Content by Chip Bell
Are We Mechanizing Customer Delight?Service without emotional connection is as functional as a vending machine
Tue, 08/21/2018 - 12:02
Standing in the gate area of Delta Airlines at the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport, I was watching the monitor to learn if my name appeared on the “upgrade to first class” list. Honestly, I was feeling totally entitled since I fly a…
Generosity: Serve It ForwardChange the calculus of service from miserly subtraction to Midas-like addition
Tue, 06/05/2018 - 12:01
The 1962 film, Lawrence of Arabia, won the Oscar for Best Picture at the 35th Academy Awards. Given the current conflicts in the Middle East, I recently watched the four-hour movie to learn more about the cultural history of the area. Thomas Edward…
Trust: Keep Your Customer CovenantsA relationship without trust is like a cell phone without service; all you can do is play games
Thu, 03/15/2018 - 12:01
The coolest birthday present I ever received was a gift from my wife a number of years ago; it was a white 1962 Mercedes-Benz 220 sedan reasonably well-restored. But the classy antique car, with its deep fenders and leather seats, turned out to be…
Grace: Honor Your CustomerBeing nice, networked, and notable
Mon, 01/08/2018 - 12:02
I do not at all understand the mystery of grace—only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us. —Anne Lamott Howard Perdue was the owner, manager, and spiritual leader of the Ford tractor dealership in McRae, Georgia,…
Solving the Six Sigma Goat MysteryBeware of using paradigm-colored glasses to view customer engagement
Mon, 11/13/2017 - 12:03
Variation and defects. They are the bane of all manufacturing companies. They signal an absence of efficiency, a neglect of productivity, and a total disregard for cost effectiveness. Who is seen as the rescuing knight in shining armor? Sir Six…
Is Your Customer Service Accessible?Or do your marketing needs trump your customers’ needs for access?
Mon, 09/18/2017 - 12:01
What if you were required to fill out an online form if you wanted the phone number or address of an enterprise with which you wanted to do business? Let’s say you were driving to a meeting at their location and you needed to contact someone to let…
Hardwire Learning Into Customer-Contact PerformanceCustomers gravitate toward organizations that proactively work to keep them informed
Tue, 09/12/2017 - 12:01
A reputable B2B company recently received feedback indicating widespread customer concern it was not helping its customers remain on the cutting edge of their own industries. The company was so focused on trying to sell that it lost sight of…
Is Your Customer Intelligence a Crystal Ball or Just a Rearview Mirror?Find ways to gain real-time customer intelligence that yields insight and action
Mon, 07/24/2017 - 12:02
‘How ya gonna keep ’em down on the farm after they’ve seen Paree? How ya gonna keep ’em away from Broadway, jazzin’ around and paintin’ the town?” This 1914 song by Andrew Bird was a hit as soldiers returned home from World War I. The song captured…
How’s Your Service Scenography?Put your senses into service
Mon, 04/24/2017 - 12:02
Imagine a hotel proposing that the housekeeper put a goldfish in your guest room in a basketball-sized bowl filled with colorful rocks.  All they ask is that you give it a name so you can have “your” fish join you again on your next stay. Visualize…
Does Your Service Have a Preview and a Souvenir?Extend customer satisfaction before and after the encounter
Mon, 02/06/2017 - 12:01
When the circus ringmaster wails, “...and children of all ages,” he is speaking to me. I love the circus. When it came to my rural hometown when I was a boy, it was an all-consuming experience that embedded “circus” in my heart before it appeared…