When I was a schoolteacher, I had a particular student who, while talented, acted out a lot. He was loud and belligerent. He was difficult to keep on task and had a hard time seeing the value and need for learning certain things. Long story short, he was a challenge. A lot of my questions … Continue reading What is modeled gets copied. Yet another leadership responsibility.

One of the problems causing poor service in a business is lack of alignment. In other words, everyone on the team not being on the same page. But what page? You see, like a rowing crew, everyone in a business must be rowing together in sync. Everyone needs to understand that they serve. Every employee … Continue reading Great service requires rowing together.

Here’s one question that comes up regularly: Is a company’s customer service competing with their direct competition or others as well? Many years ago, I took a class in Quality Customer Service at the Disney Institute in Orlando. In one activity, they asked attendees to make a list of all of Disney’s competition. As you … Continue reading Do you know who you are competing with? You need to think bigger.

What’s the biggest problem with companies delivering great service? That’s a big question. To answer this, I will begin with two short stories. The first one concerns a plane trip where, after boarding, I sat in my aisle seat next to an elderly woman. An announcement came from the captain that we would be a … Continue reading The fundamental reason so much service stinks and the first step in moving beyond it.