Blog

Steve

The unseating of Sears

After buying our first home in 2000, my wife and I spent many weekends shopping at The Great Indoors, a home décor chain founded by Sears in 1997. One of our early purchases was a Kenmore canister vacuum cleaner. For more than a decade until the retail chain became defunct

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Steve

The true cost of outsourcing

Last week, in preparation for spring break in the mountains, I called my local Ford dealership to ask a couple of questions about my service plan’s coverage of replacement brake pads and to schedule an oil change and tire rotation. Today’s business climate eschews helpful, personalized service in favor of

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Steve

Customer-centricity in action

Analysis of the newly released Wall Street Journal Management Top 250 (the Drucker Institute’s second annual ranking of best-managed companies) suggests that the possible secret sauce of seven companies that do everything well is… (drumroll) a customer-centric focus. Those seven companies: Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Accenture PLC, Proctor & Gamble

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Steve

Comcast is making customer experience its best product

Last week I had the privilege of traveling to Philadelphia to visit the newly-opened Comcast Technology Center where I was joined by a cast of customer experience (CX) influencers: Jay Baer, Chip Bell, Jeanne Bliss, Joey Coleman, John Dijulius, Matt Dixon, Moira Dorsey, Shep Hyken, Scott McKain, Adam Toporek, Bill Quiseng, and Jeannie Walters. We were given an exclusive peek behind the

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Steve

Virtual Reality: Translating Virtual Lessons Into Real Performance

This week I was introduced to an innovation in learning technology developed by STRIVR Labs, the world leader in virtual reality (VR) to train individuals and improve performance. STRIVR is used by some of the world’s most respected organizations, from professional sports teams to Fortune 100 companies. The STRIVR platform

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Steve

“Snap out of it!”

Have you ever heard someone say, “They don’t pay me enough to do this job”? If I had a captive audience with an employee who expressed this sentiment, I would suggest that until his disposition and performance (e.g., customer service quality) improves, he’s not going to be qualified – or

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Steve

An open letter to restaurateurs and servers

Last Saturday night, our family joined my in-laws for dinner out in Parker, Colorado* in celebration of my mother-in-law’s 75th birthday. When my wife made the 6:00pm reservation for eight, she mentioned that it was Dianne’s birthday. Atmosphere When we arrived, we were seated in a portion of the restaurant

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Steve

The Evolution of Kohl’s

I was recently invited to contribute to CX Factor, a web series hosted by Mark Fidelman, CEO of Fanatics Media, that shines a spotlight on world-class brands known for delivering smarter, superior experiences to today’s modern, connected customers. The episode in which I participated featured Sunil Bhardwaj, SVP, technology, platform, and

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