Service unleashed is all about being really, really good. It means customers experiencing you raising your hand as high as you can – right out of the blocks. The pursuit of excellence says to your colleagues and customers, “You are so important to me that you get my absolute best.” “Being really, really good” includes service with an attitude — an unmistakable disposition of passion and confidence…. Read More»
We typically think of customer contact “feedback” and evaluation as judgmental opinions, not as instructive information. We think we need cold, hard data to instigate accurate change. Consider the word itself. “Feeding back” implies nurturance, like returning important nutrients to the soil through fertilizer. Customers will more likely give you their lessons that “fertilize” your customer service if you approach them as a student eager for a lesson rather than as a student uneasy about getting a grade…. Read More»
hink back over the greatest service experiences of your life; the ones that impacted you so profoundly that today you still enjoy remarking about them. Not, those great experiences you enjoyed and then forgot after a week. Rather, those you will remember the rest of your life – the experiences that touched you in a deeply compelling way. What were the features of these profoundly remarkable customer service experiences? What made them implant so deeply they are easily recalled; so influentially they are enthusiastically shared?… Read More»
It is hard to have a positive relationship with someone you don’t trust. When you don’t trust someone, it’s hard to believe they have your best interests at heart. Without trust, there can be no true partnership. The thing most of us don’t realize is that trust issues affect more than just our personal lives, they impact our business relationships as well…. Read More»
The CEO was clearly exasperated. The HR director was reporting on the slowness of integrating two cultures from a recent acquisition. The change management consultant was pleading for leader patience. “Hell, I can’t afford to be patient,” barked the CEO. “I know people resist change, but they better get on board fast or we won’t […] Read more… Read More»
Most customer service relationships do not end with a storm of sound and fury. Most do not end in a fit of dissonance or a caustic conflict. Most companies “vanilla” customer service to death. It is death by indifference, monotony, and negligence. When someone asked my wife the secret of our 50-year marriage, she quickly said, “We got married, but we never quit dating.” Customer relationships are like that as well. They thrive on a rich flavor of engagement, like Neapolitan or spumoni, not plain vanilla…. Read More»
Service works when it enriches the exchanges. Customers feel valued when the service provider delivers something special to the encounter. But generous must be coupled with conscientiousness or it turns contentment into caution. … Read More»
Barbaro was the 2006 Kentucky Derby winning horse. He came into the race undefeated. And, his margin of victory—six and one-half lengths—was the largest margin in over sixty years. A heavy favorite to win the Triple Crown, he shattered his right hind leg two weeks later at the Preakness after he false started, and ultimately […] Read more… Read More»
Larry completely lost it! And, of all places, he lost it in the big-deal quarterly executive meeting. He absolutely went over the edge in his impassioned plea for some business issue. No, he didn’t cry, although he did wipe his eyes before his cheeks got streaked. No, he didn’t pound the boardroom table, although he […] Read more… Read More»
“Be tolerant,” she said. I was confused! Was this a grade the ol’ boys had missed, a piece of advice, or a roundabout way of admitting, “We don’t know how to grade what you’ve chosen—so go and be tolerant?” Then she added, “You’ll do fine if you’re just tolerant.” Over the next fifty years, I learned that Miss Lena was “in the right church, but the wrong pew.”… Read More»
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