All Blog Posts Tagged 'customer' (166)

We are all familiar with the Planet of The Apes storyline yes? How the apes evolve, take over the planet, enslave man and, as we saw in the first 5 movies, they lived a very technologically free existence. Now comes the new updated movie “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and my question becomes; since we have changed so much…

Communication is the key to success!   If we have heard it once we have heard it a gabillion times.  It’s easy to say and much harder to do.  Why do organizations typically struggle with communication?  I realize opinions are like noses - everyone has one.  Allow me to offer several on this important topic.

The Telephone Game

If you are of a certain…

Soup and Sandwich.  Bacon and Eggs.  Love and Marriage.  Peanut Butter and Jelly.  Culture and Customer Service. 

Some things just go together !  Like the lyrics from a song my Mom used to sing “you can’t have one without the other”!  If there’s any truth to this premise, why then are there so many organizations that seem unable to admit it?

(Break out…

On my block there is a gentle eerie calming sound of semi silence that drapes the area with the slight disturbance of an air conditioner straining under the heat. Perhaps it was the same on Norwegian Island on Friday except it was the snap of a rifle disturbing the silence and the lives of 68 predominantly…

I’m going to mention four sitcoms and I want you to close your eyes and try to remember each ones theme song. It doesn’t matter if you remember just the tune or some of the lyrics. Just see how you do:

Cheers…

When I go to Kroger I am inspired.  No kidding!  The Kroger I frequent is really no different than any other.  Okay, their produce is significantly better than Meijer and they do a fair job with customer service but it’s really not all that special.  That was until…

I preach this over and over and over again -If your customers leave you a bad review or critical remark on any of your social media sites or even your company website, do NOT delete it.

Let me say that again.  Do NOT delete it.  The only thing you’re going to accomplish by  deleting them is ticking them off even more.

The only time that you should…

Chance the Gardener: As long as the roots are not severed, all is well. And all will be well in the garden. In the garden, growth has it seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And…

All..

Last week I reentered the FohBoh Blogsphere with this post in a somewhat disguised attempt to elicit operator feedback about the value to the industry of the services provided by two companies:  Open Table (already public) and Groupon (filed to go public).  Rather than open a…

I know that fuel prices are up and margins are thin in the airline business. The airlines are struggling and we all know it.  I heard the following story from a friend of mine the other day that I felt compelled to share with you.

My friend is like a triple medallion,…

I think it’s safe to say that we can all remember what it was like seeing Star Wars for the very first time. The image of the opening credits cascading at the opening, the Imperial ship coming from the corner of screen then stepping into the Cantina Bar to a world of far out aliens and a groovy jazz beat.

But can I share with you one of the oddest things that stuck with me about that film…

I'm Back.....

Today I am inspired by Michael Atkinson's post on June 2 in our corporate blog  "Seriously Dumb--We May Be Peaking" and reflections of my over 25 years in Silicon Valley seeing many "Seriously Dumb" ideas and waves of IPO's of the same of whether in our industry the service companies that go public actually deliver value to…

I believe that everyone should work as a waiter at one point in their life.

Not because the money is pretty darn good or because you get one shift drink that can turn into two or three if you are good chums with the bartender. Rather, they should become a waiter to learn the true value of great customer service and its rewards.

It worked for me and I can say, with no ego but…

I, like many other Americans, tuned in to watch the final episode of Smallville this last Friday night. For those not familiar, it is the story of Clark Kent growing up in Smallville, Kansas and his life lessons and upbringing that lead him to become the Man of Steel.

 …

Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time.

Our mission is to support our stores so that they are able to do what is most important in retail — serve our customers' needs.

The mission…

How a 2% increase in menu prices can make a big profit improvement in profit. And when a 2% increase in customer numbers is added, the effect multiplies. How can you apply these ideas to your business?

I’m wondering when a chain of full service restaurants is going to do it.  I’m certain it’s just a matter of time before one company goes against the advice of their legal counsel, pretends they are Nike and just does it.  The one that goes “all in” will reap huge rewards because the others will be too afraid to pull the trigger.  If I ran a restaurant or a chain, I’d do it tomorrow.  Yea, I know that’s easy for me to say...

I’m talking about…

So, I'm on vacation in Ft. Lauderdale Florida this week and had no laptop to write my blog, so, I did a video blog instead. I did have an HP Notebook but I may as well have been on a 1st model of the Bell telephone!

So, my subject was on what?

On customer service standards in Florida of course! Tune in. Tune on. Turn to your video screens!

See my next video that will be a lot faster in speach patterns when I get back to NYC!…

To understand the restaurant business, one must take into account the unique balance and consistency between hard elements and the soft elements involved. Often times a restaurant will have a greater emphasis on one area, but totally forget the other area only to find out too late - when they are out of business altogether.

 

The hard elements (restaurant hardware parts) are items such as location, menu design, restaurant/kitchen design and layout, décor, ambiance, computer systems,…