I grew up with pastrami on rye (for special occasions) from delis in New York City and South Florida. But, my memories of time at these establishments are less about the service and more about the food—mostly because of waitresses declaring sharing charges for split meals (I was 8 years old, how could I possibly […]
The creation of the 12 Natural Laws of Business is a lot like the story they tell about gravity. Apples had been falling off trees and hitting the ground long before Sir Isaac Newton figured out how, and why, and how fast. Similarly, somewhere along the way in our over almost 38-year-long existence, Ari Weinzweig […]
“This isn’t a vision, it’s an illustrated to-do list… let’s try a second draft.”
It’s October. So naturally, we’re looking nine months out and thinking about our annual symposium, aptly named ZingPosium. Determining the content we’ll share and theme of the event are important, but something else we’ll be spending a lot of time thinking about is the Swag we’ll give to attendees.
My formal education was first in German literature and then later in business administration. What I know about training design, development and delivery I’ve learned through on-the-job practice and self study. I’ve gone to lots of seminars, designed hundreds of classes and workshops, and helped to implement effective training here at Zingerman’s. Along the way […]
The article below was originally published in Lawn & Garden Retailer in 2017, as a collaboration between former ZingTrain Community Builder, Gauri Thergaonkar, and myself (Elnian Gilbert). I vividly remember sitting at a table in our lobby area, discussing all of the fine points of the 10-4 Rule – what would be the most useful to […]
Over the years that I’ve been a Trainer and Speaker with ZingTrain, sharing how Zingerman’s builds a culture of great service, I’m sure you can imagine how my awareness of the way that different companies deliver customer service has only increased. Of course, there’s a wide range out there – I personally try to patronize […]
Before we dive into what it means to be an effective Servant Leader, I want to tell you a story…
It’s January 1, 2025 and your business has been quite successful. What do you see, hear, smell and feel going on around you that is evidence of that success? If you can describe that scene, you’ll have a vision of greatness for your organization – an incredibly powerful tool to get everyone working together and […]
You’ve probably spent some statistically significant portion of your life on the phone. You know how to pick up the phone, basic phone manners, and how to hang up. We’re all, most likely, perfectly capable of picking up a phone and talking into it… But we also need to learn to take the art of […]
We are often asked, “How did Zingerman’s build this great group of people? How do you get people to care and have such a good time at work?”
Ian Gurfield, Co-Founder of Ian’s Pizza, is a long-time client and dear friend of ZingTrain. Below, he shares how he came to learn about Visioning, what the process of writing his first Vision was like and the impact it’s had on his business. And be sure to scroll down to to the end of this […]
