (me to myself)- “No Problem?  Well, I am certainly glad I didn’t put you out. I am pretty sure it wasn’t a ‘problem’, as you really didn’t do anything other than take my money.”

I remember when the seller would answer, “You’re welcome”.  Maybe even, “Thank you, we appreciate your business.”   I guess business is good enough these days that the sellers are “ok” conducting a transaction, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience them. Huh.

Well, in any case, I’ve said my piece.

No need to thank me.  But if you do, know in advance that you’re welcome.

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