This is a true story from a well known sales trainer. He and his wife were at a ski resort. Besides the beautiful mountains and spectacular snow - they found the most amazing thing was the attitude of the people. Almost without exception, the people they met exhibited the often elusive "Good Attitude". There were two characteristics that gave this resort an "A" for attitude. Those characteristics were:

Authenticity.
The people were real, genuine. They spoke from the heart instead of merely going through the motions. Their comments and recommendations were personal - geared to the person they were talking to.

Caring. Some examples:
- The ski lift operator actually cared if people were having fun.
- The wait staff actually cared if people were enjoying their meal.
- The employee who fitted their skis actually cared that they had gotten the right package.

                     So how do you get 100% of your employees to have an "A" attitude?

Training for attitude is tough and the results usually lack the "authentic caring" attitude. But here's what works for sure.

Hire it. It's better to hire someone with a great attitude and teach them skills rather than hiring the skills but overlooking the attitude. There are recruiting and interviewing techniques that can help you select employees with a naturally great attitude.

Model it. There's a saying that "They watch your feet, not your lips!" If you model a friendly, cheerful, caring and authentic attitude, your good employees will start to adopt that attitude as well. For those who don't - well those are the ones you replace.

Remember that a successful business is the one that makes customers want to come back. An important part of that is how they're made to feel while they're in your store.