In 2007, I read the outstanding book by Chip and Dan Heath titled, Made to Stick. In the book, the authors identified a number of principles that contribute to a message or experience being memorable. One of those principles was unexpectedness. In other words, if a message or experience is
Yesterday morning, I brought two of my children, ages seven and five, to school. As I approached the drop-off point at the very top of a steep hill, I noticed the car in front of me slide just a bit on the black ice covering the road. When I tested
With Halloween approaching, lately I’ve been thinking about ghouls, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. While carving a pumpkin over the weekend, my mind wandered to a memorable ghost story and the elements that made it special. As I recalled these ingredients, it occurred to me that
Borrowing inspiration from Stephen Colbert, I’ve titled this post to point out the insufficiency of conclusions that have been drawn by me and others as they pertain to the art and science of customer service. Customers are moving targets in terms of needs and preferences and their sophistication increases exponentially
I know I’ve done it. I acknowledge the importance of flossing and commit to my dentist that I’ll floss twice daily over the next six months between cleanings. Then, as my appointment nears, I’ll realize how inconsistent I’ve been and make a special effort to floss in the days preceding
Over the years, I’ve had conversations with hundreds of frontline employees in the service industry. All of these employees were passionate about something but, more often than not, their passion had little to do with their job roles. Many described their jobs as boring, routine, and monotonous. These conversations have
The other day I took a cab from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas to my hotel on The Strip. About 10 minutes into the drive, I struck up a conversation with the cab driver about the purpose of my trip—to speak to an insurance group about customer service. He
Last week, I delivered the opening conference keynote address for an insurance association at The Mirage Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The topic was customer service and one of the behaviors I highlighted was to express genuine interest in your customers by, among other things, engaging them with questions.
Earlier this year I stayed in a New York City hotel where I was scheduled to deliver a presentation on customer service. Shortly before my talk, I met the hotel’s beverage director who asked if I had any feedback for him pertaining to the hotel’s food and beverage outlets. I
The Revelation Conversation is Here!
