A friend has worked in a toxic workplace for 10 years. His boss is clueless and mean. She's like a female Michael Scott from The Office, so we'll call her Michaela. My friend has been having to take a few hours of vacation time to take his ailing aged father to his...
Grow Your Key Talent Blog
Is your staff’s ignorance hurting your sales?
I love that California restaurant chains now list their dishes' nutritional information. It helps me make better choices. However, I've discovered that some restaurant staff prefer to not become even minimally familiar with the information. It made me wonder if there...
EasyJet isn’t easy
I travel a lot. Both domestically and internationally. Whenever I fly a new carrier, I check their luggage restrictions and do my very best to ensure I don't have additional charges. So imagine my dismay when a companion and I flew EasyJet the other day. We had...
“You are being rude!”
I was told this the other day after a tense conversation with a rep who made allegations about my actions that weren't true and kept interrupting me. I thought I was being logical, persistent and not letting her state things that were untrue. She thought I was being...
What do you consider “above and beyond” service?
The luxurous Huis ter Duin hotel in Noordwijk, on the Netherlands' North Sea, is known for it's location and its comforts. As you would guess, it also has great service. I have had the good fortune to stay in other fine hotels around the world serving clients. I...
Listen to an interview on “Monetizing Your Knowledge”
Listen to my interview on "Monetizing Your Knowledge" on Park City's KPCW show, "Mountain Money" hosted by Jude Anker and Pam Wiley. They were lively interviewers and asked good questions. Go to their web page to listen to the recording.
Redbox customer service is golden
Often companies ignore the importance of empowering staff without "customer service" in their title. They think that the employees who aren't formally charged with customer interaction don't need to be customer focused. They usually don't invest much (any?) time or...
The Federal Government and Customer Service — Oxymoron?
"No surprise!" you say. "The government doesn't have a clue how to treat its customers -- us!" The USPS spent millions a decade ago on customer service training. Generally, the clerks I've encountered are pleasant and some go out of their way to be friendly to their...
Do you finesse — or just frustrate?
I witnessed a painful (to me) conversation between two male colleagues I admire. I'd been asked by Colleague A to attend a meeting between the 3 of us as we all serve on a committee together. I asked him the purpose of the meeting and he told me what he wanted to...