Give Your Customers Volunteer Service

Give Your Customers Volunteer Service

We have a volunteer plant. It stands tall, beautiful, and mysterious. It is a volunteer—a plant that grew up spontaneously without our doing anything. It likely came from something planted years ago by the previous owner of the property. We refer to it as our wild...
Surprise Customers with Unexpected Passion

Surprise Customers with Unexpected Passion

You’ve seen the tee shirt. “Underestimate me. That’ll be fun.” It has a bit of a smart-alecky tone, like someone who has been around the block a few times and is proud to show off. But it also has a super confident, “I can’t wait to...
Refocusing Your Customer-Facing Associates

Refocusing Your Customer-Facing Associates

It all started when we drove up to the speaker menu at a quick-service restaurant. “Can I take your order?” the attendant coldly barked. When my wife, on hearing the deep voice of the attendant, politely said, “Thank you, sir,” she got back a...
The Fallacy of Too Much

The Fallacy of Too Much

I have a friend who is a big chocolate fan. He would tell me, “There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.” He considers a balanced diet to be a piece of chocolate in both hands. He would love...
Encourage Your Associates to “Show Off”

Encourage Your Associates to “Show Off”

She had the entire line of the check-out counter completely mesmerized. It was as if she was using us as her test audience for a comedy try-out. And she was funny and entirely unleashed. Yet, she never slowed her rhythmic action on the grocery story register and...