Language and culture are inextricably linked. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about an ancient society, a current society, or an organization such as a company. Language is key to understanding a society’s or a group’s culture.  Language and Culture  As archaeologists and anthropologists study an ancient culture, they naturally study the physical artifacts that are discovered. Tools, cookware, drawings, etc. all lead to assumptions regarding what a particular culture was all about. Even gr [...]

A while back my six-year-old granddaughter, Trinity, asked her dad an out-of-the-blue question about me. She asked, “What’s Papa’s job?” (I love that my grandkids call me Papa.) Trinity knew that her mom and dad both had jobs, but how do you explain the job of a customer experience speaker, trainer and consultant to a six-year-old? Her dad thought about it and then said, “Papa teaches people how to be nice to each other.” To which Trinity, in all her childhoo [...]

“Why does this have to be so difficult?!?” How many times have you had that thought as you navigated through some company’s confusing, maddening process? My guess is you could rattle off several experiences without batting an eye. I know I can. Sometimes it’s all you can do to keep from screaming.  Just the other day I was helping my mom close an account with a large online bank (I won’t mention the bank’s name). She hadn’t used this particular account in years, and the balance was just $94. Well, it might as well have been $94,000 dollars with all of the hoops we had to [...]

In my book, Lessons From the Mouse – a Guide For Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life, one of the chapters is titled, “Never Ever Say, ‘That’s Not My Job’ – Don’t Even Think it!&rdq [...]

I think we’d all agree that the year 2020 was pretty tough. With COVID-19 wreaking havoc around the world, I don’t think anyone was left untouched. For some it was devastating, resulting in loss of life. I’m truly heartbroken for those impacted in that way. For me, it was mainly a professional impact, with my speaking and training business taking a big hit and then requiring a tremendous focus on converting to a primarily virtual model.  The double whammy for me came in June when I was diagnosed with cancer, with chemo and radiation treatments from September to November. While I’m happy to [...]

When it comes to delivering outstanding customer experiences, a handful of companies are consistently cited as role models. Disney, Ritz-Carlton, Nordstrom, Harley Davidson, and a few others have inspired countless business books, articles, training classes, and speeches on customer service. I know – I use them all as examples myself! But an argument I hear from some consulting clients or workshop attendees is that it’s pretty easy to deliver legendary service when you offer high-end products and services, like Disney, Ritz-Carlton, etc. The argument goes that while the service delivered by these companies [...]

As a customer experience speaker and trainer, I spend a lot of time stressing the importance of being likable to our customers. Courtesy, empathy, and being personable all go a long way in building loyal customer relationships. But I also want to stress that being likable isn’t the ONLY important element of strong customer relationships. A lot of factors make up the customer’s experience, and we have to get the basics right. Likability can compensate for minor service errors, but there’s a limit to how forgiving customers are when we consistently get the basics wrong. After checkin [...]

My guess is that if I asked you to name a few organizations you love to do business with, you could do it pretty quickly. Whether it’s a favorite restaurant, store, healthcare provider, airline, auto repair shop, or any other business, your favorites likely come to mind immediately.  But have you ever thought about why they’re your favorites? It’s a good business practice to take the time to consider why particular organizations are your favorites so that you can apply those same criteria to your own organization. The reasons might differ for different types of busin [...]

A few days ago I was reading an article about the power of certain company brands, such as Coca Cola, Apple, Disney, and several others. These iconic brands own unique images in the minds of their customers and the public in general. And they each have a unique brand promise that relates to what customers can expect every time they experience the company’s products or services. As I was reading the article and doing some further research on the topic of brands and brand promises, the word “unique” kept popping up. But the more I think about it, the more I believe that certain generalizations can be m [...]

Today’s customers have an almost unlimited number of choices for most products and services. Except in rare cases, products and services are becoming more and more commoditized every day. For most purchases, another option is either across the street or just a mouse click away. So, while it’s pretty hard to differentiate the product you offer, you CAN differentiate the experience you offer. Here’s an exercise I do in many of my customer experience workshops. In the center of a piece of paper I have the workshop participants write the product they’re selling or the service they offer. Restaurant [...]

One of the many challenges businesses face today is this: Customers (for the most part) want things fast. At the same time, customers (for the most part) want things personalized. It’s a real challenge for an organization to deliver on both of those wants. Many companies choose one of the two. In effect they’re saying, “If you want it fast, it won’t be personalized. If you want it personalized, it won’t be fast.” The result, of course, is that because only 50 percent of their wants are satisfied, customers end up disappointed, or at least indifferent in regard to the [...]

In this video I discuss the art of delivering a positive customer experience, even when things are hectic and you have to move quickly. If you receive my blog via email, you may need to click here to view the video.   [...]

What’s more important to a business’s success; the product (the steak)? or the delivery (the sizzle)? The problem with focusing strictly on the product is that you soon find yourself in a commodity environment, and remaining competitive eventually becomes all about price. That's a hard battle to fight and a harder battle to win. Focusing strictly on flashy delivery, however, has its own problems. Flashy delivery of a mediocre product is usually a recipe for customer disappointment. The old "snake oil salesman" comes to mind. There are examples, of course, of organizations that are successful with e [...]

In my younger years, I used to to a bit of magic. I thought I'd have a little fun with this video post. Keep in mind the post does make a point about customer service, but you have to watch it to the end. [...]

I hit the "Publish" button too soon on yesterday's post, Toyota Recall - The Brand Challenge. Today's news reports that Toyota executives admit they knew about the gas-pedal problem for over a year before taking action. In fact, evidence about unexpected acceleration has been mounting for six years. The firestorm has just begun. Toyota completely blew Step 1 of how to handle company screw ups: 1.     Admit to the mistake quickly 2.     Accept responsibility 3 [...]

The Toyota recall has been dominating the business news lately. Every day it seems a new piece of information regarding the "sticky gas-pedal" issue comes out - some of it indicating that Toyota is handling the situation quickly and effectively, and other information indicating that Toyota has known about the problem for a long time and took action only after being forced to. I'm sure that new information will continue to come out, and it remains to be seen how all of this will affect Toyota's reputation and future. While no one knows at this point how the Toyota story will play out, I do know this: an organization's [...]

My wife and I had dinner a couple of nights ago at a local Uno Chicago Grill. I hadn't been in an Uno's for a while and was very impressed with the look of the facility. Lots of energy, but not loud (I don't like loud restaurants - it makes conversation too hard). They had it just right. But my focus, as usual, was on the service; and the service that evening was wonderful. But here's the point: no one did anything breathtaking, they just did the little things very well. Every employee we encountered made us feel welcome. My wife commented with what I think were exactly the right word [...]

During a recent drive, my wife Debbie pointed out this sign on the side of the road. "Based on the quality of the sign," she asked, "how 'class A' do you think the office space is?" Good Question. When it comes to execution, I believe that "everything speaks." Every detail is communicating a message to the customer. In this case, the desired message and its execution are seriously out of alignment. I always have my digital camera ready, and just had to stop a [...]

When employee performance issues come up, particularly in regard to customer service behaviors, organizations are quick to send their people off for training in order to fix the problem. Of course, I'm in the business of customer service training, so I'm all for employee education when it's appropriate. Oftentimes, however, sending employees to a training class is a relatively easy alternative to holding those difficult conversations (coaching and counseling) or making difficult decisions (firing perpetually poor performers). In my consulting work I find that many organizations do a wonderful job of training employees [...]

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and that you are optimistic about the new year, in spite of what the news continues to report. I had the opportunity to do some shopping over the holidays and had a handful of great experiences, a handful of lousy experiences, and tons of mediocre/neutral experiences. I'm sure you can relate. What separated the great experiences from the others wasn't anything spectacular or heroic. It was more a matter of employees who truly knew what they were doing, were genuinely friendly while doing it, and who seemed happy to help. That's it - those things made the differenc [...]

If you've been reading this blog recently, you know I'm concerned about organizations sacrificing customer service as they cut costs during this economic downturn. My advice is to look at this as a time to solidify customer relationships as your competitors operate in panic mode. Being a realist, however, I do know that managing costs is critical during tough economic times. So, I'd like to propose something I haven't tried in this blog before; the sharing of best practices from readers. Here is what I propose - Have a meeting (or series of meetings) with your direct reports with the follow [...]

How many times have you been frustrated by automated phone trees that tell you to "press 1 for this, press 2 for that," etc? I know it drives me crazy, especially when none of the options fit the problem I'm calling about. And I really get ticked off after going through multiple layers of options only to be left on indefinite hold as a looped recording says how important my call is. I know I'm not alone in my frustration. Well, I have a new favorite Web site, Gethuman.com. The site lists the phone numbers fo [...]

Exhausted from a long day of traveling, I looked forward to a quiet dinner in the lobby restaurant of the hotel where I was staying. I was in Montana for a speaking engagement, and planned to have a quick meal, then return to my room and put the finishing touches on my presentation. Arriving at the restaurant's hostess station, I saw several employees standing around joking with each other (loudly), ignoring the diners, and ignoring me. I stood there for a few minutes and just watched, wondering where the restaurant manager was and why he or she allowed this kind of behavior. As I watched, it slowly dawned on me that [...]

Yesterday I received an email from an employee of one my clients. The email shares a story of a recent visit to Disney World, comparing the experience to other theme parks. I thought it was a good example of how people make the difference. I'll share the actual email a bit further in this post, but I want to make a couple of comments first. In the case of a theme park, certainly the rides and shows must be great. But that's not enough. There are lots of places with great rides. But if you combine a quality product with great service delivery, you have something special. As you read the story, think about [...]

At the conclusion of a customer service seminar I recently conducted, a participant asked, “If you could just provide just one suggestion to improve customer service in an organization, what would it be?” I responded with the same answer I would give to any group of CEOs or any group of frontline employees. It’s to move from a task mentality to an experience mentality. Too many organizations and too many employees focus on completing tasks. Although the task may be done correctly, that approach certainly doesn’t create an emotional bond between a cust [...]

Robotic customer service drives me crazy. Employees may be saying all the right words but, when those words are delivered robotically, the result is a forced, insincere impression. The message that’s actually communicated is, “my company makes me say these exact words.” I experienced a vivid example of robotic behavior just last week while staying at a nice hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. The facilities were spotless and the employees all very friendly. However, after any interaction with any of the hotel’s employees, face-to-face or on the phone, the employee always asked, “Is there anythi [...]