HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH

Last week we talked about letting others control your destiny. This time we want to discuss just how good is good enough.

Several years ago a friend of mine sent me some information on just good enough quality and even though it has been around for a while, I want to share it with you just in case you forgot it or haven't had the privilege of seeing it. So here goes,

99.9% QUALITY WILL RESULT IN...

**One hour of unsafe drinking water per month

**Two unsafe landings at Chicago O'Hare airport each day

**500 incorrect surgical operations performed by doctors each week

**19,000 newborn babies dropped at birth by doctors each year

**22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes

**315 entries in Webster's dictionary will be misspelled

**18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour

**Your heart will fail to beat 32,000 times each year

I was always concerned that what if my heart quit beating those 32,000 times all in a row?

Let me take this concept a step further and include the phrase "we are done". If I walked into a building that we cleaned and saw the crew sitting and visiting 15 minutes or so before their shift was to end I just wanted to take them to lunch and buy theirs to go. You see, in the business of cleaning it is my contention you are never "done". There is always something you can do that will enhance the appearance of the facility and strengthen your relationship with the customer.

What really made my hair stand on end was if they told me "this is the first time we have ever finished early". Right! Maybe we need to look at the budgeted hours for the building and reduce them. Whoops, all of a sudden there are several things that need to be done.

Let me suggest to you that the next time you think the work you are doing for your customers is "good enough" or you are a supervisor or cleaning tech that thinks the job is "good enough", ask yourself, how many babies can a doctor drop?

On another subject, I just returned from the BSCAI Executive Seminar in Scottsdale, Arizona where I had the chance to interact with many BSC's and great vendors. If you were there you know what I mean. If you weren't there, let me suggest you make plans to attend the convention in Chicago, October 18-20. That, coupled with the ISSA trade show, the 17th through the 19th makes this the premier event to attend each year. Plan on it, it will be worth your time.

Don't forget our weekly free tripodcasts at www.tripodcast.com.

Till next time. MAKE IT A GREAT DAY.