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I was recently in Saskatoon, Canada for a conference.
The content was strong. The business behind it was impressive. Everything you’d hope for on paper was there.
And yet, that’s not what I carried home.
What stuck with me were the conversations. The one-on-one moments between sessions, the depth over coffee, the candor, the curiosity, the generosity. I left encouraged, sharpened, and changed. Not because of the place. Because of the people.
It reminded me of something my friend and ADDO co-founder Garrett Gravesen has said for years. Garrett has been to every country in the world. When I ask him about his favorite places, he rarely talks about landscapes or landmarks. It’s almost always about people.
“Places don’t make places,” he says. “People make places.”
That’s certainly true in travel. But it’s just as true in business.
Think about it.
Was the chicken sandwich really that much better, or did the person behind the counter treat you like you mattered?
Was the flight actually superior, or did the flight attendant create ease the moment you stepped on board?
Was the hotel exceptional because of the thread count, or because someone remembered your name?
We like to believe we’re making rational decisions based on product, price, and performance. But more often than we admit, we’re responding to something less tangible and far more powerful: how people made us feel.
Long before modern customer experience theory, Benjamin Franklin captured this idea with a line that still hits:
“The handshake of the host affects the taste of the roast.”
It’s simple. And it’s true.
The experience is the product.
Which means your people are not just part of your business. They are your business.
Not your strategy deck.
Not your brand guidelines.
Not your office space.
Your people.
They are the difference between a transaction and a relationship.
Between a satisfied customer and a loyal one.
Between a forgettable moment and a lasting impression.
So the question is not whether people matter. It is whether we invest in them like they do.
Are we equipping them to succeed?
Are we giving them the margin to care?
Are we modeling the kind of presence we hope they extend to others?
Because when you get that right, everything else improves.
The product feels better.
The service feels faster.
The brand feels stronger.
Not because anything changed about the place, but because the people did.
Places don’t make places. People do.
And if that’s true, your greatest competitive advantage is already inside your organization.
Invest accordingly.
