Do you get frustrated when you have to go to one of the big-box home improvement stores for parts to fix your home? Oh, they have what you need — but you’re usually on your own finding it. Good news! a couple of the major players – Lowe’s and Home Depot, know this has been…
I saw a fresh idea contest any organization can do. I went to a meeting were if you wanted to submit an idea it cost you $10 bucks. Right. You paid to have your idea heard in the “fresh idea pool.” With 25 people in the room…the total pool amounted to $250. At the end…
What can you do to shock your customers…in a good way? I mean really surprise them. I’ve just come from a meeting here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a chain of banks. I can’t tell you the name but I can tell you what THEY do. Their normal banking hours are 9am to 6pm. BUT…they open…
Customer service is lame because too many organizations have assumed all the customer wants is a transaction. That’s not at all what they want. They live time-starved lives so they need you to be empathetic. They need you to be an expert at your business (a Trusted Advisor). they need you to understand that they…
Customer “service” isn’t defined the same way anymore. The new economy has created the On-Demand customer who can get anything and everything they want whenever they want it. They can shop 24/7/365 and they expect the same from YOU. In fact, if you don’t respond at virtually ‘Internet Speed’ your customers will think you are…
When was the last time you had an intra-company contest amongst your employees. A contest to generate new ideas? Contests within your company work; because you’re honoring your employees’ fresh ideas. I’m in Arizona where I just came from a Peter Piper Pizza meeting –say that 50 times real fast. PPP held a contest to…
In the recession many organizations thought they had to offer the lowest possible prices to be able to compete. Well, that recession is over and many smart organizations have learned that their customers and clients demand quality and value now. Furthermore, that those same clients and customers will pay more for quality goods and services.…
I just finished a meeting for the 7-11 Franchise group and here’s what I learned…last year 7-11 stores had a One Billion dollar increase in revenues because they are leveraging into what the culture needs right now. The culture is so time-starved people needs more convenience than ever. They need to be able to slip…
I just spoke to a company called Smith & Nephew. They are a company that makes artificial hips and knees and shoulders. A lot of people are buying these replacement parts because they want to be active seniors…people over 55 years old. Instead of worrying about which demographic to go after, think about who has…
I spoke at a big Auto Body Paint convention and learned that (for years) PPG was the world’s leading oil-based auto paint supplier. But when their scientists created a superior paint color match water-borne paint, they knew they had to retrain thousands of body shop painters. Realistically, that meant investing 10-12 months with each painter…and…