Store employees balk at early Black Friday openings

November 15, 2011

Black Friday is quickly approaching as major retailers kick of the holiday shopping season earlier each year, hoping to be the first stop for Thanksgiving…

Is expansion on your horizon? Should it be?

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

I was listening to a company's CEO/founder relate her company's rise to success, warts and all, when she stated that when they hit $3 million in revenue they…

Survey: Kohl's is America's favorite fashion retailer

November 7, 2011

Kohl's is the nation's favorite fashion retail chain, according to an annual consumer survey conducted by Market Force Information, a provider of customer…

Study: Annoying music drives customers away

November 3, 2011

Half of Britain's shoppers have left a store because they were annoyed by the music, according to a study by Immedia Plc, a company that develops music…

Guided customer service: Open and closed questions

by Peggy Carlaw — VP, Impact Learning Systems

Why are some customer service experiences better than others? Most often it's because the customer service representative confidently guides you through the…

Are you getting your additional 13 percent?

by Doug Fleener — President and Managing Partner, Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC

The 2011 American Express Global Customer Service Barometer finds that 70% of American consumers are willing to spend an average of 13% more with companies…

My "Generous Brand" travelogue: Anaheim, London, Starbucks

by Mark Murray — Director, The Store Channel

As we watch the political football of healthcare being thrown at any potential voting block, the California based CareMore has marched through the goal line of…

RECOMMERCE doesn't dilute sales, it increases customer understanding

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Trendwatching.com recently released its September Trend Briefing entitled Retail Renaissance. In it, they describe RECOMMERCE as a new retail standard. By…

Harvey Mackay: Taking care of customers is taking care of business

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important in running a business than stellar customer service.

Is the age of 'more' and 'faster' replacing 'the customer is king'?

by Harry Friedman

I admit it. I am a lot older physically than I think I am mentally. As Dr. Evil said so eloquently to his newfound son in the Austin Powers movie, "I'm hip."

Your role is silent! The debacle of Netflix

by Bob Phibbs — CEO, The Retail Doctor

I was one of the original adopters of Netflix. The simplicity of it all! Select the movies you want and they arrived in the mail.

Identifying and leveraging your VIP customers

by Doug Fleener — President and Managing Partner, Dynamic Experiences Group, LLC

Of course all of your customers are important to the success of your business, but your top customers are even more important. Let's call them your VIPs.…

How to cultivate long-term loyalty

by Peggy Carlaw — VP, Impact Learning Systems

I used to go to the same Chinese Restaurant weekly growing up. My family celebrated birthdays, graduations, and other fun celebrations at this restaurant.

The declining need for, and escalating value of, human service

by Doug Stephens — President, Retail Prophet Consulting

Technology has been steadily reducing the number of human service interactions we require in an average day. For at least the last decade, the list of what we…

A lesson in customer service

by Jim Joseph — President, Lippe Taylor

I just got a text the other day that many of us hope never happens: the guy who has cut my hair for years is leaving the salon. Oh no!

Enhanced customer service increases retail sales

by Laurel Tielis — Author and Professional Speaker, Laurel Tielis & Associates

The best thing you can say about the economy, is that it's shaky. Prices are up for everything–from groceries to gasoline. The unemployed are looking for…

Starbucks plugs up electricity for some

Some stores are covering electrical outlets, to discourage lengthy laptop visits.

Best Buy announces its plans for 2011 holiday season

September 27, 2011

Best Buy has launched its holiday season by announcing a collection of offers that delivers what people say they want most from a retailer: competitively…

CustomInk fuels revenue growth by putting uncensored customer reviews on their home page

by Jeanne Bliss — Founder, CustomerBliss

In this era of social media, companies who embrace customer feedback and "believe" the words of their customers earn the right to growth. They realize that…

Lessons learned from Apple: Great customer experiences learn continuously

by Mike Wittenstein — Customer Experience and Service Designer, Storyminers

Any brand that becomes good does so, in part, because it knows how to learn. Any brand that becomes great has developed the ability to keep on learning. Apple…