How much permission do you have? Lessons from Zappos and Clorox
Something smells around here! Ah yes, it’s the distinct aroma of Clorox! I just finished the first draft of my new book The Zappos Experience (which will be released in the fall) and was revising a section concerning the Zappos brand platform. So I thought I might share a paragraph from the upcoming book to…
AT&T vs Verizon – A seriously improved customer experience?
Much will be written about the battle of the titans – AT&T vs. Verizon! Thanks, of course, to AT&T’s lost monopoly on the Iphone. AT&T will argue they have a “faster” customer experience and Verizon will suggest they are more “reliable.” In the end, prices should come down on Iphone data plans and features…
What to learn from Starbucks’ new logo
Wow what a logo! As the author of The Stabucks Experience I have had many people ask about the NEW STARBUCKS LOGO! The principle questions I’ve fielded since the announcement earlier this week are variations of the following: 1) Why replace an iconic logo? 2) Will the new logo “stick”? 3) When should I change…
It’s Time for Truth – Measure It/Reward It
It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) what gets measured gets attention! What gets measured and rewarded gets done! I state this seemingly obvious truth because I continue to be brought into organizations that talk about customer centricity but that lack customer engagement metrics and in no way link rewards to performance…
New opportunities for old and new customers
Meister Eckhart once said “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” A new year is symbolic of new beginnings. Thank you for making 2010 the most professionally successful ever for The Michelli Experience! May all of us start each day this year with the same spirit of new beginnings that we ascribed to…
Make it Their Own – Experiences that Connect
Installment 5 of this holiday retrospective, takes me back to my book The Starbucks Experience and the importance of not “doing the experience to your customers” but instead “doing it with them.” At Starbucks, customers must be able to customize their beverage order, with the handcrafted assistance of their barista (the Italian word for bartender…
5 Steps to Extraordinary Service Recovery
My third retrospective installment comes from my book The New Gold Standard and looks at Service Recovery at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company: Customers are all too often surprised when businesses accept responsibility for breakdowns, thus providing a strategic advantage for those businesses that their admit faults. John Fleming, Ph.D., Principal and Chief Scientist for Gallup…
What’s in a name? The Starbucks Experience
The second installment in my year end reflection brings me back to lessons learned from a Starbucks barista named Joy Wilson, as shared in my book The Starbucks Experience: Welcoming people by name and remembering them from visit to visit is a small thing, but it counts! The great Dale Carnegie recognized this in his…
Being a Leader and Being the Experience!
As this Christmas week commences, I will take time in gratitude to reflect on all those who have supported, influenced, and guided me. During this period of reflection, I’ll provide blog posts which reflect excerpts from my past and upcoming books. Let’s look back to the wisdom of the co-author of my book When Fish…