What’s one great way to generate good PR for your business?

Empower your employees to make your customers/clients happy.

A day after I wrote this post about how a company was chasing customers out the door, I had an awesome experience with empowerment done right.

I really wanted a protein smoothie. But the line at my local Robeks was out the door, and the place goes from super-efficient to super-slow when they get backed up. So I wandered into WholeFoods and spent about five minutes trying to identify something else I wanted for lunch. Eventually I settled on a flavor&fiber bar. (Bear with me, this really isn’t a post about my lunch selection.)

At the checkout counter, it turns out my little bar is rather pricey. I observed to the cashier that I apparently have a knack for picking out the most expensive protein bar in the place. She says, “You’ve never had this before?”  And then she comps the bar so I can try it. Just like that.

I [heart] WholeFoods.

Photo by Rosa Menkman (Flickr).