exceeding expectations Archives - Page 9 of 10

Are You Ignoring Your Fan Club?

Are you ignoring your Fan Club?

It’s one of the biggest mistakes people make in business, and it’s easy to see how it happens. We all like something new, don’t we? It’s like the kid at Christmas (or whatever gift-giving holiday you celebrate)—he’s giddy with happiness when he first opens his presents, and bored to death with them an hour later.

Some of us treat our customers the same way. Maybe it’s the thrill of the hunt, or of the conquest, but ...

Continue Reading →

15
SEP
2010

0

Share

Customer Service, Producing Results

Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, running a business, running your business

Are Your Customers Finding You Dispensable?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I just got off the phone with a colleague who was complaining (whining, really) about the fact that nobody seemed to have any money to hire him. It’s the economy, of course. A few years ago, people had money, and he was being hired. Now, it’s dried up. Damn this economy!

To a certain extent, he’s right—things were easier a few years ago. But he was wrong when he said that nobody has any money. Because here’s the truth:

There’s always money ...

Continue Reading →

31
JAN
2010

0

Share

Change, Customer Service, Sales, The Beatles

attitude, Beatles, Beatles expert, Bill Stainton, competition, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, productivity, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Are You Passionate About Your Work?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Let’s see, what’s Paul McCartney been up to lately? Well…

He just kicked off a new European tour with an energetic three-hour show in Hamburg.
He just spoke to the European Parliament about climate change and healthy eating.
He just wrote a new song for the new Robert De Niro film.
He just announced that he’s been writing lots of new music, and will have a new CD out in 2010.
Oh, and he’s also planning a major U.S. tour for next year.

All of this, ...

Continue Reading →

3
DEC
2009

0

Share

Change, Creativity, Work Ethic

attitude, Beatles, Bill Stainton, business integrity, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, Paul McCartney, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, work ethic

Are You In the “No” Business?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

There’s a little Italian restaurant near my home where I go when—well, when I want to eat Italian food. Duh. So I was there the other evening (because I wanted to eat Italian food), and the hostess was seating an elderly couple. I wasn’t really paying attention, but apparently they asked if they could be seated closer to the window. The hostess very nicely explained that that wasn’t possible, for some reason that I didn’t catch. But the owner, who ...

Continue Reading →

30
NOV
2009

0

Share

Customer Service, The Beatles, Work Ethic

attitude, Beatles, Bill Stainton, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, work ethic

Why This Business Made the Sale

Posted by: Bill Stainton

I guess I’m getting a new roof. I don’t want to get a new roof, but I guess I’m getting one. I mean, I know I’ve needed a new roof. My neighborhood, and therefore my house, is 20 years old, and most of my neighbors have already replaced their roofs. I’ve been holding out because I’d rather spend my money on candy and ice cream. Still, in the past two or three years I’ve received dozens, possibly hundreds, of flyers ...

Continue Reading →

23
JUL
2009

0

Share

Communication, Customer Service, Sales, The Beatles

Beatles, Bill Stainton, business sales, competition, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, sales, small business, small business success

Have You Set the Bar High Enough?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

How good is good? Consider the Beatles’ Let It Be album. It contains three #1 hits: the title track (Let It Be), Get Back, and The Long and Winding Road, along with several other wonderful songs (e.g., Two Of Us, Across the Universe, and I’ve Got a Feeling); the album itself went to #1; it won a Grammy for Best Original Score (since the album was basically the soundtrack to the movie of the same name),; and, if all that ...

Continue Reading →

8
JUN
2009

0

Share

Creativity, Customer Service, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

attitude, Beatles, Bill Stainton, business integrity, competition, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership training, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, small business, small business success, work ethic

Don’t Change Your Business; Redefine It

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Last week I was the guest on a radio show—two hours talking about the Beatles, which is heaven for me. One of the things we spent a great deal of time talking about was the Beatles’ incredible growth and evolution from album to album. I mean, in roughly five years these guys went from Please Please Me through Sgt. Pepper and the White album all the way to Abbey Road. That’s a growth curve that’s unprecedented and, so far, unequaled ...

Continue Reading →

31
MAY
2009

0

Share

Change, Creativity, Producing Results, The Beatles

Beatles, Bill Stainton, branding, change, creative ideas, creativity, customer service, exceeding expectations, innovation, innovative thinking, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership training, leading through change, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, small business, small business success

Competitiveness: Friend or Foe?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Competitiveness. It can be one of your greatest assets—or it can kill you. (Yes, there’s probably a middle ground in there, but I like to start these things off with a bang.) Like fire, it depends on how you use it. So how do you know if you’re on the right track? How do you know if you’re using competitiveness for good or evil? Like many business insights, the answer hit me this morning at the gym.

My gym is festooned ...

Continue Reading →

20
MAY
2009

0

Share

Change, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

Beatles, Bill Stainton, business integrity, competition, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership training, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, small business, small business success, work ethic

Somebody’s Gonna Win…Why Not You?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

Every college or university has its share of freshman-level courses. You know, the huge “intro” courses that start out with 300 or so students—and end with maybe 100? Most of the students who drop these courses do so for one of two reasons:

they find the course material stultifyingly dull, or
they find the course material inordinately difficult.

That’s the way it should be. These courses are designed to “weed out” the serious students (in that field, at least) from the dabblers, the ...

Continue Reading →

20
APR
2009

0

Share

Customer Service, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

Beatles, Bill Stainton, branding, change, competition, customer service, exceeding expectations, keynote speaker, leadership, leadership training, leading through change, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, small business, small business success

Can You Be #1 in the World?

Posted by: Bill Stainton

A number of years ago I was conducting an all-day workshop for Philips, the consumer electronics and healthcare giant, and I found out that one of their core principles was to not be involved in any business that they couldn’t be #1 or #2 in the world at. Now, for a large company like Philips, this is not an unusual principle. Many global businesses have adopted similar goals for themselves. My question is this:

Why is it that so few small ...

Continue Reading →

4
APR
2009

0

Share

Creativity, Customer Service, Producing Results, The Beatles, Work Ethic

Beatles, Bill Stainton, branding, competition, creative ideas, customer service, exceeding expectations, goals, leadership, leadership training, professional speaker, running a business, running your business, small business, small business success, teamwork