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Here’s a quick quiz for you. If you want to have a great conversation with someone who speaks only Italian, and you speak both English and Italian, which language are you going to choose? If you said “Italian,” congratulations! You understand how communication works! Why then is it so often a different story when we want to have a great conversation with our customers?
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When it comes to customer service, one size definitely does not fit all! And yet many companies treat their customers as if they were all cut from the same cloth. Sure this makes things easier, cheaper, and more efficient. But it sure doesn’t create loyal customers!
A long time ago, shortly after the dinosaurs died off, I had a ...
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What does award-winning performance mean to you?
I mean specifically.
In your business, in your work, what does award-winning performance look like, sound like, feel like? How do you recognize it in yourself?
It’s been said that what gets measured gets done. Others have said that what gets measured gets managed.
I disagree with both of those statements.
The truth is this: What gets measured gets measured. Nothing more, nothing less.
What gets measured gets measured.
What happens next is entirely up to you.
Measuring is just a ...
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A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to write monolog jokes for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. One day after the show I happened to be sitting with Jay (no doubt having pizza; with Jay, it’s always pizza), and the conversation turned to fame. Specifically, the double-edged sword that is fame. ...
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It seems there are new books on leadership, sales, customer service, and every other topic coming out every day. So how do you decide what you really need to read? It turns out it’s actually pretty basic!
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You may be unforgettable to your significant other and your dog, but are you unforgettable to your customers? Unless you’re making a concerted, proactive effort, the answer is probably no.
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I was talking to my friend and colleague Lewin Williams yesterday. Lewin is a financial services consultant who helps other financial services consultants improve their business. Lewin’s philosophy—the one that has made a big difference for his clients—is simply this:
Now that sounds simple and obvious, doesn’t it? Focus on the 20% of your clients who bring in 80% of the results. Obvious, right?
Except that it isn’t.
If it were really that obvious, everyone would be doing it, ...
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I’ll always remember the first time I met Jay Leno. It was around 1986, and I was the executive producer of Seattle’s legendary comedy TV show Almost Live! Jay was coming into town for some corporate event, and he had agreed to do a guest spot on our show. We’d arranged to pick Jay up at the airport, so at the appointed time I, along with our show host Ross Shafer (who already knew Jay), and a pre-“Science Guy” Bill ...
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You do a great job for a customer, and you’re set! That customer will never forget you! Right? Wrong! As it turns out, it is NOT your customer’s job to remember you!
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When the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show some 50 years ago, none of us could have predicted the unprecedented heights they would subsequently scale. Yet they still electrified the nation. What was it about them that was so captivating–and, more important, how can we apply these lessons to our own businesses?
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