Strategic Discipline Blog

Scaling any business is challenging. In Masters of Scale Reid Hoffman shares the story of Danny Meyer, who first opened Union Square Cafe in 1985, and whose restaurant company now extends beyond just restaurants to include Shake Shack, operational consulting, multifaceted catering and events business, Union Square Events, and a growth fund, under the umbrella of Enlightened Hospitality Investments (EHI).

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Topics: customer service, priority, Scale Up, Reid Hoffman, Enlightened Hospitality, Masters of Scale

People with unresolved conflicts can challenge your customer service.

These customers are impossible to resolve their issues.

 

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Topics: Customer Feedback, customer service, What Sales Winners Do Differently, Customer needs, High Probability Selling, Unresolved Conflicts

Many people will tell you email is dead in customer service. It’s still a vital communication tool. How you write a customer service email is crucial. The right tone shows your customer you care about their needs and keep them coming back. Here's how to write a personalized customer service email, every time.

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Topics: customer service, Email Marketing

In Fred Reichheld’s first book The Ultimate Question introducing Net Promoter Score, the standard for gauging Customer Satisfaction, he spoke about a specific issue that many companies have deriving what he called “bad profits” from their customers.  An example he gave at the time was staying at a hotel and having to use the phone from your room to make call. At the time of the book’s publishing many hotels were charging exorbitant fees to call, especially long distance calls.

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Topics: The Ultimate Question, customer survey, Customer Feedback, customer service, Quantitative Customer Feedback, customer loyalty, NPS

What’s your definition of Customer Service?

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Topics: customer service, Growth Summit, Growth Summit. Learning, customer loyalty

You may recall in People: Teaching Willpower Spurs Starbucks’ Business Growth we discussed how habits changed ordinary people like Travis into an extraordinary service provider.  If you don’t know how hard that might be, read the blog to discover how Travis behaved at McDonalds.

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Topics: customer service, Growth Summit, daily huddle, customer loyalty, Starbucks

When founder and former CEO Howard Schultz returned to Starbuck after an eight year absence in 2008 the company rebounded. What happened and how did he manage to turn around a company that had lost its focus on the customer?

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Topics: customer service, employee performance, habits, The Power of Habit, Education & Training, routine, Alcoa, Paul O'Neill, Starbucks

Measuring customer loyalty is a required best business practice to grow and maintain your customer base.  Our recommended tool for our customers is Net Promoter Score discussed in What’s Your Customer Satisfaction Measurement and The Ultimate Question – Customer Advocacy.

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Topics: Net Promoter Score, employee engagement, customer service, Q12

Let’s continue to explore the Seven Strata of Strategy, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits author, Verne Harnish key strategy elements, discovered from mid-sized business owners after the last recession which moved the needle to increase revenue.  For a copy of Verne Harnish’s Fortune article on The Seven Strata of Strategy and the worksheet to identify yours send me an email with Seven Strata of Strategy in the title.

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Topics: customer service, strategy, Seven Strata of Strategy, Brand Promise

A customer complaint is a good thing.  It means you know that you need do to something for improvement.

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Topics: Customer Feedback, Net Promoter Score, employee engagement, customer service, customer satisfaction metrics, Qualitative Customer Feedback, customer loyalty