These days I’ve been out teaching people how the cultural experiences they create inside their company affects the relationships they have outside the company. Now of course we all know this, have always known this, but as I tell the people enjoying my workshops – the first enemy of knowledge is “knowingness.” It’s not…
Years ago I was on assignment in NY, training a large number of people in a financial services firm. While the training programs themselves were about customer care, in reality there was a lot of work I did to help people manage stress. I was called in at a time when a fair number…
Today’s my 21st anniversary of being in business. Wow. That’s a long time and a lot of learning. I began with an idea. Imagine if you will, that every business sits atop a tripod – three legs, needing to be in balance to keep the business stable. Each leg represents a set of relationships. One…
Spending time with Little Miss, my 2 ½ year old granddaughter, is always a learning experience. For her and for me. Just recently while I was attempting to help her put on her jacket, she pulled away and shouted, “I do it my own self!” I couldn’t help but laugh (the kid cracks me up)…
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.
I thought I was going into the gift shop, apparently I was entering the twilight zone…
It’s hard to be one of the best – it’s hard to be great. It takes real effort to be a Nordstrom, a Container Store, a Whole Foods or a Southwest Airlines. It takes focus, commitment and discipline to craft a culture that yields consistently positive customer experiences — and consistently profitable returns.
I know there are popular books out there telling you not to sweat the small stuff – but I’m telling you that when it comes to your customers – you should sweat.
It was late morning and I was in my hotel room getting ready to speak and then to travel on to my next engagement. It was a long flight and wanted to be able to change into my travel clothes before getting on the plane. Knowing what a hassle that can be without having the convenience of a hotel room, I called down to the front desk to ask a favor.
I just returned from speaking at another Inc. Magazine Conference on Customer Service Strategies. I enjoyed three days of learning and networking with some of the best and the brightest minds in the field, and in the entrepreneurial community. There was one thing in particular that was so rewarding for me this year. The absolute recognition and affirmation in almost every session that I attended that without creating an environment where the workers feel valued and good about coming to work, you cannot even hope to deliver a level of service that will build true customer loyalty.
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