12 Steps to Improve Your Customer Experience

Employee engagement and exceptional customer service play a critical role as a competitive advantage in the business landscape. Great customer service built on a foundation of high employee engagement isn’t a revolutionary concept. More companies are recognizing just how important a deliberate and intentional customer-focused culture is, but few companies do it well. Here are…

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5 Reasons Why Your Business Needs Online Reviews & How to Get Them

People are more connected today than they’ve ever been. Most people have access to the internet whether at home, work, or on the road. It’s not only a means of communicating with people or staying entertained—it’s also a valuable resource, and people take advantage of it. Although the internet has changed many facets of our…

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Is Your Leadership Style Motivating or Demoralizing?

Every business leader realizes their primary objective is to motivate people to do what is required, yet all of us with any experience in business tend to remember most those times when we felt highly demotivated by our leaders. Since I can’t imagine any leader demoralizing their team intentionally, I’ve concluded that the challenge must…

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Getting Feedback Wrong

We know feedback is important to our own personal development. It’s how we learn and grow, it’s how we improve. All high performers (or aspiring high performers) are constantly looking for feedback. Our people need feedback as well. But too often we get feedback wrong! Here are some major ways we miss the opportunity to…

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5 Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Highlight Small Wins

Managing and motivating a team in a startup is more than just using the right interpersonal skills. It’s more than providing recognition, tangible incentives, and clear work goals. A key influencer of satisfaction and motivation, top-ranked by employees, is positive progress and the completion of meaningful work. Sometimes you have to manage progress, not people.…

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The Importance of Instant Gratification in Customer Service

We live in a world where we expect almost instant gratification in most things. Whether it’s social media feedback, sandwich delivery, or an Amazon Prime order, faster is better, and instant is best. Much of this stems from our constant availability and connection through technology. A boss can reach an employee at almost any time.…

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How to Use Metrics and a Dashboard

Have you ever driven a car that had no speedometer? I had that thrill when a student at the Richard Petty Stock Car School of Driving at a motor speedway in California. With a wide track, angled aggressively at the curves, and being told to hug the wall on the straightaways, there was little reference…

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Customer Service Insights: Satisfied is Worse Than Unsatisfied

How are you tracking customer satisfaction levels with your customers? Are you asking whether they are satisfied? If so, you are probably not getting a true answer. Today, customers are so conditioned that when we are asked questions like this, they just say “Yes.” Think about your own experiences. How often have you said things…

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Why Every Small Business Owner Should Have a Mentor

There’s one essential item you’re missing that’s key to your continued success. No, it’s not your business plan, mission statement or investors (though the latter may be necessary!). No matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, you can benefit from having a professional mentor. If you’ve never had a mentor, you’re missing out on…

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