Customer Service as Community

Customer Service as Community

Before my grandfather passed away at age eighty-six, I asked him how his era was different from mine. “Our day was harder,” he said, “but happier.” The “harder” part I had expected; the “happier” part surprised me. I asked him for his reason. Looking out across a...
Making Special Days Special, Not About Specials

Making Special Days Special, Not About Specials

I was walking through a large retail store today and they were taking down all the Independence Day paraphernalia to replace them with sales goods themed around Labor Day. It made me sad. I could not help but view it as a metaphor for our short-term, time’s up world...
Necessity is the Mother of Customer Co-Creation

Necessity is the Mother of Customer Co-Creation

Necessity is the mother of invention. And few things are more necessary to the success of an organization than customers. Leave that thought on the page and we will return to it very shortly. Napoleon knew that a military force was only as successful as the food it...
Are Your Customers Seeing Monsters?

Are Your Customers Seeing Monsters?

My dad’s favorite childhood story was when a rural pond full of skinny dippers claimed they all saw a huge, evil monster. Every time he told the story, he would laugh so hard at the punchline he got tears in his eyes. Here is the short version… At the annual hog...
Do You Have a Customer Trim?

Do You Have a Customer Trim?

Boating is one of my passions. Few hobbies are more peaceful than a slow boat ride with your favorite beverage around the breathtaking lake on which I live. Or, more exciting than the hard pull of a large big mouth bass on a fishing line off the front of my pontoon...