Why build a great customer experience if you have no competition?

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

What if you didn’t have any competition? Would the customer experience you create even matter–if, for example, you ran a government agency or were otherwise…

The best perk of all: Fairness

by Bryan Pearson — President, LoyaltyOne

I remember, in the near past, when getting a safe in your hotel room was considered a perk that many of us didn’t even use. Today, that little extra costs a…

The waiting is the hardest part (for your customers)

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

Timeliness is a critical part of creating a successful customer experience. As a business keynote speaker, I'm often heard calling on company and conference…

I have seen the future of retail and his name is Errick

by Jeff Weidauer — Vice President, Marketing & Strategy, Vestcom International, Inc.

Last week I was in California visiting family, but like most of us on "vacation" these days, I was still working in my subconscious. One of my goals while…

Like ketchup, but sweeter! The customer experience and customer taste

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

My son and I were eating barbecue together recently. The restaurant in question is one of those excruciatingly cheerful, homogenized theme restaurants. Not my…

These Target training videos are a joke. I think.

by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

We've all got that one family member who thinks he's hilarious, but he is not. Let's call him Uncle Kevin. At any family gathering, Uncle Kevin can be counted…

A customer service solution (soul-ution, actually)

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

When I boarded the commuter ferry on Saturday, it seemed unusually crowded. A crew member explained: "We have a capacity crowd — about 2,500 souls — aboard…

The Peak-End Rule: A way to improve every customer experience

by William Cusick — President, Customerspectives

The only way you keep a customer, and get her to buy more, is to create a positive perception. And the only way a perception is created is through the customer…

The ten commandments of networking

by Harvey Mackay — Author, Mackay Mitchell

1. I will not assume that the person with the credentials is the person with the power.

Mystery shopping professional conference coming this fall

by Kimberly Nasief — President, Measure Consumer Perspectives

Mystery shopping agencies, companies and mystery shoppers from around the country will be in San Diego, California this October in order to attend one of the…

You don't need to be a jerk to give bad customer service

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

Great customer service — what I call anticipatory customer service — requires more these days than simply not being a jerk and not hiring jerks. It means…

5 reasons why plugging Best Buy into Target might work

by Chris Petersen — Owner, IMS

As I departed on my around the world journey to teach IMS Retail University, I had ample time to watch people using technology during my lengthy airport…

Why the Apple Store hires for smiles

by Carmine Gallo — President, GCG

After spending one year researching the Apple Retail Store, I reached the conclusion that the secret sauce to Apple's astonishing success in retail lies in…

The Hippocratic Oath of customer experience

For thousands of years, physicians have been taking the Hippocratic Oath to "first do no harm." This philosophy is also excellent advice for anyone dealing…

Why don't the old customer service ways work anymore?

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

"Why don't the old ways work with customers anymore?" I hear this question frequently when I'm speaking at a business event or starting a new customer service…

Klout: More social influence equals a better customer experience?

by Colin Shaw — Founder & CEO, Beyond Philosophy

I was very interested to see that organizations are starting to provide a better customer experience to people that have more social influence. You may have…

Is your customer experience smashable?

When was the last time your loss prevention team became an Internet sensation because of excellent customer service? Well, that's what happened when Joshie…

Get the easy stuff right

by Micah Solomon — president, four aces inc

A perfect product or service won't take you far if you serve it up cold. Lack of caring delivery will sink most any perfect product or service.

Eight mistakes that kill your retail sales training

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

You've only got one shot at training new hires. One. You can't go back...

How customer service builds brand loyalty

by Peggy Carlaw — VP, Impact Learning Systems

Karen Freeman, Patrick Spenner, and Anna Bird bring up Three Myths About What Customers Want in the HBR Blog Network. These myths are based on information from…