How do you see customers, as a revenue stream or as critical partners in your success? How do customers see you, as a vendor or a critical partner in their success? How about your suppliers or investors? Every business is part of an ecosystem of mutually beneficial, service-based relationships with customers, employees, investors, suppliers, and … Continue reading Win-Win Business: Stakeholders as Partners

Service is helping people; that’s it—nothing fancy or academic, just helping people accomplish things. For me, it’s exciting when I trip over a company that gets it when it comes to service. They are ones that are clear that they are in the business of helping people. They are clear that they are about making … Continue reading This Is Service

In the world of design (e.g., service design, product design), one key step that is constantly preached as critical is research. This is where the designer learns about needs. What’s right? What’s wrong? What works and what doesn’t? Where are the bottlenecks? What will make life better? To do it, they watch people use the … Continue reading The customer safari. An underrated superpower.

I have said it often: asking questions is the best way to get an interaction off on the right foot. It is the quickest way to build relationships. Why? Because nothing says “you matter” better than asking questions.   When you ask someone about their history or for their thoughts, opinions, or know-how, you send a … Continue reading Asking questions. The relationship builder.