One of my favorite companies on the planet is Zappos, yeah, the shoe guys with headquarters in Las Vegas. Now I am not really a shoe guy, I have never bought a pair of shoes from Zappos, in fact I have never bought anything from them. Unless, that is, you count their books on customer […]
The High Cost Of Buying Cheap
A few weeks ago, I talked about the pride some of our customers have in buying the cheapest products available on the market today. About how for some reason, some companies feel that they can buy the cheapest parts they can get their hands on and then turn around and tell their customers that their […]
The Power Of Tenacity
It’s amazing how much can get done when you decide to stick with it Another year, another strategic plan…or worse yet another month another strategic plan! Does this sound familiar to you? Well it does to me. The most difficult thing to do when you are a strategic consultant like I am is to […]
Great Customer Service Stories
Oh, those wonderful customer service stories, don’t we all love them! The one about Nordstrom’s giving a customer a refund for the snow tires he returned, even though they don’t even sell snow tires! Or the one about the Saturn representative personally bringing a new seat to a Saturn owner in Alaska whose passenger seat […]
Avoiding Risk Is Dangerous
Failing your way to success. When you ask a kindergarten class which one of them are artists, all of them will raise their hands because all of them believe that they are in fact artists. Now flash forward ten years and as a class of high school juniors and ask them how many are artists? […]
Why Are We Paying Extra for Mediocre Customer Service?
We have been bombarded with robocalls this past year. At least 10 times each week, we get automatic calls to our home’s landline. The calls can show up on caller ID as “private” or “credit card security” or “bankers trust,” so we don’t really know where they come from. And of course when we answer […]
It’s the Customer Experience Stupid!
When it comes to what customers want there is one big secret. They think that they want our products or services. They think that they want us to deliver good products on time. They think that they want good Quality. They think that they want a great price or a great value as they would […]
Don’t Fire Them,Fire Them Up!
Years ago, many years ago now, I read a book titled “Don’t fire them, Fire them up!” it was written by Frank Pacetta, an executive at Xerox at the time, and as the title states it was all about getting people fired up so that they would be great salespeople. The little book has stuck […]
When Playing it Safe is Dangerous
Sometimes playing it safe is the most dangerous thing you can do. They say that if sharks are not on the hunt and moving forward constantly, they will die. It sounds incredible until you stop a minute and think about it. In fact, I view business like this: If you are not growing, you are […]
Don’t Burn Those Bridges! (Ten Rules to Live By)
In sales and in life for that matter you are only as good as the people you know, work with and are friends with. You are only as strong as your affiliations. You have to know and be willing to work with everyone if you are going to be successful life. So with that […]