The Cost of Serving Well
It was such a thought-provoking question. In an interview this week, I was asked, “how much does it cost a business owner to deliver memorable service?” Earlier in the day, I had read about a police officer in Connecticut, Michael Castillo, who was on a call to break-up a fight at a Target store. After…
“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.”…
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…
Wireless Charging at a Starbucks Near You! Partnering in the Removal of Pain/Drain Points
You have seen us. If you are honest you will admit to being one of us. We are the people trying to appear inconspicuous as we feverishly look for an available power outlet to recharge our laptops, tablets, or cellular phones. We are easily located in a wide number of locations including airports and Starbucks…
Segment Your Service Experiences!
Customers aren’t always right and they certainly aren’t equal, but…customers are always paying the bills! I am stuck by two groups of business leaders – those who treat customers as an after thought to profits or products and those that treat every customer equally. I have always ascribed to Peter Drucker’s adage that we are…
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”…
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