Heart Stopping Moment

I just went to the mailbox.  A variety of political postcards, advertisements, two bills, a letter from my Dad and…..

WHAT? 

THE I.R.S.????

“Oh my gawd.  What could it be?” 

I immediately rack my brain.  What could it be?  It doesn’t look like a check.  Does the IRS send checks? 

I hold it up to the light and my brain floods with stories I’ve heard from friends and colleagues: an unexpected audit, a dirty accountant that didn’t pay payroll taxes and the fall out, movies that I’ve seen.  Oh what could it be?

Carefully, I open the flap. The page is folded over and the top cover sheet has a payment slip at the bottom.  My eyes rake over the page for a dollar amount for afterall isn’t that what is most important?  Let’s cut to the chase – I dont know what I did or what I forgot to pay but bottom line – how much do I owe?

No dollar amount is immediately visible.

I look at the second page.

A letter.

I take a deep breath.

“We are receipt of your request to update your 2007 filings with the social security number of your child.”

Oooooooooooooh.

It’s a thank you note.

It’s in response to something I initiated.

I’m not in trouble. 

Whew.

Now -imagine if the mere mention of your company name, the visual of your logo or the sound of your voice invoked that knee-jerk response from your customers or employees.

Can you imagine?

What perceptions do our customers have of us? What is the first thought that enters their mind when they hear our name?

It is a heart stopping experience or one filled with happiness and warmth?

I just wondered.