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 …
The “eye” is one of the most powerful spots in a hurricane. So too, is the “eye” of the customer universe. Getting to the “eye” in each case, requires courage, skill and an unwavering focus on the endgame. In the case of the customer, the “eye” represents the collection of memorable moments that converge during …
Well, here we go again. We’re returning to quite a few in-person activities, but, here’s the thing. While the activities remain familiar, as customers, we’ve changed. So, what does this mean for businesses? In my opinion, it means keeping bespoke innovations, but deepening the human experience curriculum. Mind you, the over-arching goal, should remain the …
In the sometimes fickle world of customer experience, every relationship matters. Especially those that involve navigating customer facing exchanges. A customer who may have accepted a service infraction on a Thursday, may fly into a rage if the same infraction happens on a Friday. Businesses that have elevated their sensitivity to the nuances of customer …