A Wonderful Story Was Once Told About A Cab Driver That Proved This Point.
Russell Was Waiting In Line For A Ride At The Airport.
When A Cab Pulled Up, The First Thing Russell Noticed Was That The Taxi Was Polished To A Bright Shine.
Smartly Dressed In A White Shirt, Black Tie, And Freshly Pressed Black Slacks.The Cab Driver Jumped Out And Rounded The Car To Open The Back Passenger Door For Russell.
He Handed Russell A Laminated Card And Said " I'm Wally, You're Driver, While I'm Loading Your Bags In The Trunk I'd Like You To Read My Mission Statement".
Russell Took The Card And Wally's Mission Statement Read:
To Get My Customer's To Their Destinations In The Quickest, Safest And Cheapest Way Possible In A Friendly Environment.
This blew Russell Away.
Especially When He Noticed That The Inside Of The Cab Matched The Outside. Spotlessly Clean.
As He Slid In Behind The Wheel, Wally Said. " Would You Like A Cup Of Coffee ? I Have A Thermos Of Regular Or Decaf."
Russell Said Jokingly, "No I'd Prefer A Soft Drink." Wally Said, " No Problem. I Have A Cooler Regular Or Diet Pepsi, Water And Mountain Dew ." Russell Said I'll Have A Mountain Dew.
Handing Russell The Drink Wally Said I Have Today's Newspaper, Time Magazine Or Sport's Illustrated.
As They Were Pulling Away Wally Handed Russell Another Card And It Said These Are The Radio Stations I Can Get And The Type Of Music They Play, If You Would Like To Listen To The Radio.
If That Was Not Enough Wally Asked If The Temperature Was Okay And Comfortable For Him?
Then He Advised Russell Of The Best Route To His Destination That Time Of Day. Wally Continued And Said That He Would Be Happy To Just Chit Chat Or Tell Russell Of The About Some Of The Sight's As They Traveled Or If Russell Would Like To Leave Him With His Own Thought's.
"Tell Me Wally," Russell Stated " Have You Always Served Customer's This Way?" Wally Smiled Into The Rear View Mirror, " No Not Always, In Fact, It's Only Been The Last Two Years.
My First Five Years Of Driving, I Spent Most Of My Time Complaining Like All The Rest Of The Cab Drivers.
Then I Heard On The Radio That If You Get Up In The Morning Expecting A Bad Day, You'll Rarely Disappoint Yourself." He Said Stop Complaining Differentiate Yourself From The Competition.
Don't Be A Duck. Be An Eagle. Ducks Quack And Complain. Eagles Soar Above The Crowd." Wally Said That "Hit Me Right Between The Eyes, He Was Really Talking About Me.
I Was Always Talking Like A Duck, Quacking And Complaining So I Decided To Change My Attitude And Become An Eagle. I Looked At The Other Cab Drivers And Cabs.
The Cabs Were Dirty And The Drivers Unfriendly, And The Customers Were Complaining And Unhappy.
So I Decided To Make Some Changes. I Put In A Few At A Time. When My Passengers Responded Well, I Did More".
Russell Said "I Guess It Paid Off For You". "It Sure Has" Wally Stated "My First Year As An Eagle, I Doubled My Income From The Previous Year.
This Year I'll Probably Quadruple It. You Were Lucky To Get Me Today. I Don't Sit At Cab Stands Anymore. My Customers Call Me With Appointments On My Cell Phone Or Leave A Message On My Answering Machine. If I Can't Pick Them Up Myself, I Get A Reliable Cabbie Friend To Do It I Take A Piece Of The Action."
Wally Was Phenomenal.
He Was Running A Limo Service Out Of A Yellow Cab. Wally Said He Has Relayed This Story To Over Fifty Cab Drivers Over The Last Couple Of Years, And Only A Couple Took The Idea And Ran With It. Whenever I Go To Their Cities, I Give Them A Call.
The Rest Of The Drivers "Waddle and Quacked" Like Ducks and Told Me All The Reasons They Couldn’t Do Any Of What I Was Suggesting.Wally The Cab Driver Made A Choice To Stop Quacking Like A Duck But To Soaring Like An Eagles.
How About Us? Smile And The Whole World Smiles With You. The Ball Is In Your Court. Ducks Waddle And Eagles Soar.
