Snatching failure from the jaws of success
Our accountant is part of a rare group of financial experts who actually understand the challenges and tribulations of small business owners like me. He’s a member of our entrepreneurs group (that’s how we hooked up) and he’s made it his business to develop his service offering to meet the specific needs of his existing […]
NHS Behaving Badly?
Our beloved NHS receives a lot of negative press these days primarily around it’s failures to deliver adequate primary services, reduced care in key health areas such as mental health, increasing waiting times and so on. This negative focus extends to GP surgeries, out of hours services, ambulance and emergency services – it’s a constant […]
My Husband (and Business Partner) Left Me on Valentines Day
I’m writing this week’s FIT Bits on the evening of Valentine’s Day – sitting on my lonesome in the office, feeling very sorry for myself and a little unloved to say the least. My husband (who, as many of you know, is also my business partner) has deserted me, or rather chosen to spend the […]
Why Great Team Leaders Are The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread
You know the mistake many businesses make is that they take their best customer service representative, or telesales executive, and they promote them to team leader because they’ve done such a great job as a CSR or telesales exec. Yet these are two completely different mindsets, two completely different skillsets or, for want of a […]
Emotional Value – how do you make your customers feel?
I’m a big fan of Colin Shaw (Founder & CEO of Beyond Philosophy) and I can’t think of a single article he’s written or blog he’s posted where I haven’t silently screamed (in excitement not anger you understand!) “YES! YES! YES! indeed Colin – exactly what I’ve been waxing lyrical about for near on 40 […]
Make Sure You Have The RAO Factor?
Being a brand ambassador means you have to take full responsibility, accountability and ownership for everything that you say and do on behalf of the company you represent. This means having to take the rap for someone else’s error, or having to accept blame for another department’s mistake from time to time. Even when the […]
Attitude – the Vital Ingredient
In case you didn’t know your attitude to everything that happens in your personal, professional and emotional world is the foundation upon which your success is built. In the customer service environment you and your attitude is what separates you from your competition. It’s the difference that makes the difference and because people buy people […]
Marie Cross – Extreme Customer Service Queen!
I’ve been on the speaking circuit of late and thoroughly enjoying addressing large audiences to help them better understand how to implement those small, simple improvements within their daily sales and service calls and conversations that, when you add them all together, make such a huge difference to our customers perception of us as outstanding […]
We’re at a Crossroads – Where Do We Go From Here?
Ever had one of those “crossroads” moments – I don’t mean the Midlands Motel type with Meg Mortimer, Benny and Sandy delivering rubbish dialogue against an even worse background set (remember how the walls wobbled when the doors were closed) – no, not that type of crossroads! (Now, I appreciate that younger readers may not […]
Customer on Hold – Time to Get Your S**t Together!
I’ve just read a report that focused on how the need for speed is a key driver in the ever-changing face of the customer service game. According to Forrester research (www.forrester.com), 73% of people say that having their time valued is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with great service. […]
