“It’s not what you know but…”
According to the old adage that sentence stem ends with “who you know.” On stage and in writing lately I have concluded that the old adage doesn’t tell the whole story. As such I have modified it to say: “It’s not what you know OR who you know. It’s what you know ABOUT who you know.”…
Seeing through the Eyes of Your Customer
Having just finished my new book about Mercedes-Benz and given that I recently spent time with Mercedes-Benz dealers at their annual conference in Las Vegas, I took the liberty of modifying a popular children’s logic puzzle by inserting a Mercedes-Benz E class. Can you solve this puzzle in 20 seconds? What parking lot number is…
Would you have your wedding at Starbucks? Becoming a Beloved Brand
So would you? Would you have your wedding at Starbucks? How about your reception? Lets switch venues, how about at Taco Bell or Subway? While I have never heard of a Taco Bell reception, I have been tracking the phenomena of Starbucks weddings and receptions since I worked on my first book about the company…
Human and Automated: Customer Experience Management at Its Best
According to customer support technology reviews firm Software Advice and research they conducted, manually trying to manage customer relationships and consumer complaints through email and spreadsheets is going the route of rotary-dial phones! What was once an expectation in large business is becoming stand fare for small business owners as well. Integrated software solutions are…
Holiday Relationships – Focusing on More than the Sale
We are in the throes of the frenzied shopping season, so it seems timely that we remind ourselves of several truths about why we should focus more on customer relationships and less on sales: People want to be viewed as important and unique. (Jumping into a sales process without taking the time to understand the…
It’s Not Just Moments-Of-Truth: It’s the End-To-End Experience
The findings of a powerful research study emerged in the Harvard Business Review late last year and it’s clear from the behavior of some companies I’ve visited recently that word has not been disseminated widely. The article was titled “The Truth About Customer Experience” and in it the authors Alex Rawson, Ewan Duncan, and Conor…
Experience Delivery = Quality Products + Service Excellence + Empathy
I am blessed to be attending the gala Singapore Experience Awards as a guest of the Singapore Tourism Board. I was asked earlier in the year to serve as a judge to help determine the best experience providers in Singapore. As you likely know, I am a fan of this uniquely special city/state and truly…
Becoming Known For Service Excellence – Aligning Who You Are With Who You Say You Are
I have often suggested that a measure of a person and of a brand is what people say about you when you are not around. Many customer voices are included throughout my book The Zappos Experience but it seems only fitting, given the innovative use of Twitter at Zappos, to share how some customers “tweet”…
Blessed are the Peacemakers. They will Experience Business Success!
Leadership guru Brian Tracy has been kind enough to endorse a number of my books and I have looked to him for wisdom throughout the years. One of my favorite quotes of Brian’s is “Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organize your life around it.” The older I get the more value…
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