I have a name!

Everywhere we turn, the topic of personalisation at scale abounds.  However, something so basic is before us that we can all do.

I’ve been raising my kids since the day they could utter words to always call people by name, first name, Mr., Miss, Ms., Mrs...whatever happened to be appropriate in the moment. It shouldn’t be a, ”Hey you,” or a “Hi,” or the best, “Hey Guy” which I’ve been called a few times, or being consistently called someone or something else.

Why am I calling this topic out? The reality is how can we do personalisation in the digital world to people we don’t know, if we can’t do it in our own personal lives? I had the inspiration to write this after yet another trip to my bagel shop.

For some time, each morning I enter, I greet each employee by their name (and I’m not even sure they know mine), and I’ve been doing this pretty much everywhere I go for as many years as I can remember. It’s now to the point where they never want me to pay for my bagels. It’s a daily struggle as we haggle whether I should pay. The reality is this has been a pervasive problem I’ve had in many situations throughout my life.  Restaurants give me free food, ushers “look the other way”...

I don’t go asking.  I don’t hint. I always insist on paying (and in some cases pay more because I tip higher).  Am I special? No!  But I do one thing, or maybe two.  I respect people regardless of their rank, and second acknowledge them as a person by their name.

So next time you ask what your company or brand is doing relative to personalisation, look at how you live your own life.