Shopping during the holiday season can be a test of even the best of us.  I think even the Dalai Lama might have his patience tested.  But this can be an opportunity if you think of it correctly.  Your business can use this challenge as a way to differentiate and provide a better experience for … Continue reading Three Tips For Reducing Holiday Customer Stress

The holiday season begins and people are out getting gifts for others.  Many times it seems people are just buying because it’s the thing to do rather than buying because they really want to share something meaningful. I like getting gifts as much as anybody but I find myself wanting less and less stuff and … Continue reading A Holiday Lesson From a Golf Bag

When information isn't shared with employees, they tend to fill the gaps with their own ideas and assumptions, and these are often worst-case scenarios.  Likewise, customers who don’t get necessary information like updates on repairs or shipping dates for example will fill the gaps with their assumptions, and, exactly like employees, their assumptions are often … Continue reading Communication and Your Brand, a Vital Connection

Grace.  It means courteous goodwill and an attractively polite manner of behaving.  This holiday season is getting underway and grace seems to always come to the fore at this time. But what about the rest of the year, why can grace not be part of our habitual behavior? What would it take to make gracious … Continue reading Grace, Every Day.

What’s your face saying?  Every day you send a message without saying a word and it’s painted on your face. This face painting comes in many varieties and each sends a subtle message.  Think about the different messages that come across between a great big smile, a permanent frown, or a furrowed brow. What’s on … Continue reading What’s Painted on Your Face?

I got an email from Amazon.  It was a reading pick list that was supposed to be for me but I never would have known it given the choices listed.  You see, I never, or at least very rarely read novels, yet everything on this reading pick list was a novel.  I frankly found the … Continue reading If It’s Not Helpful, Don’t Do It

Every business requires a team working well together to reach success. Even if you are a loner in a business with one employee, you still need to work with vendors and customers.  But what is essential to teams working well? My son is a lacrosse player and when he first started as a young five-year-old, … Continue reading Two Keys to Great Teamwork

Imagine being a fan of a ball team (football, baseball, basketball, whatever) who loses much more than they win.  Their game plan is rarely good and the experience of their fans seems to work in tandem with that.  Before you know it, you are no longer a fan.  This is one example of what I … Continue reading The Process-Experience Loop

Which attitude do you want your customers to experience? Choice A is Service Focused where employees work with the customers’ best interest in mind, authentically and proactively looking for solutions. Choice B is Self-Focused where employees place the needs of themselves, their department, or their boss ahead of the customers’ needs. If you said A, … Continue reading The Cost of the Misaligned Rebel