Advertising essentially has one goal, to sell us something. To do this, it typically points out things we lack. It attempts to show us that we don’t have enough. If you’ve been kidnapped by that, go take a walk. Look around. Do you see friends and neighbors? Do you hear the birds? Do you feel … Continue reading Value is not stuff.

Have you ever been to dinner at someone’s house and they spent too much time cooking? What I mean is they were in the kitchen fretting over every little detail of the meal but neglected you. While guests want great food, they also want a great social experience. This is precisely what so many businesses … Continue reading Technical skill or hospitality. Do you have the balance right? If not, it’s not good.

The pot was boiling over, the timer was beeping away its alert that the main course needed to be removed from the oven, the table still needed setting, and people were arriving. Yet, through it all, she moved about with grace taking care of each challenge with a positive frame of mind. The party was … Continue reading Optimism. Is it the great-experience superpower?

Do you see service as a profit center or a cost center? If you said cost center, you are in the majority. However, you would also be on the side of wrong. Service is actually one of your biggest profit centers. As opposed to being what some see as a necessary evil that saps a … Continue reading Contrary to popular belief, service is a profit center. Here’s why.

What is good service? Put simply, it is when we are helped in a way that is low effort, enjoyable, and effective in getting us whatever it is we want or need. Given that, do you provide good service? How much effort is required to do business with you? How many hoops does a customer … Continue reading Do you deliver good service? Here’s how to find out.

What we do at home is what we do on the playground. “Culture.” It seems it is the big corporate buzzword these days. Companies are talking about it, defining it, having workshops to improve it, mentioning it in their marketing, and using it to recruit new employees. But what about those outside your company? How … Continue reading Why your culture matters to your customers.

How much is enough and does it matter to customers? How much do CEOs make compared to average workers? The average American says it is 7 to 1, but that is way, way off. If I said 10 to 1, would that shock you? How about 50 to 1? Certainly, it cannot be more than … Continue reading Pay-scale imbalance. Customers care and you should too.

If you are a person in a front-line, customer-facing role like maybe a customer support rep, food server, host, valet, bartender, etc., the importance of being able to do your job well is not lost on you. Moreover, you also know how important it is to behave well by being nice and easy to work … Continue reading Five Practices That Will Make Customers’ Lives Easier and Their Experiences Better

A large part of the American healthcare industry has an integrity problem. Okay, don’t choke on your coffee. What integrity problem? Well, while I respect and am often inspired by the frontline professionals committed to taking care of sick and injured people, the industry is largely controlled and managed by huge, faceless—and many times heartless—insurance … Continue reading Got integrity? It’s a good question for the healthcare industry and for your business.

Competition. It would seem we humans are naturals at it. In today’s fast-paced world, it would seem to be a central element of human nature. However, it is not as much how we humans are wired as those who are so devoted to rugged individualism might like to think. Humans are not the biggest, fastest, … Continue reading Competition or collaboration. Which do you choose?