I’m always surprised at the number of people behind counters at stores, banks, limited-service restaurants, and airports that seem miserable. They make no eye contact, mumble, and go through the paces of their job just checking off the boxes on a list of company-required actions. What can be done? I tried an experiment. I thought, … Continue reading An Experiment in Culture Change
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Demystifying Workplace Coaching
Recently, a manager asked me how to start a coaching conversation that provides clarity and doesn’t sound preachy. Here is how I replied. First, it is important to understand what coaching is and isn’t. Workplace coaching is not, as some of our sporting examples might lead us to believe, about barking out the game plan. … Continue reading Demystifying Workplace Coaching
Customer Experience Isn’t About Thrill Rides
“People don’t want experiences, that’s the stuff of Disney or cruise ships. People just want what they want and they want it to work.” I read that in a comment to a post on LinkedIn the other day and while I wasn’t overly surprised by the comment, I was surprised that it came from the … Continue reading Customer Experience Isn’t About Thrill Rides
Three A’s for Making Your Customers Feel Safe
Did you take psychology in college? Do you remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? If you do, kudos, if not, here’s a refresher. Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who reached fame in 1943 when he published a paper called A Theory of Human Motivation where he set out the foundation of what would become known as … Continue reading Three A’s for Making Your Customers Feel Safe
What Is Service Excellence?
I recently was doing some work where I was asked the question, “What is service excellence?” It was a good question, and although it may seem easy to define, it is often misunderstood. Answering the question brought to mind some interesting thoughts from Ron Kaufman, the author of Uplifting Service, about what service excellence really … Continue reading What Is Service Excellence?
Art or Ordinary? You Decide.
My job title is Director of Service Excellence. I often get asked about excellence and what I think it means, and the answer informs how I approach my job and it just might change the way you think about yours. The dictionary says excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. When I … Continue reading Art or Ordinary? You Decide.
Being the Calm in the Storm
Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like a service provider had no empathy at all? I’m sure you have, it happens all the time. Think about the number of times you’ve been on one of those dreaded Help Desk calls and the dull, monotone voice on the other end gives the … Continue reading Being the Calm in the Storm
Why Coaching?
Coaching, coaching, coaching, it seems it's all we hear these days. Why is coaching all the buzz right now? What's the big deal? To answer this, let's look at what coaching is and then how our landscape has changed to require more of it. So, what is coaching? Counter to popular images, coaching is not … Continue reading Why Coaching?
Don’t let your employees make any customers invisible.
I read a story in the paper about an elderly woman named Nancy who is largely bound to a wheelchair. As she cannot manage the wheelchair alone, she tends to have a friend or relative push her in the chair. In the article, she tells about how being elderly and in a wheelchair has somehow … Continue reading Don’t let your employees make any customers invisible.
Think Like a Dog
We have 3 cats in our family (we have a dog too for all you dog people). One thing about cats is that they want things on their terms. When my dog wants attention he will come in the room and I can pull him on my lap and he doesn’t mind a bit. The … Continue reading Think Like a Dog
Neal Woodson 