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Details Matter

14 February, 2014 by James Lawther 8 Comments

POSH Bags There is a rumour about Steve Jobs.  It is alleged that he sacked an employee at one of the first Apple stores. Why?  Because she bought cheap and nasty plastic bags for customers to take their expensive purchases home in.  The story may be a complete fabrication, but history has shown that Steve was […]

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: Apple, devil is in the detail, service design, service differentiation

The Dark Secrets of Benchmarking

20 May, 2013 by Dougie Cameron 8 Comments

the benchmark

This is a guest post Everyone loves a bench-marking exercise, right? It helps you understand your place in the world – where you excel, right? It shows you the gold standard, best practice, the benchmark you aspire to, right? Wrong. Bench-marking is honest and pure, so, what brings me to such a bold outburst?  Well, there are a […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: benchmarking, measurement, service differentiation

What Happened to Sears Quality and Service?

15 November, 2011 by Jim Reardan 1 Comment

Washing Machine Battlefield

As a Baby Boomer, I grew up in a generation where the Sears brand name stood for quality, integrity, reliability, and superior customer service.  Among the many products Sears sold, its Kenmore appliances have long enjoyed a solid reputation.  I remember how happy my Mom was the day my Dad bought her her first Kenmore […]

Filed Under: Blog, Employee Engagement Tagged With: customer focus, service differentiation, strategy

Investing in Service or Brand?

1 September, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

Vodafone has been named the most valuable British brand in 2010. It spends millions of pounds each year sponsoring events such as London Fashion Weekend…. differentiating itself from its competitors in a commodity market. Do customers care? If you search twitter for “Vodafone” you quickly discover that customers are only worried about two things: The […]

Filed Under: Blog, Operations Analysis Tagged With: marketing, service differentiation, training, video

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