Businesses need to impress two constituencies. The employee constituency and the customer constituency. Mobilizing the chain of events that cause this impression to get rolling, is the sole responsibility of the leaders of any business. This makes leadership a commodity, the raw material and the main ingredient that influences the final shape and form of …
As we know, the leadership imprint on a business can either build a legacy of greatness, or forestall growth and development. Too many businesses fail to make a mark in their markets, simply because the leadership drivers are not fully engaged to deliver what’s needed for competitiveness. Of course, when leadership fails, so does service …
One of the most transformative questions that a business can pose to itself is, “What do we need to do to become customer-centric?” This question only cracks the glass ceiling that prevents businesses from achieving greatness in customer experience success. A second question that should be asked if a business aims to shatter the ceiling …
I caution clients at the start of every service transformation project, that what is about to happen is going to cause extreme discomfort. After all, the reason why the project is being undertaken in the first place, is to cause the business to tilt on its axis. But all of my cautioning still does not …
Training by itself is not a cure for all of the customer experience ills present in a business. A widely-held belief amongst leaders of businesses is that if staff members are exposed to short-term training over one or two days, then customer experience ratings will surge upwards. Nothing can be further from the truth. Now, …
If a business is not anchored to a common vision for customer experience and service excellence, it’s going to be condemning itself to a constantly shifting service delivery goal post. If you’re not sure of where the target is located, how can you hit the target? I preach constantly to business clients, that a crucial …
Customers who are raving fans generally don’t arrive thrilled. They are nurtured. They tend to require a winning experience that is highly personalized and sustained over time with a business, before they assume the title of raving fans. When we see businesses with many raving fans as customers, it’s because those businesses may have followed …
Recently, I was lost in a world of imagining. I was imagining a world where employees were happy to head to work, the Manager’s superpower was his or her ability to create a motivated workforce and, as a result of all of this, many businesses would have capitalized on the opportunity to turbo-charge to world-class …
Let’s first acknowledge that customers run the business, but employees run the show. So my response to the question of who comes first is that both do, depending on whether you’re looking in or looking out of the business. If a business is looking inward, its employees come first. If it’s looking outward, then its …
Generally, I get really excited when I speak with a C-suite or senior leader who is excited about having his or her business become known for delivering a stellar customer experience. I get even more excited when I realize that he or she has a beginner’s mind and is curious about the ins and outs …