Fred “the Shred” Goodwin of Royal Bank of Scotland fame held regular management Q&A sessions. Before the meetings RBS managers had their questions vetted so that nobody asked anything foolish. Allegedly, even after that, Fred would point out that it was “a stupid question” then tear the questioner apart “Neutron” Jack Welch of General Electric […]
Archives for 2012
Should You Guarantee Your Service?
Do you just talk about delivering good service, or do you guarantee it? The Maryland National Bank offers a Service Guarantee: “If you ever find an account error, we’ll make it right, right away … refund any fees incurred, and send letters of apology to anyone inconvenienced …. And even pay you $10” In the […]
How to Build a Better Mouse Trap
Imagine the situation. You run a pizza store and you are losing money. Your raw material costs are far more than they should be. You jump to the most obvious conclusion: Somebody must be stealing the cheese. (Either that or you have king sized mice wondering about). After spending a lot of money on an […]
Circles of Influence: Do You Want Your Team Flexing Their’s?
Three very important circles: The smallest is our circle of control, the things we can directly influence, the time we get out of bed in the morning, how we spend our money. All of it within our gift. The largest is our circle of concern, world poverty, global warming, the economy. All the things we […]
10 Ways to Improve Customer Service Without Investing in IT
1. Agree with your customers what they want from you and when they want it. Clarify all the issues as you work through the discussion, ironing out any misunderstandings and highlighting things that are easy to resolve. Then write down a specification. It is amazing what you will find out. 2. Define what your “purpose” […]