The Zappos’ Experience

Customer Value: Expanding Across the 12 Standard Forms of Value

Great leaders often ask me to help them create “customer value”, while others ask me to help them create “profit.” For me, the only way to generate sustainable profit is by developing a core competency for customer value creation. Chasing profits is a tiring and stressful endeavor – creating value is an innovative and energizing pursuit.…

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The Future of Customer Service: Human Intelligence (HI) or Artificial Intelligence (AI)

I have been slow to accept that, from a service perspective, humans will ever be replaced by computers.  I’ve suggested that customers will resist “robots” and I’ve based my thinking in part on the “uncanny valley” hypothesis which postulates that the more robots look like humans the less humans will feel comfortable with them. I…

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Legacy Schmegacy – What Will You Be Known For?

Leadership Legacy and Purposeful Leadership Political pundits recently have been opining about the likely legacy of various global political leaders including Fidel Castro and President Barack Obama. Certainly, the word legacy seems fitting for leaders who play on the world stage, but what about the rest of us – ordinary people trying to lead our families,…

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Countering Terror with a Service Heart

Yet again the world is rocked by a terrible and senseless mass shooting.  In a community not far from me in Central Florida, innocent men and women entered a business not expecting to run out in horror, be carried out in pain, or not walk out at all. The media will spotlight the human suffering…

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How to Create a Successful Customer Loyalty Program

Having worked with Starbucks since 2004, as I began my journey to my first of two books about them (The Starbucks Experience and later Leading the Starbucks Way), friends and colleagues are quick to contact me whenever Starbucks makes the news.  That goes for both good and bad news! Recently Starbucks announced a change in…

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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…

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FREE RESOURCES

The Starbucks Experience: Leadership Tips eBook
Elevating Care in Healthcare: Lessons from the UCLA Health System eBook
How to Win Every Customer, Every Time, No Excuses! Article