Wednesday, October 21, 2009

One Person Does Make a Difference

(1 of 5 posts)

If you ever thought surgeon's knew it all, let me refer you to a book by a surgeon for people in the medical field...with applications to anyone involved in delivering a service to a customer. Atul Gawande wrote, Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance. In the Afterward he wrote a piece entitled, Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant. There a five suggestions:

1. ASK THE UNSCRIPTED QUESTION
Encounter people at a real, personal level. Intentionally make conversation with them. Learn something about them. Sometimes you discover the unexpected.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Bags Fly Free

I give kudos to Southwest Airlines and their marketing campaign, Bags Fly Free. What a novel concept and a great piece of advertising. It reminds me of what I've learned about business:
You tell people what you want to do.
You tell people what you are doing - while you're doing it.
You tell people what you've just done.
So...it's all about marketing, even when you're providing a customer service.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"Clientele" - A Customer Service Verb

Management guru Tom Peter's wrote in a blog that businesses have wasted opportunities every day because they do not "clientele." He defined it: "to create a relationship-building encounter with your customer, so that the relationship with the store is better when she leaves than it was when she came in."

How is your clientele?