“I am a leader in my organization and I am not getting the results I would like. I tell people what to do but things don’t happen. It’s like my people don’t hear me. What’s your advice?” These were the words of an old colleague who sought out my counsel. Leadership is one of those … Continue reading The one thing directive leaders need to change to be more effective.

"You'll need to go to Customer Service." The other day I looked down at my slippers, they were showing a few holes and were starting to get a bit stinky. It all led to the realization that they had finally given all they had. So I ordered some new ones online for pick up at … Continue reading When will business get this? Service isn’t a piece of the pie, it is the pie.

What does it take to be a good leader? This is a big question and one that has been answered with myriad complicated, 10, 25, 50 steps plans and frameworks but it doesn’t have to be so complex. Over many years learning, observing, and working on it myself, I have found it really comes down … Continue reading What does it take to be a good leader? Basically, three things – that anyone can do.

When customers complain, what do they want? A lot of business people immediately think they want their money back or they just want stuff for free, but is that true? I don’t think so. When I am a customer, I want things fixed. I want to be done right by. I want an apology or … Continue reading Customer complaints. Do you self protect or problem solve?

Poor customer experiences are par for the course these days, almost to the point of being expected. Too often though, we blame these bad experiences on the people who deliver the service when it may not be their fault. Many times the fault lies in the design of things. You see, there are several elements … Continue reading It’s in the design. Improving customer experience is more than improving customer service.

Imagine you have a product that used to sell quite well but now is waning. Sales have been declining over the last several years and it looks like people have moved to other things instead of your product. If you’re like most business people, you begin looking strategically at how you can change people’s minds … Continue reading Questions and conversations. The way to customer empathy and improving your business.

When you ask children what they want to be when they grow up, you get a lot of responses. You will hear teacher, police officer, firefighter, soldier, secret agent, spy, football player, chef, soccer player, swimmer and on and on and on. Some things you never hear though are accountant, tax lawyer, bank teller, and … Continue reading When I grow up, I want to work in customer service.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, have you seen the movie? It’s a 1968 family film that stars Dick Van Dyke and a car, a car that has amazing capabilities, the biggest of which is that it can fly. Caractacus Potts – Van Dyke’s character – is an inventor, actually more of a failed inventor, with two … Continue reading An inventor, some children, and a flying car walk into a bar for a leadership lesson. Okay, no bar, but there is a lesson.

Sales is an important job. Without selling, you don’t get your product or service out there. If you don’t get your stuff out there, you don’t make any money. No money, no business. So yeah, sales is pretty important. Sales, however, is a funny word. I so often see it mentioned using words that suggest … Continue reading We need sales wizards, not pushers of products.

When businesses are in their early beginnings, they’re in a fledgling state where things are still being worked out. Processes are being tweaked and products being innovated. The few people who are involved work together as a team. The roles are hybrids, they lack definition. Everyone is contributing and collaborating on a shoestring budget to … Continue reading Are you building a “with” or “for” culture?