Scheels Rocks!

I had a wonderful experience at Scheels. How many times do we have negative retail experiences and complain? So only fair to give out kudos. My wife, child and I got to Scheels at 6:15 Sunday not realizing they close at 6. They happily let us come in any way and we told them of our upcoming ski trip. They got us everything we needed, men's, women's and kids clothing and were extremely helpful. All after their store had officially closed. All the employees were really nice through the whole thing despite us making them stay late on a weekend. As we left an employee who had to wait for us to check out in order to let us out even pleasantly wished us a good trip! We will go back to Scheels for any sporting good we need from now on!

Is there such a thing as Bad Profits?

In his book "The Ultimate Question" Fred Reicheld proposes there is a difference between good profits and bad profits. In a nutshell he considers profits good if they are made from business that enriches a customer and causes them to not only want to return to do more business but tell friends and colleagues about the experience. Bad profits conversely are profits made at the expense of the relationship with a customer, causing the customer to want to seek the product or service elsewhere. The trouble is knowing the difference. Are the profits we are generating today good or bad profits? Are we creating customer loyalty or just one time events that will dry up over time?

That question leads one to ask the ultimate question. More on that later.