Setting Expectations for Your Employees

Every business has goals of some kind, even beyond the basic need to make enough money to keep the lights on this month. Usually, a business hopes to grow, to bolster its reputation, and to genuinely satisfy everyone involved day-in and day-out. These kinds of goals are often broken into…
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Repeat Business vs Customer Loyalty

For our last dive into Shep Hyken’s ACA 2021 report, we’re going to take a closer look at rewards programs, and how they generate repeat business—and how this differs from customer loyalty. As we have in previous blogs on the ACA 2021, let’s first consider some numbers. Hyken asked his…
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How Employees Impact the Customer Experience

Shep Hyken’s Achieving Customer Amazement 2021 report is out now, and one of the breakdowns he gives are the elements that add up to a great overall experience. His research uncovered that the following customer-service elements are either important or very important: employee knowledge, employee kindness and helpfulness, ability to…
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The Wow Starts Now

“The Customer Experience” is a catchall term you’ll hear thrown around a lot in the retail and service industries. It encompasses the entire interaction a customer has with your business, including everything from branding impressions, the store visit, and to what happens after—customer service, sales, and support. For a restaurant,…
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Avoiding More Common Mistakes

Last week, we took a look at Gene Marks’s article for The Hartford, wherein he explained many of the common pitfalls that small-business owners fall into. This week, let’s take a deeper look at a few more critical mistakes you should avoid. Don’t Overwork Yourself Marks admits that “running a…
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Why Employees Should Care About Net Profit

Anyone who has ever looked at a business’s financials will quickly understand the difference between gross and net profit. But for clarity sake, let’s define them. Gross profit equates to how much money is made on a sale after deducting its production costs, while net profit is what’s left over…
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Using Mystery Shops to Coach

You’ve made the decision to start mystery shopping your company, and now your first reports have arrived. Perhaps they’re a mixed bag: some did great, others so-so, and a few poorly. How should you, or those employees’ manager, use this data to instruct them? Reinforce When discussing what went well…
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Learning from the Competition and Beyond

Customer-service expert Shep Hyken has another great take on what it takes to deliver a superior customer experience, this time taking a look at the importance of studying the competition. But, as he explains, it’s not as simple as copying what they do: “if all you are is a copy…
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Principles for Great Management

Last blog, we discussed the qualities of great leadership, the personality traits someone has to either possess or develop to be effective at managing others. Today, let’s add some principles to these qualities. For inspiration, we’ll refer to an article at RunningRestaurants.com, which is geared towards restaurant management. As always,…
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