09/10/2026
Are there any Island businesses that actually ask their staff how many meaningful relationships, connections, or even friendships they’ve built with customers over the course of a season?
I understand that businesses need to make money, that’s what keeps the doors open. But as someone who has worked in both sales and front-of-house positions, I have never once been asked whether I was building genuine relationships with the people I served.
We track sales, reservations, covers, and revenue but do we ever track whether customers felt welcomed, remembered, or connected to the community?
Realistically, those relationships are what help a business grow. They create repeat customers, referrals, loyalty, and a strong reputation. When businesses focus only on the numbers, that disconnect eventually becomes visible and then we wonder why complaints about customer service begin appearing online.
The numbers matter. But the relationships behind those numbers matter too.
Does your workplace intentionally encourage its staff to build genuine connections with customers?
