There is a wisdom that comes with groups.  One person can contribute, but if you wisely draw on the insights of the group (I did say wisely) then marvelous things can occur.   Gone are the days when you needed an Einstein to win.  We will take the Aaron Rogers as our quarterback, and such talent should not be dismissed.   But on a day in and day out basis it is the support cast of characters that can you the organization brilliant. The misguided thoughts of leaders who feel like they are the keeper of all brilliant ideas must be put
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Change the shirt, try a different makeup ensemble, or even subject a person to plastic surgery.   Our physical appearance is a source of constant investment.  Who does it help?   Others?  Or yourself? While the outward façade may indeed fool a few people, we know that 55% of what makes us “likable” to others, is all the unspoken language. That is why authentic, sincere, honest caring is almost impossible to fake.  We feel it.  It is the “Blink” that Gladwell documents in his writing. This TLC, love, and caring is powerful.  The body responds with waves of PEA, oxytocin, and dopamine
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When we give someone a name, or classification like “customer”, then we group persons into a nice little folder to act upon, or to affect. When we look at a person, really look at them as someone who is having a life experience, and take into account their individual thoughts, and emotions  . . . like you might consider your own, things change. No longer can you inspire, manage, motivate, or even manipulate (heaven forbid).   The problem with Customer Service, or Sales Training, or Leadership Training is that it focuses on behaviors that will impact others. When you slow down
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The surveys arrived in the mail.   Same hospital, two surveys wanting to know about a recent out patient experience.  Both went into the trash. Voting the majority of the time does not occur with pencil to paper.   Most of the time it is done with the delete button.  If something warrants additional effort it is because it either really ticked you off, or it was so out of the norm good that you had to tell someone about it. The savvy understand this.  ANY feedback is incredible.  It is to be listened to and acted upon. To do less will
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This morning I go to the 4th Dentist to get a tooth fixed. One caused the problem. The second had such a cavalier attitude and condescending demeanor, added to his initial shy’ing away from fixing a “difficult” tooth. The third advertised that he was indeed capable in fixing it, only to then actually look at it and send me to the fourth because his competence was in handling the really easy stuff.  I loved the “we can’t fix your tooth, but (we will charge you to tell you that and) would love to have you come back when the 4th
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Processes are not enough. Willingness to adapt, to be humble and teachable is a must.  Creativity, which takes the customers challenges and turns them into something wonderful, is the number one thing that is appreciated by today’s consumer.   This is turning the lemons . . . into Sprite.  Lemonaide is not enough. Beware of the negaholic. Whereas an act of poor service was communicated to 26 others in the past, today the negative experience goes out massive audiences of thousands via Twitter.  Consumers have too many choices to endure the pickle sucker. Your price is too low. When the consumer
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Today I got off the freeway to see the brand new corporate office building that will house my brothers company.   He started the company after he retired from working for “the man” in his sixties. In 1825 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spoke to Bowdoin College.  His poem Morituri Salutamus is a classic on aging. We don’t study great poets much these days.  This one warrants some consideration. Who cannot be intrigued by: In mediæval Rome, I know not where, There stood an image with its arm in air, And on its lifted finger, shining clear, A golden ring with the device,
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TIPS = “To Insure Prompt Service” Our experience in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on a recent trip.  Dallas has incredible Tex-Mex food.  When I go there, I get to renew my love affair with this fare. Two Tex-Mex restaurants.  Basically identical food.  The final bills almost the same.  But one got the bigger tip. Both restaurants refilled my spouses caffeine-addiction-Diet-Pepsi glass three times.  But the better restaurant asked if she would like a “take home” glass of diet drink. Both restaurants had heated salsa and chips.   But the better restaurant brought a second bowl of “refill” chips without our asking
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Fifteen minutes of fame has become 15 seconds . . .  if you are lucky.  Mass customization is the call of the day, as big box stores retreat in the face of 2-day Amazon Prime delivery.   Librarians can no longer keep up with the cataloging of new information.  There is too much and it is coming too fast. Hollywood is grappling with the fact that instantaneous reviews of the latest movie on Rotten Tomatoes, is determining financial success immediately.  Like the outcome of the Super Bowl, now judgement is in hours, instead of days and weeks. In the new world
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Perhaps it started with Star Wars.  Maybe it was ET.  The satisfaction of movies in the sixties, gave way to religious fervor for the works of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.  Audiences not only went back to see a movie again and again, but they had to take their friends.  There was a quiet revolution as the public moved beyond customer satisfaction and moved to customer “wow”. Give the customer what they want . . . and then surprise them with an additional “wow”. In the 1990’s, the new focus was on the customer experience.  In a landscape filled with
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