In 1971 The five man electrical band was belting out their famous, anti-establishment hit, Signs. I was 5-years old, and smaller than a peanut, but I remember my parents belting out the lyrics:

Sign Sign everywhere a sign
Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind
Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign

Hearing the song again this morning got me thinking about the role of signs in delivering great customer service.

I just got back from my local wireless store and I'm full of venom! Have you tried to buy a new phone lately? There are many different prices for every phone. First, it was $150, then $200, then $250. I thought I stumbled on the set of The Price is Right! My son, an 11-year old with a Blackberry, wanted the Pearl and had saved enough money; however, because he recently bought another phone, the carrier wanted the highest price - so my little man will have to wait until his next birthday.

Have you caught the fantasy-baseball bug yet? When asked to join a friend's fantasy league this year, I accepted, not knowing what was required. I knew I was in trouble when my friend told me he had spent over 20 hours dissecting his team, position-by-position, and searching other rosters for possible trading partners. I didn't even know my team's name, let alone how to access the league's Website! Here's the point.

The car was drop-dead gorgeous. It had a beautiful dark blue exterior and the interior was brown - very sporty - with a 6-speed manual transmission to boot. There was no use denying it. I was in love. I probably reduced my negotiating leverage immediately by falling in love with it; however, at that point I just wanted to see it in my driveway.

The love affair was tempered, slightly, when the salesman handed me the key.

It used to be a privilege when I could spend nights in great restaurants, all the while knowing someone else was picking up the check! As the President and owner of Chicago's most prominent wine stores, I was usually the chosen one when producers and winemakers came to town.

Several things have changed since those days. Most notably, I have less hair than before and we recently sold our wine stores.