What is 'Legendary Service'?

Using the words 'legendary service' is not enough to make it real. You must expand, imagine, innovate - and take real legendary action.

Preserve the Loyalty You Deserve

When the service you provide jeopardizes your customer's relationship with their customers, you need to respond with twice the speed and twice the recovery effort. After all, now your upset customer has upset customers! Of course there will be costs and consequences and perhaps some aggravation, but leap to it right away. Be the supplier who takes immediate action to set the wrong things right.

We Are Really Sorry For You, But...

Generosity is a good service policy whenever your customers need help. If they need help twice, be generous twice. (No one loses their mobile phone twice on purpose.)

Tweak Your Customer or Tweak Your System?

The purpose of your staff and system is to serve your customers better. When customers make requests outside normal procedures, your job is to tweak the system, not the customer.

20 Words to Build a Better Future

When you close a sale, finish a job or complete a project, don't just wait around for 'the next time'. Initiate the conversation for improvement. Your discussion will lead to better relationships, understanding and results.

Push Into the White Space

The next time your structure or system says 'no', 'cannot', or 'we don't do it that way', take another look. Think outside the box. Push into the white spaces that surround you. Don't be content just doing it right - find a way to do it better!

Overcoming the Nasty Pirate

Put positive emotion and a personal touch in your service recovery efforts. Customers will remember and cherish you forever.

The Playful Policy Review

Point Frontline staff are taught to follow policies and procedures. Often they are hesitant to `break the rules'. Yet some rules should be broken, or changed, or at least seriously bent from time to time. Are your staff bound by rules they cannot change? If those rules are outdated or problematic, will they tell you?

Track Each Complaint Until Your Customer Comes Back

When you respond to a customer complaint, what do you hope will happen next? In many cases, the answer is ‘nothing’. But when you reply and the result is...

Nice Work! Well Done! Keep It Up!

I like to (quickly) thank those who give me good service, and (gently) critique those who don’t. Here’s an easy and effective way to do it...

Personal Diamond Awards

What would the Olympics be like if we officially included the Personal Diamond Awards? Imagine an athlete who wins the bronze medal as well as a Personal Diamond. How would that athlete react? How might the audience respond? Would the bronze medalist begrudge the...

How to be a Better Customer

When you give better service, your customers will appreciate you more. But when you give lousy service, your customers can be a pain in the neck. The flip side is also true. If you are an...

You May Never Know What’s Really Going On

You win loyalty when people see you are on their side, not against them. The next time you experience a negative reaction to another person’s words, actions or behavior, do some mental sit-ups before you reply. Then practice generosity and exercise compassion...

Keep Your Suppliers Eager With a 70/30 Split

To keep your suppliers on their toes, try this smart tip I learned from the Group Purchasing Manager of Asia Pacific Breweries. Whenever he contracts to purchase items from more than one supplier, he gives one vendor 70% of the total purchase, while a second vendor gets 30%. And he tells them both...

Cross-Town Collaboration

Old boundaries can become open borders for creative cooperation. If working together produces more convenience or value for the customer, then pursue the new partnership with vigor...