In our new book, Legendary Service: The Key is to Care, Ken Blanchard, Vicki Halsey and I use a parable format to teach some very important—and often surprising—elements of creating a customer focused culture within a company. Even though we use a fictional story to get the point across, all of the examples and lessons…
Did you feel happier? Now try this experiment again with a group of friends in the same room. Look at one another as you smile. Does anything change? From what I’ve experienced, being around a group enhances the effects of the smile test. Why? Because happiness is contagious. And by smiling, you encourage better moods…
“Do yooouuuuu understand the wooorrrdddsss that are coming out of my mouth?” If you want to be successful, you have to know how to communicate well. There’s more to communication than just being able to speak or write clearly. If you really want to “make a statement”, ask yourself the following questions: How often are…
Have you ever had employees in your organization argue over customers? I was recently working with a client in Toronto where one of the company’s salespeople was emphatic that a certain customer “belonged” to him, not to the organization. The organization, on the other hand, tried to get the employee to see that while he…
When I hear someone say “it’s a business decision”, money is usually the first thing that comes to mind. The choice that was made was based on overall cost to the company or individual. While it’s wise to consider cost, spending and/or investments, it’s not the end-all, be-all of choices within business. There are other…
We all heard the story of the data breach at Target Stores during the holiday shopping season. I’m sure many of you, like me, used a credit or debit card at Target during that time. So simply stated, people with unclear intentions now have our name, credit card number, security code, email address, and phone…
I recently had a potentially bad experience that turned into a great customer service story and restored my faith in humankind! A couple of months ago I was flying from Savannah, Georgia to Chicago on a business trip. I made it to the Savannah airport in time to call a client while waiting for my…
Early in my career I worked in the hospitality industry, including a stint at Marriott’s Rancho Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, CA. While there I had a chance to work with Robert Small, a passionate general manager with a vision for the resort. His goal? To earn a coveted Mobil Travel Guide Five Star…
Apply the learnings from neuroscience to your customer service strategies. Use the BRAIN acronym to remind yourself (and others on your team) about the impact you can have when you help people bring the full capacity of their brain to the experience. Create connections that allow people to feel Brilliant, Respected, Alive, Independent, and Noticed for who they are and what they have done in their lives. It’s a great way to create a lasting brain bond with customers.
Not too long ago I was put in charge of a couple sections of soldiers who were working on some military intelligence products for an upcoming mission. Since the teams were working on separate products, I assigned myself to one team and had a Lieutenant take charge of another team. The LT had been in…