Wikipedia defines touch points as business jargon for any encounter where customers and business engage to exchange information, provide service, or handle transactions.

Me? I define a touchpoint as that unique, special moment in time when you have the opportunity to make a super, uber, meaningful connection with another human being, be they friend, family, client or customer.

Let me give you a few examples.

You are a partner in an accounting firm smack in the middle of signing off on a financial statement which is due by 5 pm today. In walks one of your Senior Managers, asking if you have five minutes so he can (as he is jumping for joy) tell you about the new client he is about to sign on. Do you tell your employee you are too busy? Working on a deadline? Or do you stop what you are doing for a few minutes to congratulate him, tell him how excited you are, and that you want to sit down with him as soon as you finish your project? If it is the latter response, you have just experienced a touchpoint with your employee. Taking that extra minute or two for the “attaboy (or girl)” pays dividends in employee loyalty and engagement, over the long haul.

These potential opportunities occur in every day life as well. Recently I was on a flight to Denver when I recognized the flight attendant in my cabin. Darnelle! I exclaimed. Is that you? She couldn’t believe I remembered her from a previous trip. Next thing I knew, she was offering me complimentary drinks and food, and I was signing my newest book, my gift to her for her thoughtfulness. Just like the partner in the accounting firm and his manager, I had experienced a touchpoint with Darnelle.

The moral of the story? Touchpoints are the fleeting moments which become opportunities to show someone that they are important; they are the emotional moments we are presented with, to comfort or compliment someone who has just experienced pain or joy in their life; and they are the meaningful, small ways in which we demonstrate how we understand our customers and clients, how we value our family and friends, and how we touch others and let them know that they are special.

Next time you are presented with a touchpoint, take an extra minute or two to recognize it. You might be just be surprised at the connection you can make, and the outcome you derive.

Tell me about the last touchpoint you experienced, and how it made YOU feel!

There they go again: A-Rod and Lance, two of the dopiest athletes on the planet. Lying. Changing their stories. Lying some more. Changing the “facts” (and I use the term “facts” loosely). Lance having to pay up for his perjury. And A-Rod writing his handwritten note of apology. (Another joke. If that is his actual handwriting, he may have a career in calligraphy in the offing if all else fails). Fifty shades of lying.

I could barely make it through Fifty Shades of Grey, the first book,let alone the second or third. Unless someone strong arms me (you’ll excuse the pun) I probably won’t see the movie. Point is, Christian Grey can have his fifty shades of whatever. As a former boss of mine once said when I told I him I loved cold calling (and everyone else hated it): “one man’s (or woman’s) pleasure is another man’s (or woman’s pain). And therein lies the truth.

Christian Grey is a fictional character, but Lance and A-Rod, once real life icons, not so much.

In his latest lie, Lance Armstrong has pleaded guilty to careless driving for hitting two parked cars with his SUV in Aspen. His girlfriend, also a liar, said she was driving when she was not, in order to take the fall for him. This fact courtesy of a St. Regis hotel doorman who saw him driving the car. Liar, liar, pants on fire. And your nose is looking a little longer too.

A-Rod’s and Lance’s actions and words were nothing more than was straight up lies. In the end, there is no such thing as fifty shades of truth. You see, when it comes to telling the truth, there are no shades of gray. You either doped or you didn’t. If you did, tell the truth. If you didn’t, tell the truth. Either you were behind the wheel, or your dopey girlfriend Anna Hansen was. Tell the truth.

The truth may hurt,(okay, allow me just one more pun) but it’s still the truth. And honesty, as the saying goes, is still the best policy.

Christian may be able to live in world of fifty shades of gray, but for the rest of us, A-Rod and Lance included, life is just a little more black and white, especially when it comes to telling the truth.

Oxford Dictionary defines misremembering as remembering imperfectly or incorrectly. And Merriam-Webster defines conflation as “blend, fusion; especially :a composite reading or text”.

Brian Williams, the once iconic pillar of journalism, the last bastion of truth, justice and The American Way, the preppie scholar and boy next door, the guy in whom we put our trust, the guy we believed hailed to a higher standard, deceived us. Not only us, he deceived his superiors. He deceived the brave men and women who actually are shot at and have to deal with the reality of those circumstances every day, as defenders of our freedom. And then there are those closest to him: his friends, his family and his colleagues. He deceived us all.

In the last couple of days, we sadly come to find out, courtesy of Travis Tritten of Stars and Stripes, that Mr. Williams has been conflating his story for years. Last I counted, about twelve. Since 2003. Hard to swallow.

And to their credit, Comcast, NBC and the powers that be moved swiftly to put him on a 6 month hiatus. In my world I call it putting him out to pasture. A respected reporter, a pillar of truth in airwaves, and one of the last icons of journalism in this country, Mr. Williams put aside his once stellar ethics, misremembered his story, and conflated the truth.

And POOF! He is gone.

The moral of the story?
1. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
2. Misremember is not a word you want to have in your vocabulary.
3. Conflation chastens.

The fall from grace is hard. Who knows what will be in store for Mr. Williams? Only time will tell if his superiors will misremember him.

Let me know what you think will happen next in your comments.

Today’s blog comes in advance of a week’s vacation for yours truly. I am coming off an awesome 2014 and a whirlwind of HOLIDAZE. All good stuff but I need to unplug, chillax and have a nice glass of wine in front of a roaring fire with the snow-capped mountains my only distraction. Then when I return, I can come out re-charged, re-created and re-imagined.

Do you honestly think I won’t have a few calls here and there? That I will cancel my 4 am call to my London client next week? That I won’t be formulating bigger and better plans for all of you? That I won’t be thinking about the title for my next book for the Dude, Seriously trilogy? Of course I will. But I will be doing it in a calm, serene venue with few distractions, regularly scheduled snowshoes and workouts, and lots of down time with family and friends. I don’t owe it only to you. I owe it to myself, so that I can continue to grow with all the people that matter to me and my business. This is not a frivolous luxury for me. It is an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!

And it is for you too! Read on.

Here are the facts folks. Americans are so busy looking over their shoulders at work, they only take half of their paid time off.

“Employees only use 51% of their eligible paid vacation time and paid time off, according to a recent survey of 2,300 workers who receive paid vacation. The survey was carried out by research firm Harris Interactive for the careers website Glassdoor. What’s more, 61% of Americans work while they’re on vacation, A new study has found that U.S. workers forfeited $52.4 billion in time-off benefits in 2013 and took less vacation time than at any point in the past four decades.”

American workers turned their backs on a total of 169 million days of paid time off, in effect “providing free labor for their employers, at an average of $504 per employee,” according to the study.

I truly feel sorry for the company, as much as I do for the employee. They think they are reaping the benefits of an all work, no play mentality, when in reality, they are robbing their culture of creativity, the cornerstone of every great organization.

Don’t be that 51% who can’t figure out a way to take vacation. Your soul needs it. Your brain needs it. Your body needs it.

What are your thoughts? Email me at susan@susanascher.com or comment down below. I want to know!