Your Customers Deserve Answers

You ask your customers to tell you how you’re doing. You send surveys, invite reviews, and encourage them to share their concerns. But once that feedback arrives, what happens next? If you record it in a report and move on, you may leave your customers wondering why you asked in…
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Small Things Done Well

Your customers have choices. Regardless of the industry, there’s almost assuredly a crowded marketplace vying for your customers’ attention, offering similar products and services, comparable prices, and equally convenient hours. How do you stand out from the rest? You actually have an opportunity to distinguish yourself in every interaction by…
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No Surprises, More Trust: Why Transparency Matters

Your customers may appreciate the surprise of a complementary upgrade or an unexpected thank-you note. A surprise fee at checkout? Or a warranty with unexpected exceptions? Not so much! As a small business owner, you build trust when you help people understand what they’re buying, what it costs, and what…
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Make Every Employee a CEO: A Customer Experience Officer

We all know that CEO typically stands for Chief Executive Officer—that is, the big boss. But in your business, CEO can stand for something else that is equally as valuable: Customer Experience Officer. And you don’t need to hand every employee a corner office to give them that CEO mindset.…
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Your Employees Know the Policy, But Do They Know the Reason?

Greet every customer promptly. Ask open-ended questions. Follow up with prospective customers. These are all perfectly reasonable customer service standards. You may have some version of them in your own employee handbook or training materials, or even have them printed on poster hanging in the breakroom. But there’s an important…
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When Friendliness Falls Short

Imagine a customer calls your business with a question. Your employee answers promptly, speaks pleasantly, and seems genuinely interested in helping. They don’t know the answer right away, but that’s okay. They promise to look into it and call the customer back. The customer hangs up feeling pretty good about…
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Experience Isn’t Expensive. Replacing It Is.

If you read the business news recently, you may have seen the story of Tony Barzar, a 60-year-old Costco cashier earning nearly $33 an hour. After decades with the company, his retirement savings have grown to more than $1 million. At first glance, it sounds like an unusual story about…
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Your Culture Is Only as Strong as Your Customer Experience

Every business owner wants to build a strong company culture. You hire people who share your values, talk about putting customers first, and maybe even have a mission statement framed on the wall. And don’t mistake our pointing this out as criticism: these things matter. But your customers don’t really…
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Can Your Employees Describe Your Business in One Word?

Imagine gathering your employees into a room, handing each of them an index card, and asking one simple question: “What’s the most important quality we offer our customers?” No discussion or collaboration. Just write down one word. What do you think you would get back? Would everyone write the same…
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