The Building Blocks of a Well-Being Culture Company We have to do more than we have been doing if we are going to succeed in the future. To steal from an old Oldsmobile advertisement, “This is no longer your father’s work force.” If we want to not only keep but engage our new workforce we […]
True Customer Engagement
Don’t just sell to the customer. Don’t just service the customer. The real secret to a long time and successful customer relationship is based on engagement…true customer engagement. True customer engagement is a critical component of success. True corporate-wide customer engagement transcends departments, functions, and individual interactions, becoming a holistic strategy embedded into the very […]
That’s Opportunity Knocking!
I was reading the Sunday comics the other day when I came across this statement. I think it was in Hi and Lois or maybe Arlo and Janis, one of those deep philosophical strips. One of the characters says to another, “He’s the kind of guy that when he hears opportunity knocking, he complains about […]
You Gotta Risk It For The Biscuit!
In working with so many companies over the years, one of the more surprising things I have learned is that not taking a risk can be more dangerous than taking one. Most of the time the companies I have worked with who are not willing to even consider taking a risk are the ones who […]
Great Ideas From John Mitchell’s New Book
I have to say I find it ironic that most of the calls I am on with my clients these days are focused on the issues they are having with their work forces. I was on one last week where the General Manager was talking about hiring being the bane of his existence. In the […]
Would You Work Here?
Would you join the your own company? The past few years I have heard many company runners complaining about their work force. They tell me that the government is paying people too much money not to work, young people are not interested in working every day and that there is just not the work ethic […]
Nice Guys Finish First
Remember that old slogan “Nice guys finish last”? Well, that is the opposite of the way I have operated over my career and in the end it has always proven to work out pretty well. On the other hand, I have witnessed a lot of not so nice guy stories that have ended disastrously. There […]
When Your Company Starts Running Out Of Popcorn
What are you going to do? Companies, like people, get tired. I have seen companies just lose their focus, their “raison d’etre” and just well, kind of fade away. More than once have I sat in the office of a company owner trying to console him while he asks me to “get him out of […]
Learning Customer Service From TV
I am currently in the middle of a great book by Will Guidara called “Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.” And yes it’s about my new favorite subject: customer service…exceptional customer service and how it can affect not only the way your business is run but what your customers […]
What Are You Afraid Of?
I have to admit that when working with companies I get frustrated by their fear of, well, everything. I have always believed in the FDR statement. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” That is as true a statement today as it was ninety years ago when that great president said it. […]