I half joking, threatened to blow up my car on TV.  Detroit was turning out total crap in 1980.  The three TV networks had a virtual monopoly with their pedestrian programming.  Airlines lost your luggage with surprising regularity.  With a seeming unlimited market of demand by the baby boomers, business was producing poor goods and services and virtually printing money. Then the revolution began.   A few notables stood as pillars of quality.  Maytag made washing machines that worked.  Toyota made cars that didn’t break down, or had paint that stayed on the vehicle.  W. Edward Deming brought the doctrine of
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There is an intensity of facial expression on the bride-to-be, and maybe more so, her mother.   There is a calm countenance of father of the graduating college graduate as he no longer experiences the vacuum sound around his wallet.   The pure excitement in the faces of children while riding the bus to Walt Disney World is indescribable. The powerful life experience of the wedding, graduation, being born again, and a host of other major events encourage massive change in the participants. Customer Experiences as defined by most businesses might benefit by stealing from these big events. The wedding dress, the
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I dropped into the bus seat next to a complete unknown.  Returning to the hotel after an evening conference excursion to Chicago’s Second City Comedy Club, I supposed the conversation would be good.  Little did I know. This conference was exclusively for Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) members of the National Speakers Association.   A CSP is an earned certification that is held by less than 2% of professional speakers. “Hi, I am Kordell Norton.” “Well, hello, my name is Jill Konrath.” “You are kidding,” I said wide eyed.  “THEE Jill Konrath of SNAP Selling?” “Yes” “I am reading your book right
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As soon as I clicked, I suspected I had made a mistake.   Yep.  I had a parking pass for Disneyland in California.  But I was going to Florida.  I mentally set in for a defensive fight to get the massive Disney machine to refund the California parking.  In less than an hour I had an email from Disney telling me that the refund had been issued and they were sorry about the mix up. When the customer has issues, and you are on your heels in retreat the real mission and intent comes out.  Is it about the business
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  Apple continues to be the most popular laptop, even with a premium price.  Ride a roller coaster and you will pay ten times more for the experience at Disney, than to the local amusement park.   Having a Harley-Davidson logo on your motorcycles gas tank can cost ten thousand dollars more, than a competitors product. None of the above three examples really negotiate their prices.  Well, maybe a little on motorcycles.   For the most part, they have a value in the mind of the customer that allows for above average pricing. When your value is in question, or negotiable, then
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What happens when you take a former executive who ran Disney’s Epcot Center and you put him in charge of a major purveyor of funerals and cemeteries?   The death business is finding new life. As the trend continues to move away from burial plots and caskets, instead savvy funeral businesses are moving into the entertainment business.  Gone are the showrooms of caskets (depressing to clients).  Now the family can pick those from an electronic catalog. But in place of that, the new trend is a multisensory room that is jam packed with electronic audio and video capabilities.  The family
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Subject Line suggestions Anything about you in the subject line will move you to the trash! Use the name of the association they are involved with. “X Tips for [Pain Point]'” Government/regulatory entity they deal with. Idea for [topic/issue that they care about] Named event/date that they know about. A competitor or competing offer. “Hi [name], [question]?” “[person they respect] suggested I connect with you” Strategies for Your Email Content Strategy #1 – Your expertise is reflected New research is showing . . . The regulations affecting . . . 4 missing codes that are result in the greatest losses
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In a recent blog by Rachel Burger of Capterra, (http://blog.capterra.com/the-top-6-construction-trends-for-2016/) she talks about the 6 trends for the construction industry in the coming year.  Based on her research and input from sources as diverse as Zillow and the Wall Street Journal, you can see that 4 of the 6 are all about Business Charisma. Get ready to pay your workers more. Capterra points out that in the construction industry that pay is lagging behind.  Other research hints that pay is not as powerful as other factors.  In Daniel Pinks book titled Drive, he points out that what motivates us more
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When your sales people do more talking than listening. When you do strategic planning and no customers are involved or participating. When the last time you read a customer comment was more than 3 months. When you have not customer experience training. When you don’t have a senior staff position that champions the customer experience (CXO). When you don’t collect the (personal) name of the customer in your interaction with them. When you don’t reward and celebrate those employees that demonstrate great customer interactions. When there is no mention of great customer experiences on your web site. When your marketing
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There are 21 hospitals in the Intermountain Health Care system.  When they were deciding what to do to raise the level of their customer’s experience, they focused on the world ENGAGEMENT.  But what one person defines as engagement differs from another.  Fortunately for IHC, they decided that shared decision making was a key.  Shared decisions. At Disney, there are levels of engagement.  Some “guests” opt for the full Monte with the Disney Plus program, complete with arm bands that act as  mobile credit cards.   Those who chose to go “all in” even decorate their bands with Disney pins and themes.
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