“One of the key reasons people don’t serve each other in organizations is because they’ve been told to serve something else. Usually it’s targets or goals.” -Joel Bailey, Director of Product and Service Innovation, EY Seren Imagine a professional sports team who gives every player a financial bonus for hitting certain individual goals but no … Continue reading The magic bullet for great service. It’s not what you think.

“It’s easier to make products and services for the customers you seek to serve than it is to find customers for your products and services.” Words of wisdom from the book This Is Marketing by Seth Godin.This is all about being curious and listening. If we don’t know our customers, we cannot serve them. And … Continue reading Business is not about persuasion, it’s about provision.

Someone asked me once, “why should I be kind?” My answer? Because you can. Isn’t that enough? You can be kind. You can be of some service. You can make things better. You can. Of course, I guess you can be unkind. But why? What’s the benefit in that? It’s not to feel good, we’re … Continue reading Why should you be kind?

People want to know, are we naturally selfish or naturally giving? What is our innate tendency? From everything I’ve read, it seems we are both. And both of these extremes are constantly vying for attention. The question is, how can we tilt the balance a little more to the side of unselfish because unselfish is … Continue reading To give or get, what comes natural?

If I had to choose a single behavior that would help businesses up their service game, it would be “curiosity.” Curiosity is that strong desire to learn. It’s that need to find out more and dig deeper to get to the root of problems. It is, quite simply, what lies at the root of being … Continue reading Curiosity – a service superpower.

“What do I need to do to keep my customers coming back and my employees not looking for other jobs?” Ah, the cry of so many business owners. Why are customers so fickle? Why do employees have no loyalty? You have a great product and you do your best to provide service. You pay fairly … Continue reading What simple change of mindset can change your business and the lives of your customers and employees?

“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?