How to Get Really Great Customer Service

How to Get Really Great Customer Service

Ever notice how some people always get the best table, the upgraded room, or the best cut of meat at the market? Great customer service is not an accident. Those who are served well follow a recipe that turns even a cold initial encounter into a warm one. Here are...
Is Your Customer’s Experience Fresh?

Is Your Customer’s Experience Fresh?

William Shatner is a part of my morning start-your-engines. At least most mornings. At 6 a.m. with a cup of fresh hazelnut black coffee, my wife and I watch a few minutes of the news. It gives our day a fresh, up-to-date beginning. Most days, William Shatner does a TV...
Nurturing Perennial Customers

Nurturing Perennial Customers

The daffodils and crocus flowers greeted me this sunny morning as I walked out into the side yard. It was as if they were showing off their best behavior, aimed at enriching my life. They are my friends. They come back every year and seem to thank me for serving them...
Are You a Protestor or a Champion?

Are You a Protestor or a Champion?

It started and ended with wine and cheese on the veranda overlooking a manicured lawn.  The black gardener had just finished mowing the lawn before the six ladies arrived in their luxury SUVs. In the middle of their chit-chat about the country club menu and the...
Today’s Customers Want a Barefooted Cowboy

Today’s Customers Want a Barefooted Cowboy

Yes, that photo is really me at eight years old with my younger cousin, Rick Bell. Rick was from Savannah and would come to visit me for a week at my rural home almost every summer. We pretty much lived in the woods and didn’t even turn “cowboys” off...