"Each man takes care that his neighbor shall not cheat him. But a day comes when he begins to care that he does not cheat his neighbor. Then all goes well -- he has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Gwynn Hamilton and Robert Webster grow food for my family. They garden at the Stonecrop Farm in Newport, Virginia, with the faithful assistance of their five-year-old daughter, Zoe.
We always stop at their booth at the Blacksburg Farmers' Market. They know our names, remember what we like, and apologize when we arrive late and they have sold out of our favorite, arugula. But they definitely are not our private gardeners. It's quite clear even to a casual observer that they genuinely care about all their customers, not just us. And to reciprocate that caring, by being a friendly and faithful repeat buyer, just comes naturally.
What if each business relationship had that depth, that warmth? World peace would be within our reach. I'm sure of it. Swords would become plowshares, no question.
Every entrepreneur makes a choice as to how to relate to clients. The seller/buyer interaction is part of each business's Magic formula. And I am convinced that people prefer to do business with other people, rather than with machines or systems. There is intrinsic human value in community, even when the individual relationships are digitally enhanced.
It's not easy for a global company to create local relationships. But it's not impossible. Wal-Mart is not required to employ smiling greeters. Rackspace is not required to provide "fanatical support" from pop-up, human "rackers."
So, I offer you this simple strategic consideration for 2010.
As the New Year emerges, fresh life rising from the composted past, I challenge myself, and you as well, to seize the opportunity to beat at least one sword into a plowshare, to change one humble market-cart into a warm and radiant chariot of the sun.
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