Christine’s Blog
posted on February 12, 2016 by
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Service Excellence for Customers – Get “Ritzy”
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company L.L.C. is considered by many business experts to be the epitome of customer service excellence. In fact, the Ritz-Carlton Creed is well known and taught in many customer service seminars: “The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission. We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience. [Read more…]
posted on December 14, 2015 by
Sell Insurance With Great Client Service
There’s no doubt that consistently providing the highest level of service and being responsive pays off in referrals and opportunities. A woman on the Board of Directors of a condominium association was responsible for handling the association’s building insurance. From the first time she spoke with the insurance agent, and thereafter, she consistently received superb service. What this agent didn’t know is that this woman was the author of six business books, a conference speaker, and a customer service expert. [Read more…]
posted on December 7, 2015 by
How to Deal With Negative People — The Princes and Princesses of Pessimism
All of us have come across negative people. For them, negativity is the driving force in their lives. When they go home at night, they complain about their customers, their jobs, their bosses, and the traffic. Then they park themselves in front of the TV and tune out the rest of the world. When it comes to making plans for their future they simply don’t because they are stuck wherever they are, which is usually in their own minds. They consider themselves “victims” of whomever or whatever. Sadly, they do not realize that thinking of themselves as victims of their world keeps them feeling oppressed and holds them back from professional accomplishment and personal happiness. [Read more…]
posted on November 13, 2015 by
Operational Excellence
“I want every every department at every location to be “Centers of Operational Excellence.” That was a strategic initiative of the President of a major manufacturer who hired me as a consultant and speaker. I was told not to take on the project if I thought I couldn’t raise the level of performance by at least 15% in a six month period. [Read more…]
posted on November 7, 2015 by
Business Success – Kill the Status Quo and Reinvent Your Company
For Business Success Avoid the Kiss of Death.
If you want to achieve business success, what would be the kiss of death? Whenever I deliver a presentation on leadership or business success, I pose this question to my audiences. Typical responses are… “Not taking action.” Or, “Poor customer service.” All of these are good answers, but not the one I want to hear. [Read more…]
posted on October 21, 2015 by
Executives! Are You Being Guarded? Beware!
“Make sure whatever you send to the President goes through me first. If you want to speak to him on the phone or see him do the same. I have to protect him from getting bogged down with too much information and too many appointments.”
This is what managers, directors, and supervisors are told by a client’s executive secretary. If you have your secretary or assistant do the same, beware. [Read more…]
posted on August 27, 2015 by
It’s Never Enough To Be in Business — It’s Service Excellence
I have had the privilege of working with many companies who are known for service excellence – the award-winning Caterpillar dealer, who makes his people role play during down time and uses a state of the art service measurement tool that measures every single aspect of service excellence – including the level of service executives and managers provide to employees, the top producing wealth management firm in Texas that gives clients the impression they are walking into the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton when entering the company’s elegant office and are greeted by the company’s “Director of First Impressions;” American Honda, whose employees rave about how well they are treated by their company; the Harley-Davidson dealer that holds short meetings every Friday morning before opening time to “talk-up” customer service and get people pumped up for sales … and so many more. These already outstanding organizations ask me to work with them because continuous improvement is one of their company’s core values. [Read more…]
posted on July 16, 2015 by
Seven Smart Ways to
Build Your Referral Business
It often amazes me how many sales people and business owners tell me that they are uncomfortable asking for referrals.
Some don’t know how to ask, and some don’t ask at all. Referral business is the least expensive way to win new customers, has the highest possible leverage, and the best potential payoff. In addition, a prospect whose name you received through a referral may be more prone to return your call and less likely to look to another provider for their needs. [Read more…]
posted on June 26, 2015 by
Go After the Big Fish- Three Sales Lessons From a Stingray Experience
Stingrays are generally docile and will swim close to divers and snorkelers. I experienced this just last week while on a much needed vacation in the Cayman Islands. I confess, I was really scared of them at first – especially the really big ones like the one below. But when I saw other people enjoying the experience, I overcame my fear. When one swam up to me I held it in my arms, hoping it wouldn’t react to the pounding of my heart and my shaking hands.
posted on April 20, 2015 by
Forging the Link Between Sales and Marketing
When Edwin Land successfully launched his classic invention, the Polaroid camera, he should have stopped there. Against the advice of his sales and marketing people (and without the benefit of market research which he detested), he introduced a device, called Polavision, (selling at the hefty price of $700) that would record an “instant color movie.” So convinced that this device would succeed, Land invested 68 million dollars to promote it. In spite of the desire and the dollars, the product failed. [Read more…]
