Do you delight your customers? I found an article written by Alain Thys that was published in 2007 that says it best: It’s funny that when discussing Customer Delight, most people start talking about customer service.  While this nicely fits our managerial illusion of control, it also completely misses the point.  Customer service is what [...]

I am working on writing a series of articles for a customer on the importance of developing and documenting business systems.  You know what they are, right? How you do your business Who your customers are How you find them The 1,2,3s of producing your product/service Your billing and receivables process Employee relations and hiring/firing [...]

They sound similar but do they mean the same thing?  I asked the question of the Build Customer Relationships group on LinkedIn this week and overwhelmingly the answer was NO.  Everyone agrees that customer service is the foundation – what gets customers in the door the first time and turns them from prospects to customers [...]

How do you build a relationship with someone? You often have to put their needs ahead of yours. That is true in a relationship with your significant other, a best friend, your parents, and your kids. It is also true with our customers. If we put them first in all we do – the customer [...]

I get confused sometimes, more often than not, some would say, about the right word to use.  Like when you are driving 65 miles per hour are you on a turnpike, a thruway or a highway? Or a neighborhood road with the cops fast approaching. (bad joke – sorry about that) The same is true for [...]

Why do we make customer relationship building so complex? Is it because it sounds so mushy?  It is difficult to measure? For those of us who are analytical it is just too difficult to comprehend? Balony. If we just think about how we’d like to be treated as a new customer, as a returning customer [...]

I’m struggling to regain my composure.  I have just been made to feel more stupid than dirt and it isn’t a feeling I enjoy. You may have read that I joined a gym recently – happy one week anniversary to me – and I’m using this TechnoGym thingie that keeps my workouts on a computer [...]

I was just reading John DiJulius’ recent newsletter in which he shares the latest statistics on customer service.  In the past (survey from 1997-2007)38% of companies ranked a “3″ on a 1-5 scale in terms of customer service.  One representing the worst possible experience and “5″ as World Class.  That’s a “C” on my report [...]

I had an aha moment a few months back.  In all this talk about customer service and building relationships and earning customer’s loyalty I suddenly asked myself: “Who decides what great customer service looks like?” In every company I’ve been with, a team of executives and operational leaders will sit around a room and decide [...]

My mom recently had knee replacement surgery and when she left the hospital, she selected a live-in skilled nursing facility for her rehab therapy.  One of the added bonuses has been the friends she’s made of the other patients during her two week stay. What do they talk about? Their surgery and their recovery. They [...]