Thanksgiving & Your Business Year-Round
Author Melody Beattie once noted that: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. “ I’ve taken the liberty…
We Are All In The Perception Business!
Recently, I’ve been suggesting that “perceptions” are a key economic driver. In the course of my work as an experience designer and consultant, I have been defining customer experience strategy as a disciplined approach to brand differentiation achieved by elevating the perception of those you serve based on their interactions with you. Obviously, in today’s…
Make a Mouse: The Power of a Culture of Customer Experience Excellence
I’ve often said anyone can create a mouse. All you have to do is put a copious quantity of food and cloth scraps on your floor and, over time, a mouse will appear. The same can be said for great service cultures. Leaders are responsible for “creating the right environment” for world-class customer experiences to…
You Want Engaged Employees? Ignite Mastery
Thought leaders like Daniel Pink have provided insightful analysis of research showing three key drivers of human behavior: Purpose Autonomy, and Mastery In essence, ample research shows that people will give maximal effort when they believe their effort will make a purposeful difference when they are given some level of control over the task or timeline for completing a…
Technology: A Blessing & A Curse to Customer Experience Delivery
I’ve always loved the way Charles Dickens opened his masterpiece The Tale of Two Cities. The first few phrases of the first line set a powerful stage for the book and an apt assessment of the role of technology in customer experience delivery… “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,…
Which Should Come First? The Employee or the Customer?
Ok, I admit the issue of employee versus customer primacy falls into the category of unanswerable debates such as which came first the chicken or the egg. That said, many leaders continue to articulate a mantra that either the customer or the employee “comes first.” While I personally like to side-step this looping debate by…
Make the Experience Faster and More Personal
I have been involved with Starbucks since 2004, beginning with initial research I conducted for my first of two books about them (The Starbucks Experience). During my more than a decade relationship with the brand, I’ve never ceased to be amazed by the commitment of Starbucks leaders when it comes to continuous improvement for both the customer…