My favorite watering hole is the Iron Goat pub and grill, located just a tad too close to my home office. They have the best mountain views in Canmore, great food and consistently stellar customer service. One of their service mottoes is, "Catch it on the inside." In other words, make sure guests are well taken care of and happy before they leave, especially if someone has a problem that might fester and escape into the wild. Because trust me, if a problem escapes into the wild there's a good chance it'll come back to bite you. 

 

Similarly, as you exit the Washington D.C. Italian restaurant il Canale, there's a photo of the smiling owner with the following caption: "I need your help! If you had anything less than a great experience, call my cell phone at ... ."  Offering up his personal mobile number sends a powerful message about expectations to employees and customers. And once again, it's about capturing a potential problem before it escapes and runs rampant.   

 

"Catch it on the inside" is also a great meetings motto. Rather than having meeting attendees return to their offices with unanswered questions or feeling frustrated, set a goal to make sure everyone leaves a meeting feeling better about things than when they came in. You may not always get there, but it's a worthy goal to pursue.