General

What are Your UICs? Lessons from American & United Airlines Customer Experience Debacles

I call them UICs (unique industry challenges) and I see them as foundational issues that must be overcome to deliver outstanding customer experiences. Recently, high profile incidents at American Airlines (a confrontation between a flight attendant and a mother with two children as well as another passenger overheard the flight attendant’s behavior concerning the mother’s…

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{Infographic} Getting More Referrals

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Getting More Referrals = Letting People Your Customers Care About Know About Brands That Care About Them

In last week’s blog, I made a distinction between “likely to recommend” and “actually recommend.” I also suggested that from my vantage point the Net Promoter Score® (which is calculated using a single question about likelihood to recommend) has greater predictive value for customer loyalty (return business and future spend) than it does about advocacy…

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Likely to Recommend vs. Actually Recommending: Loyalty vs. Advocacy

I am a huge proponent of the concept behind the Net Promoter Score® (NPS)®. As you likely know the NPS® is calculated by asking customers: How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague? Respondents are given choices on a zero to 10 point scale. Those who indicate 9 or…

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{Infographic} Back with an Apology: Rare Rewards of Service Professionalism

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{Infographic} McMobile – Will McDonald’s Mobile Strategy Kill the Drive-thru?

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McMobile – Will McDonald’s Mobile Strategy Kill the Drive-thru?

Having consulted with and written two books about Starbucks (The Starbucks Experience and Leading the Starbucks Way), I seldom compare Starbucks with McDonald’s. Typically, I see these two iconic brands in two very different categories. From my vantage point, McDonald’s is an excellent example of a service brand which focuses on price, speed of delivery,…

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Revisiting Convenience – Lessons from H20

I’ll admit it I am fascinated by water. Not just any water…A very special water – the kind you find in a bottle. In fact, I think many great business lessons can be found in the world of bottled water. My water fascination dates back to at least 2011 when I wrote the following… “…bottled water…

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When The Customer Is Wrong – Should The Business Be Right?

In 1909 Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store, is credited with saying, “The customer is always right”. Through the years, a number of my colleagues and I have emphasized that the customer is not always right but they are always the customer. I’ve come to believe that in order to be truly…

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