Focusing on Patient Needs

I have been dealing with arthritis in my foot for about a year now. On the recommendation of an acquaintance, I made an appointment to see a physical therapist who apparently works wonders.

As I traveled several miles and nearly an hour to see him, I kept hoping that he lived up to his billing. [...]

The Window Can Be Dangerous

People want to know. Maybe not everything, but most things. There is still some bliss associated with ignorance, particularly for those messier details. So, companies are putting more of themselves “in the window”, showing the world how they function and what they actually do.

When you put yourself there, honesty and openness rule [...]

Recanting a Rant

Yesterday, I started to rant about the hoops I was jumping through to cancel an account. I am going to say that, on the surface, I was getting ahead of myself. Any company has a right…no, a duty…to know why a customer wants to leave. The best way to do that is [...]

Cancelled Accounts

I’ve been cancelling a few accounts lately, for a variety of reasons. Two are credit cards I no longer want to use and one is a service I never use. I have had three completely different experiences, only one of which was good.

I tried to cancel one of the credit cards online. [...]

Ensure Your Customers Are Successful

Here’s a quick question for you. When you sell to your customers, what are you doing to ensure their success? This most likely is targeted to you B2B folks, but it could go to just about anyone selling anything.

Because to the best companies, selling isn’t just about the sale. Or even the [...]

Closing Loops

Quality service is the key to business success. That means meeting or exceeding the needs external as well as internal customers. And to do that, you have to close the loop.

Closing the loop is how you follow up. It’s how you answer the question or resolve the complaint or respond to a [...]

Service Contracts

Since moving into my new house, I have had the occasion to work with a couple of companies using service contractors and one using its own staff. In each instance, the experience has been fine. Using contractors for your in-home service work makes sense in the right situations:

The contractors’ vision and mission aligns [...]

Selling It Back

This past weekend, I heard a co-worker talking to a customer, and she said she didn’t want the customer to sell the product back to her. I hadn’t heard that phrase in several years. But it’s one of those that makes perfect sense.

We sell all sorts of things to all sorts of people. [...]

The Challenge of Segmentation

Segmentation is a difficult thing to wrangle sometimes. When internet-based sales starting picking up steam ten years ago, people weren’t sure how to respond, though the thought process really shouldn’t have been much different than for catalog sales. The main difference is that the catalog was now online and accessible to anyone who [...]

Paperwork and Legalese

Sorry about this, but I have yet another issue concerning moves. Following on yesterday’s complaints about our electric company, today I take issue with the real estate industry.

We sat there in the room with a stack of papers two inches thick in front of us to sign. The closing agent explained briefly what [...]