Becoming the Standard

Many trademarks and company names have become so successful that they are now synonymous with their class of products or services. There’s even a term for this process: genericide. You know of many examples and might not even realize: Kleenex is often substituted for any facial tissue, Aspirin for any…
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Elevating Your Customer Experience

Shep Hyken is back at it again with another great blog about the difference between good and great, and why this is an important distinction when trying to maintain customer loyalty. As he cites, his “customer service research found that the top reason customers are most likely to come back…
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Keeping Your Language Professional

It should go without saying that workplace language is different from interpersonal language—or, at least it should be. Most business owners don’t want their employees to make their coworkers or customers feel uncomfortable. Who wants to work at or shop in a place like that? So, in the interest of…
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Good Intentions

The rationale behind why businesses should offer a superior customer experience is fairly practical. Great customer service begets stronger customer loyalty, increased sales, and greater revenue. Moreover, most of us believe that we should treat others the way we would want to be treated, i.e., with respect—in the hope that…
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Use Your Reputation to Recruit

The numbers for the Great Resignation continue to shock everyone. As cited by The Motley Fool, “Since the start of the pandemic, 20% of workers have changed careers,” and a further “46% of employees are considering a career change.” We’ve seen especially high turnover months during this time, including August…
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The Horrors of Calling Customer Support

No one likes calling customer support. We’ve all had experiences where we waited on hold forever, been transferred multiple times, talked to support staff who didn’t understand what we needed, and on and on. Some industries are especially notorious for this, including telecoms, airlines, and financial institutions, but it’s no…
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Hire for Attitude

You might think it’s a bad time to be picky when hiring. Given factors like the so-called Great Resignation, the shrinking labor pool, and how competitive businesses have to be with one another to even attract job seekers, it’s no wonder that managers are just thrilled to receive qualified applications.…
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Preparing for Stagflation

Market volatility has certainly caught everyone’s attention recently. The Dow Jones is down over 5,000 points year-to-date, purchasing power is down over 8%, and the economy shrunk 1.4% in the first quarter. Former Chair of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, as well as an alarming number of economists, are now…
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Mystery Shopping to Beat Inflation

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a dollar from January 2020 has the same buying power as a $1.12 today. While twelve cents doesn’t sound like a lot of lost value, we have to remember that 12% adds up to a lot when it’s impacting every single purchase. Worse…
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