February 16, 2007
- How to deal with abusive customers —
Sometimes you have to weigh company policy, customer requests, and your own sanity. When things turn ugly, what should you do with the customer? This post and the comments offer a great discussion on this topic.
- It Happened To Your Competitors; It Can Happen To You —
Are you paying attention to the mistakes your competitors make? There is no reason you should fall in those same traps. Observe, analyze, and react accordingly. This may involve changing your processes or even the status quo.
February 9, 2007
- Carnivale of Customer Service: The Marketing Edition —
Becky Carroll hosted the Carnivale of Customer Service and focuses on the intersection of marketing and customer service. You are always marketing your company, especially during interactions with customers.
- The Epitome of a Leader —
Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, won his first Super Bowl by sticking to his core values and principles. Any leader would be wise to mimic the characteristics described in this article.
- Eight Critical Customer Service Skills —
These points have helped make Enterprise Rent-A-Car the most successful rental company today. Their overall philosophy is to not only satisfy customers but to exceed their expectations.
January 20, 2007
- 20 Common Mistakes of Eager Leaders —
Brand Autopsy shares a Business Week list of mistakes you better not be making as a leader. I particularly see too many managers and even entire departments break “#10 Failing to Give Proper Recognition.” If you want to break your employee’s morale, then lock them in a closet, hidden from others and without some praise.
- 10 Business Lessons From a Snarky Entrepreneur —
Steve Pavlina provides an insightful list of lessons learned that any entrepreneur would be wise to follow. I like “#5 Fail your way forward.” Endless planning and trying to get the “perfect” solution will only delay any progress. Make a decision, try it, measure the results, and then repeat. If you fail, so what? You learned something and can move on smarter than you were before!
January 13, 2007
- Why ‘Free’ Will Blow Up In Your Face —
Be careful what you give away for free because you may never get those customers to pay you later.
- The Art of Customer Service —
Guy Kawasaki’s great two part series offers advice on bettering customer service at your company. The axiom that companies need to internalize is: “integrate customer service into the mainstream of the company and do not consider it profit-sucking”
- Marketing Wisdom Report —
MarketingSherpa’s collection of real-world experiences and lessons learned from marketers like you.
- The (Entire) Customer Experience —
Customer service must span the entire customer experience and not just when there are problems after the sale. Service Untitled highlights some ways you can examine your customers’ experience from their perspective.
