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I was heading for a crisis the very next day unless I took immediate action: I was out of coffee!

So, I went to my favorite local coffee house to buy some beans.  It was late in the afternoon and the store was rather quiet as I found the bag of dark roast (check 1), the flavor that I favor, and headed to the cash register.  I was greeted there by a pretty lady with a warm smile on her face (check 2).  I don’t remember much of the conversation, but my memory of the easy and fun, back-and-forth has stuck with me (check 3).

I set my bag on the counter and saw that there was another bag of coffee on the counter directly between us.  It was silver and pink – quite unusual – so I asked her about it.  It’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she told me, and a couple of bucks from the sale of each pound of this coffee would go to that worthy cause, and would I like to buy a bag?  I told her that we give frequently to cancer research and other cancer-related functions, so the two bucks from my purchase going for philanthropy didn’t mean much to me; still, I asked her to describe the coffee, as I’m pretty picky about what I slurp in the morning but open to a little adventure.  She did as I asked (check 4), using terms which sounded much like those incoherent descriptions of wine – “woody, with a hint of melon and pencil shavings and with a crisp finish” – something like that.  If you can decode that, be sure to explain it in the comment section below.

She was so engaging and present that I bought a bag of the charity beans, as well as the dark roast I usually buy.  As I left she said, “You rock!” (check 5).  I pointed back to her and said, “You rock!”

All those “checks” – they’re to point out just a few of the things that this lady did right to lead me to buy more than I came to the store to purchase.

Leadership isn’t just for people in designated positions of authority.  Each of us leads every day in ways that we might not imagine and our presence, the way we show up with others, is critical to the success of our leadership.  That’s the focus of our sales engagement program, Sales Engagement: Every Day, Every Minute.

Because of their great coffee and my wonderful experience, I’ll come back to that shop for my next pound of coffee.  If you create a positive experience and check all the boxes, your customers will come back, too.  Put some thought to how you’re showing up with others.  It makes all the difference.

So does your contribution to this worthy cause.  Pick your favorite way to do it and drop a few bucks to support breast cancer research.

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