Greatness: Accelerating the Recovery, Part I

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

If the Culture Fits

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

In the humorous commercials from California’s Milk Advisory Board, viewers are told that "great cheese comes from happy cows." Whether or not cheerful bovines…

Competition, What Competition?

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Retail summit will feature shop-a-long tour of Chicago's largest mall

July 21, 2010

Attendees at the Retail Customer Experience Executive Summit, August 1-3 in Chicago, will begin the event with a visit to Woodfield Mall, the largest mall in…

Are Your Offerings Competitive?

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

No, Your Customer Can't Put Off the Purchase!

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

If you can't find the energy to explain why waiting is not an option, you'll never make a sale in this economy. And the more expensive the item is that you…

What Is Price?

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

What is Price? Ridiculous question... ...or thought-provoking insight? Ted Gorski, Executive Coach and host of The Business Advantage Radio Show at WKXL…

The Aspirational Tourist

by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

Remember your last out-of-town getaway?  You probably wandered into a few shops at your destination to browse, buy a few mementos, or just pass the time before…

What We Can Learn from Bankers

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Jeanne Bliss, author of "I Love You More Than My Dog," to give keynote at retail summit

June 29, 2010

An Inconvenient Truth About Bad Customer Service

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

What if you could get the least engaged staff member to actually care about your customers?  What kind of difference would that make to your business? In this…

Fifty cents could have been really special

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

One of the trickiest parts of building loyalty is making sure that your front-line employees are empowered to make customers feel special. After all, you…

Pricing and Policy Decisions

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

Retail loyalty’s big leap

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

My former DMNews colleague, Nathan Golia, wrote a great piece about the growth of retail loyalty programs in a past issue — which I must say, if I can toot…

Are You Driving Your Customers Away?

by Dale Furtwengler — President, Furtwengler & Associates, P.C.

One of my favorite vendors... ...is pushing me away. I’ve had my cellphone with the same provider for close to six years.  Yes, I was late in adopting the…

The Art of Waiting

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

When Apple Computer announced the Apple Store, more than one industry pundit predicted the project’s demise. "Apple is a technology company," they said. "They…

Does Starbucks’ new free Wi-Fi offer really raise the loyalty bar?

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

No one who loves Starbucks doesn’t love the fact that they’re now offering free Wi-Fi in its over 6500 locations, right?  My question is: How much will this…

The Mayor of Starbucks, or just your average coffee addict

by Sharon Goldman — Senior Director, COLLOQUY

Drink a lot of Starbucks? Now you can become the “Mayor” of Starbucks in your town, thanks to the popular Foursquare application — and as a loyal customer…

Curves: Lessons in Creating a Community

by Annamaria Turano — Executive Director, MCAworks

One summer, not too long ago, I joined a 2nd gym as I was out of town most weekends.  A charming low-frills outpost of Curves. 

June Quote

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Behind every great customer experience is a great employee experience.