Attribution for Articles

©2011 JoAnna Brandi & Company, Inc. 7491 N. Federal Highway • C-5 #304 Boca Raton, FL 33487-1658 (561) 279-0027 JoAnna Brandi facilitates workshops on Positive Leadership and Creating Positive Customer Experiences. She is Publisher of the Customer Care Coach© a weekly leadership training program on mastering “The Art and Science of Exquisite Customer Care.” www.ReturnOnHappiness.com…

We are all beginning to realize the value of developing long term, loyal relationships with our customer. They buy more and refer more, help us develop the next generation of products and services, and they even help us keep our advertising costs down. But are our customers the only people we should be building long term relationships with? No.

Customer Care – Inside and Out

We are all beginning to realize the value of developing long term, loyal relationships with our customers. They buy more and refer more, help us develop the next generation of products and services, and they even help us keep our advertising costs in reason. But are our customers (people external to our company that buy things from us) the only people we should be building long term relationships with? No. The relationship strategy applies externally and internally as well.

Use Values to Pull Your Team Together

No doubt today’s leaner organizations can benefit from the power and synergy of teamwork but all too often it’s become fashionable to call every group a team. Organizations rush to anoint departments and committees alike, “teams”, and then sit back to wait for the results, which, without the right kind of training, are disappointing. Fact is, few people really know the difference between a group and a team, or, for that matter the difference between a team, and an effective, high performance team, which takes full advantage of the combined intelligence, energy and enthusiasm of its members to reach their agreed upon goals.

Through The Eyes Of The Fish

One summer, I went fishing with a friend. We rented a canoe and ventured out into a lake at dusk. If truth be known, I was mostly watching, not really fishing. But my friend was very serious about it. As dusk turned to darkness he opened his tackle box and began searching for a new lure. I watched, curiously.

Up until that moment he’d been using a yellow lure. He explained, “It’s time to switch to a black lure.” This mystified me almost as much as what I was doing in the middle of a lake, in the dark, fishing.

I had to ask, “Why would you use black lure in the dark, in what now looks like a black lake?”

The key to customer loyalty? Creating consistently positive experiences time and time again.There’s no doubt about it; customer loyalty is key to profitability.

Want To Keep Customers & Create Profits? These 5 ‘Positivity Pointers’ Can Help You Enhance Your Customer Experience

There’s no doubt about it; customer loyalty is key to profitability. A mere five percent increase in your customer retention could as much as double your bottom line profits! On the flip side, it costs anywhere from 6-30 times more to get new customers than it does to keep the ones you have – that is, if they’ll stay!

I am beginning to think the service givers are suffering from a disease I call E.D.S. – Empathy Deficiency Syndrome. Some of the symptoms include apathy and an amazing ability to look right at a customer and not see a thing. The other peculiar indication of this syndrome is the inability to use the words “I’m sorry” or calming phrases such as “I can understand how that might be upsetting.”

Overcoming Apathy by Bringing the Customer to Life in Your Company

JoAnna Brandi hates to generalize, but I am beginning to think the service givers, especially here in Florida are suffering from a disease I call E.D.S. – Empathy Deficiency Syndrome. Some of the symptoms include apathy and an amazing ability to look right at a customer and not see a thing. The other peculiar indication of this syndrome is the inability to use the words “I’m sorry” or calming phrases such as “I can understand how that might be upsetting.”