Last Thursday night, we took a night off from cooking and brought our kids to Chili’s for dinner. As soon as we entered the restaurant, my seven year old, Cooper, noticed that the Carolina Panthers vs. Baltimore Ravens preseason football game was being televised in the bar area. As the
Have you ever noticed the tendency of frontline employees to become defensive—even surly—when you bring a problem or misunderstanding to their attention? Unless your business has chronic, unresolved issues (in which case, you may want to update your résumé), problems and misunderstandings are exceptions. By definition, exceptions do not conform
If you studied management anywhere along your journey, then you may recall the seminal Harvard Business Review article by Sterling Livingston titled Pygmalion in Management. Essentially, the article dealt with the self-fulfilling prophecy (or Pygmalion effect from Greek mythology) in management—a supervisor’s expectation of a subordinate’s performance that directly or
A few years ago, I was seated in the boarding area at Dulles International Airport awaiting my fate as a standby passenger on the last nonstop flight to Denver. About ten minutes after the last passenger boarded, my name was called and I was given a seat assignment and permitted
Studies by J.D. Power and Associates and others suggest that customer loyalty may increase when problems experienced by customers are resolved to their satisfaction (or, better yet, their delight). Even so, problems often go unresolved or ignored by employees who are in a position to make things right and win
Last weekend, my 7 year-old was the ring bearer in a family wedding. It was a formal outdoor wedding that required Cooper to wear a tuxedo. (Insight: Most 7 year-old boys resist wearing collared or button-up shirts let alone a full-on tuxedo for 3 hours of picture taking and ceremony.)
Exceptional customer service is always optional. Whether or not to deliver exceptional customer service is a choice made by employees—independent of the service culture in which they work. It’s a conscious decision that employees make to exceed the expectations of their customers every day, on every shift, during every customer
Your voicemail greeting may be the first impression that callers (including customers) have of you and your business. Don’t miss your opportunity to make a lasting positive impression by recording a predictable voicemail greeting that lacks personality and may make callers feel rushed and unwelcome. What you said: “This is
It’s happened to most of us. Your appointment ran a bit longer than expected. You check your watch. You know it’s going to be close. There is a sense of urgency as you plan your route to your car, weaving in and out of pedestrians on the sidewalk as you
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