I pulled into a local oil and lube business to get my oil changed. The guys had the bay doors closed to keep out the wind and clearly thought they were by themselves.

Just as I was about to knock on the window, I heard the very annoyed manager ripping into the employee standing next to him, “I don’t give a %$#* if you need to …”

He then turned, saw me and came out with a big smile on his face. A bit late for that.

He had forgotten (or never learned) a key business lesson: You are always on stage.

If you were to get a job at Walt Disney World, you’d go through three days of “The Disney Way” training. It doesn’t matter if you are sweeping up popcorn, managing one of the hotels or putting on the Goofy costume. All employees go through the same training. They learn about the importance of the Disney brand and how each and every employee delivers on that brand expectation or not. Every interaction with a guest is an opportunity to be memorable.

One of the core lessons taught to the cast members is that you are always on stage. They’re not called cast members by accident. It’s a very direct reminder that they’re in front of a live audience every moment they’re at work, whether they know they’re being observed or not.

Maybe hearing or seeing you in your “reserved for the office” mode isn’t as traumatic as seeing Mickey pull off his own head, but if a customer can potentially hear or see you, then you are on stage and should act accordingly.

You should behave as though the most important customer in the world is right there. Because it just might be true.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2010 Drew McLellan