Are You Sitting at the Kids’ Table?

Remember those family events where the adults sit at one table and discuss grownup subjects, while the kids sit at another table chatting about entirely different things? This is natural. What interests kids and adults are poles apart and, as anyone with teenage kids knows well, the two groups speak a different language. Attempts to get the two groups to share a conversation often fail.

Keeping Up with Expectations: Buyer Satisfaction and the Customer Experience

There used to be saying in business that the customer is always right and anything or everything should be done to make the customer happy, even if it includes throwing someone under a bus. On the other hand, some professionals in sales and service would contend that keeping the company mission in mind and fairly representing the company side of things is a better way even if the customer goes away mad.

A Higher Level of Customer Relationship Management: Building Closer Customer Relationships

Most businesses recognize the importance of creating a quality experience for customers doing business with them.  The thing that many business owners overlook is how their internal workflows and information management systems serve to either support or impede the delivery of a well-rounded positive customer experience.  Growing businesses must adjust their processes and improve their…

Your Customer Experience, and That Yellowed-Linoleum Look

Have you had the experience of walking into a new store or restaurant on opening day? All bright and shiny, entirely overstaffed with smiling faces tripping over each other to help you. Or the grand opening of a grocery store, with the aisles all clean, the lighting bright, all the lanes open. Then you come back in a year or two or five – the linoleum is stained and yellowed, the ceiling tiles streaked with smoke and grease, doors are broken, light bulbs burnt out, signs are crooked, there are only two lanes open, staffed by clerks who are too busy to acknowledge you, and the portions are smaller.

What happened?

It’s not just that the cost accountants moved in - something fundamental and special has been lost, and no one seems to have taken notice.

Outside-In Perspective on Organizational Culture

Make the customer everyone’s business. The Customer is the very reason for an organization to exist. There is no need for Lean process management without customers, because there would not be any processes to manage, right? So, make customer everyone’s business, because if their wage is paid by the customer, they should think how what they do contributes to successful customer outcomes that organization should be producing. Getting rid of useless processes is more effective than tweaking them.

How To Destroy A Legendary Brand Through Awful Customer Experience - The Legendary Luxury Hotel in NYC Story

If you are looking for the CliffNotes version of this story it is quite simple – lean on your great heritage and cut costs at your guests’ expense.

The hotel’s advertising was very clear: “Each one, the greatest of them all.” You cannot create higher expectations than that. And with those expectations I booked a long awaited 4-day vacation at this luxury New York City legend. At $600 a night I could have gone to any luxury hotel in New York City. I chose this hotel. After all it’s the greatest of them all.

The reality I faced was by far different and the great expectation eventually evolved into an even greater disappointment.