Don't overlook the power of personality

A while back I had a bit of an experience at Cafe Monet in Newmarket that I wish to share.

I wandered in and stood in line behind three people and they all said, "Hey Anton", "Morning Anton", etc to (as I instantly became aware) Anton the barista.

I observed with surprise, then I was at the front and it was my turn, Anton looked up and said, "Hey buddy" to me, and carried on talking to various people, within 30 seconds you could tell he was the personality behind the cafe and the reason people kept coming back.

It was like everyone was friends, a real sense of community. A real person not some drone just serving me.

I daresay his 10 per cent extra effort with every customer leads to 80 per cent (or higher) return rates.

So what is personality? Google 'definition of personality' returns "the complex of all the attributes-behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental-that characterize a unique individual; "their different ..."

Essentially personality is what makes us different and unique. Big businesses tend try to stamp out personality in order to keep regimented systems for franchises, to reassure customers, to get the right cogs doing what they need to.

Yet more often than not a loyalty between organisations is between people, not the brands.

It's people behind every company and every interaction and with people comes their personality.

We shouldn't shy away from that, we should embrace it, what are the personalities behind our business? and how can we leverage that? (and in turn keep them happy).

I'll definitely be going back to say hi to Anton and grab a coffee (plus the coffee isn't half bad).

The question is, what personalities do we have? And how can we embrace them?

- Ben Young