Are your customers waiting needlessly?

I had to sign some documents at a bank as Board Secretary of Together We Can Change the World. I called the bank officer and arranged to come in the next day. I called her on the appointed day to tell her I’d be there in 20 minutes. When I arrived, I had to wait … Read more

Try vs make a decision

You’ve heard the old adage, “There is no such thing as trying; you either do it or you don’t.”

I had a recent experience with this. Perhaps my lesson will be useful to you.

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Do you jump off the side or take the stairs?

Sometimes we have opportunities to examine who we are in a new context that is a metaphor for how we approach life. Recently I had such an opportunity to see if I was more likely to take an exciting path or a more mundane one.

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If you have the capability to delight your customers, why wouldn’t you?

Weeks before we arrived, I’d been communicating with the 5-star hotel’s liaison to ensure my group of 10 could get checked in as quickly as possible as we had to leave within 45 minutes of our arrival at the hotel. The last time we stayed there, we loved the accommodations, but check in seemed inordinately slow. We asked that it be expedited, offering to send scans of our passports if that would speed things up. She assured me that we’d all be checked in within 10 minutes of arrival.

When we arrived at the hotel, the process was as snail-like as it had been the previous time. Forty-five minutes later, the last person got her room key. There was no explanation as to why it took so long.

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Surprise your customers with a wow experience

Grand HyattArriving at the Singapore Airport, I saw a man with “Grand Hyatt” on his clipboard. I approached him, asking if they provided a shuttle. He said no, but he could arrange a town car. After confirming the price would be double that of a cab, I told him I’d just grab a taxi. He escorted me to the taxi queue and helped the driver put my luggage into the trunk.

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Using activities to spawn insights

Lecture is boring. Discussion is better as it makes participants think. But the best method for creating impactful insights is through meaningful activities. These can mix fun with powerful lessons, if facilitated properly. This Spring I had the honor of working with several groups and included activities in place of or to supplement lecture and … Read more

Sewing up customer loyalty

Sometimes an organization empowers their people to go way above and beyond for their customers. We hear about these examples but rarely experience them ourselves.

I’m happy to report I was the recipient of such largess.

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Why would you deny your customers comfort?

imagesI was in the second leg of a trip from San Francisco to Singapore via Japan Airlines. Normally, I have no beef with JAL as I find their crews generally friendly and helpful.

After the first leg — an 11-hour flight where an equipment change landed me in a middle seat of three instead of the exit aisle I’d reserved, I was looking forward to my aisle seat on the second flight. It was still not comfortable for the 7-hour flight, but luckily I was in the back where the plane was more sparsely populated.

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When you need to give a hug

When I stepped on the hotel elevator on the second floor, the only other person inside was a twenty-something woman. She was crying but working hard to not. Yet she couldn’t stop. I have been there — something hurts so badly you can’t control the emotion, even when you’re in a public place and you feel embarrassed at not being able to stop.

I paused briefly to look at her, unsure whether to ignore her and mind my own business to my 14th floor room. I noticed she’d pushed the 6th floor button so I knew we wouldn’t share this space long.

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