Education is the Star at Starbucks

What lengths do you go to effectively educate your customers and colleagues? Is your effort a watery dose of weak support with lukewarm staff and systems? Or are you serving a hot, fresh brew of potent answers, proactive ideas and positive, powerful insights?

Are You Pulling in the Same Direction?

Your service reputation is built, or destroyed, in every moment of customer contact. If your marketing, delivery or service partners are weak, your reputation is at risk. If one department is out of touch, your service image takes the hit. Can you afford to partner with people who do not protect your reputation? Can you allow one department to sabotage your commitment to quality and customer care?

We Are Really Sorry For You, But...

Generosity is a good service policy whenever your customers need help. If they need help twice, be generous twice. (No one loses their mobile phone twice on purpose.)

Don’t Let Your Systems Drive Your Customers Crazy!

Customers are often frustrated by standardized and inflexible policies. This may cause your customers to fume in frustration, but the rest of your staff and system may quietly conspire to silence the voice of complaining customers. You have to make an effort to really listen.

Take the Extra Step, Enjoy the Extra Business

Coffee company ‘********’ and Singapore bank ‘***’ are both very big in their markets. They are major players with many customers, huge budgets and profits (for now). But big bureaucracies can quickly become impersonal and remote. Staff can become more interested in doing things easily for themselves and pleasing their bosses, than serving their customers with a smile. Meanwhile, smaller players who want more market share, greater customer loyalty and positive word of mouth can teach their staff to be pleasant, helpful, motivated and appreciative toward those who really count – the customers.

Give a Gift That Gives Again

Giving a 'free gift' to your existing customers may be appreciated, but may also become expected. Giving them a free gift to share with someone else can be a unique surprise for both.

Find and Do Your Own Thing

What is 'your thing'? Is it the personal note you attach to outgoing documents? Is it the enthusiastic tone in your voice on the phone? Is it your pride in teaching customers or colleagues something new? Is it as simple as the colorful clothes you wear, the magazine and newspaper articles you share with others, or your passion for indoor plants that makes the whole office come alive?

A is For Outstanding

Within an organization, departments may have very different opinions about how well they are doing, and how well, or poorly, other departments around them are performing. These disagreements stem from a lack of clear standards for evaluating internal service. This can lead to...

Is Your Survey Worth My Time?

A manufacturer complains that his customers rarely return the satisfaction surveys he sends out. A leading resort gets back just 30% of the comment cards left for guests inside their fancy rooms. One government agency had a response rate of only 6% when they sent out an 11-page survey. What’s going on here? Why is the...

Stretching Your Sense of Service

If you provide internal service, do you reach across functional lines, or stay stuck inside your departmental 'silo'? Is your communication with colleagues and partners positive, proactive and persistent?

The Motivating Power of Purpose

Providing great service to others can be hard work. Your customers may be upset, demanding, problematic - even mean. You need an uplifting purpose to keep you going, bring you up when times are hard and inspire you to keep on serving...

Four Questions to Boost Collaboration

Tighten bonds now with your customers, suppliers, managers, employees, colleagues, friends and family. These four simple questions will get a dialog going, and keep your relationships growing...

Cross-Town Collaboration

Old boundaries can become open borders for creative cooperation. If working together produces more convenience or value for the customer, then pursue the new partnership with vigor...