Blog

Sell the sizzle, AND the steak!

I read a Wall Street Journal article this week by Timothy W. Martin titled, Choice Advice From Meat Cutters. The article highlighted the benefits of training butchers at leading supermarket chains to engage customers as a chef rather than as simply a meat cutter. The difference separates a memorable, customer-focused

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Customer-unfriendly policies

I recently stayed at a full-service hotel in Scottsdale, AZ that offered a nice workout facility with treadmills and stationary bikes that faced a set of wall-mounted flat screen televisions. The audio for each television was accessed individually at the exercise equipment in order for each guest to listen to

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I scream, you scream, we all scream for service!

Last night, my family and I visited one of those ice cream parlors that use a heated stone to meld together savory concoctions of an array of sweets and premium ice cream. Because each order is usually custom-made, it takes a bit longer to fulfill orders here than in typical

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“No problem” and other communication faux pas

Language, it seems, has become pretty casual in many customer service settings. I’ve had waiters refer to me as “man” and hear “no problem” from frontline employees, as well as their supervisors, in a variety of situations. We can all think of alternatives to referring to a customer as “man”

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For Twitter, popularity is a double-edged sword

Twitter is the social networking service that has revolutionized the way people communicate online. Twitter allows twits (users) to send out tweets (messages) to their followers (those minions who opted to follow updates from the sender). These updates are limited to no more than 140 characters in length. Tweets can

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Who’s the Joker behind this policy?

My wife had ordered a set of Batman and Robin walkie-talkies on-line from the website of a national toy retailer. After they arrived and my boys had a chance to try them out, we learned that the reception was poor if the handsets were more than one or two rooms

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