A restaurateur recently approached me and asked, “How can I fake that I know a customer’s name? I have a thousand regulars in my restaurant each week and can’t possibly remember all of their names.” She was asking the wrong question. Any objective that involves faking out customers (or any
It occurred to me that rain and customers have a lot in common. Rain is required to sustain physical life. Customers are required to sustain corporate life. We want rain on our terms, when it’s convenient, so that it does not interfere with our plans. In business, we’d prefer that
According to a recent Accenture survey of 7,000 people from 13 countries, significant gaps exists between what consumers want from their insurers and what they feel they are receiving. For instance, more than three-fifths (61 percent) of respondents said that it was very important for their insurer to provide prompt
Remember the Aesop’s Fable, The Goose with the Golden Eggs? A man and his wife had the good fortune to own a goose that laid a golden egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough. Imagining the goose must
Do you pay attention to the greetings and farewells you receive as a customer? I do. Here are a few that I’ve received lately: Last weekend, as I pulled up to the Krispy Kreme drive-thru window, this was my greeting: “$16.65” That was it. I was greeted with the total
In today’s economy, consumers increasingly scrutinize the “value for price paid” of a product or service. While extraordinary customer service adds value, many service organizations miss opportunities to provide the “little extras” that create value in the minds of their customers. Companies that recognize the value of offering “little extras,”
Is it me or do you find that merchants are constantly asking you to “take five minutes” and “tell us how we’re doing” by responding to a customer satisfaction survey? Sometimes these surveys appear in your email box following a purchase. Other times, hard copy surveys arrive in your mailbox
The week before Christmas, I brought my car in for maintenance. The dealership offers both a waiting area as well as a shuttle service to take you to local destinations while your vehicle is being serviced. While leaving my keys with the service department, I inquired about the shuttle driver
Because of my work in the field of hospitality, I read quite a few books on the topic of customer service and thanks to great authors like Chip Bell, Scott McKain, Colin Shaw, and others, I always complete a book more prepared to serve my own clients. Recently I was
The Revelation Conversation is Here!
