Podcasts about business guidance

Business streakers are fast operators who vanish just before they get the project ball across the finish line. These enthusiastic beginners magically disappear at critical times. As a result, customer projects yawn past expected completion dates, and the streaker fails to answer crucial phone calls, emails, text messages, or knocks on the door. Poof! Gone! Nowhere to be found! Then all of a sudden, like an unexpected sand storm, the streaker reappears to frantically bring the project across the finish line with a flurry of issues, mistakes and excuses. If you are a company leader, we encourage you to locate your streakers, and then STOP them before they ruin your company. Retrain them if possible, or remove them. This is why customers detest business streakers. Customers want even-keeled project management that avoids streaky service hampered by problems!Support the show

We are going to flip the tables and talk about customers for one minute. As vendors attempt to provide quality services, questions may arise that need customer input, or direction. The customers can be both invoice-paying customers, or internal associates. Regardless, I have watched many transactions travel through time-wasting, and money-wasting rapids that could have been avoided with expedient, and comprehensive customer feedback. Do you want smooth and timely transactions? Okay, then answer 100% of the questions you are asked, and answer them with punctuality! Quality transactions are usually paid for with the two-sided, customer/vendor coin. Support the show

Design well. Manufacture to exceed expectations. Take no shortcuts. Audit properly. Audit regularly. Be the customer. Constantly improve. Imagine if you were to run your company with these seven principals? The result could be a premium price that you explain once, and that is defended by exceptional deliverables.Support the show

Do you want to deliver a pleasant surprise to your customers? Do you want to look fresh and exciting to customers? If so, all you have to do is take ownership of you actions, and retire the societal trend of blame-shifting. Novel. Humble. Endearing. Lucrative. Make action ownership a hallmark of your company, and watch your business grow!Support the show

Many companies put the cart before the horse by expecting customers to trust them first, rather than earning trust through action. Has your company inverted the trust relationship? Repeat and referral business grows for companies that consistently demonstrate trustworthiness. Do your actions back up your marketing and sales claims? Are you expecting and demanding trust from customers, or are you willing to be an earner?Support the show

We live in a feature driven product world. Buttons, modes, settings and codes accompany so many products we buy. But what benefits do all these features serve? If you are not in the habit of explaining what the features do for customers, now would be a great time to start generating effective ways to explain the benefits of all these buttons, modes, settings, and codes.Support the show

This is a classic example of putting yourself in the customer shoes. If you want to make customers happy, do your very best to eliminate mysteries. The best place to start is to voluntarily provide information that addresses the questions of why. If you can prevent your customers from asking unnecessary questions, they will love you for a long time, and refer your company to other people.Support the show

Changing customer expectations mid-transaction is usually a dangerous proposition. If you want to increase repeat and referral business, make sure that your deliverables meet the expectations that you advertise.Support the show

Most customers like vendors that employ sales and service personnel who make things happen. There is nothing more frustrating to customers than to watch their orders handled sluggishly. In addition, customers love vendors that can solve problems quickly, efficiently, creatively, and with tenacity. If your customer facing employees lack these inherent qualities, it's probably time to move to Plan B which is a focus on hiring initiators who can lead.Support the show

Business issues that have no immediate solutions are rather common. What's uncommon are vendors that meet problems with multiple solutions that are ready to plug and play. No one likes to hear about problems unless they can also hear about remedies. We encourage you to find ways to be a remedy centric company who focuses on creative problem-solving.Support the show

Often times we overlook the significance of providing customers with voluntary updates. Information is KING. Information is powerful. The value of putting customers at ease is hard to quantify, because it is almost priceless! Demonstrating good order stewardship is proving that you care about the customer's money. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then information given away, keeps your customers happy today.Support the show

“Tell them what they want to hear to shut them up!” “Keep the deal rolling…tell them what they want to hear.” “Don't lose the deal…tell them whatever you want…just don't lose the deal.” “I don't care what you tell them…they better not cancel the deal.” Do these lines sound familiar? If so, take a look at how many customers got a line of BS from your company similar to the previous quotes. Customers are smart…much smarter than we care to admit. Today is a GREAT day to stop the BS, and start telling customers what they deserve to hear.Support the show

If you want to win over millennial and and Gen Z buyers, being authentic is essential for vendors. Be real. Be genuine. Be transparent Be honest. Be humble.Support the show

Customers want vendors who are primarily classified as doers. Customers want orders to flow seamlessly. They want action. They don't want lip service, they don't want clever schemes, they don't want blame shifting… They just want vendors who do what they say they're going to do. Ready. Set. Go.Support the show

Imagine reading one business skill-building book with a goal of obtaining three take-aways? Imagine doing this once a month for 12 months? With 36 new skills sets in one year, imagine the goals you could achieve, the raise you could get, or the new job you could obtain? Skills are transferrable from one job to the next. It all starts by cultivating a mindset to acquire new business skill sets! If you don't know where to start, then we suggest you start With Dale Carnegie's book entitled “How To Win Friends & Influence People.”Support the show

Our fast-paced business world is moving further away from this principle. What would happen if we made a deliberate effort to talk with our customers? It's a simple question about a lost art! We encourage you to carve out some time to bond with your customers. They will love it, and you will pick up many, many ideas that can be used for continuous improvement! Support the show

Business is a two sided coin. One side is what you sell. The other side is how you sell it. Each side of that coin creates customer experiences. Is your company actively dissecting all of the experiences you create? Are you sometimes overlooking the “how you sell” side of your business?Support the show

Customers can sense when companies are setting the service bar at a bare minimum. The companies that aim higher elevate the customer experience, and will benefit from an abundance of repeat and referral business. Avoid being “run of the mill” and aim at delivering exceptional customer service.Support the show

 Sometimes a series of small changes help you deliver better customer satisfaction , rather than making wholesale, sweeping changes. When was the last time you sat down to identify 10 or 15 improvements you could make on your website? When was the last time you challenged the wording of your website? When's the last time you tried to modify your procedures to make it easier for the customer? Imagine implementing 10 or 15, one-percent changes within 24 hours? These can become small force multipliers. Try it sometime. We are confident you will love the outcome.Support the show

Voluntary communication from the vendor is a display of good stewardship in action. Customers want to know that their money is being spent wisely. Vendors demonstrate good stewardship by sending voluntary information designed to educate, inform and equip customers with helpful updates about their transaction. Do you want more repeat and referral business? Courtesy communication is a great tool to help you achieve that goal.Support the show

After decades of consistently baking up conversations in writing, I let my guard down one time in December. The lack of written confirmation came back to cause me painful issues in February. Do you confirm the details of critical conversations in writing? If not, maybe it's time to start. A two-minute email could save you thousands of dollars!Support the show

Turn the noise off, leave the electronics home, find a place to think… and continuous improvement ideas will pop up everywhere. You just need to quiet the noise, search your mind, reflect on possible improvements, and then write them down. It can be therapeutic and refreshing at the same time. Our minds are amazing creations, and we really see what they can produce when we search and listen. How about you? Do you ever search your mind in total quiet, and with a pen and paper nearby! Try it. The results will astonish you!Support the show

Football quarterbacks often call audibles because they read the playing field and see something that could damage their play calling. We are no different in business. Sometimes we need to call an audible in order to reshape our approach to something we see when we read the room. Do you read the room routinely? Do you sometimes reshape your approach after reading the room?Support the show

Mature companies often find themselves saddled with internal squabbling about issues that are actually quite insignificant. If this is happening to your company, you are inadvertently taking your eye off the customer ball. Maybe it's time to revisit your roots, and fall back in love with focusing on some of the major issues that can create good customer experiences.Support the show

Margin erosion is a sneaky business killer that can unnecessarily send a company to the boneyard. Becoming a doctor of details is essential to protecting the precious pennies of profitability. If you are not willing to get into your company weeds, than brace yourself for a painful impact sooner than later? What say you? Are you putting your operational weeding gloves on to make sure you are retaining the profitability listed on your costing sheet?Support the show

After 35 years of tracking bad customer experiences, the lack of these two actions are the bedrock of buyer dissatisfaction. Period. End of Story. You want a more profitable bottom line? Do you want to stay in business for the long haul? Do you want customers to come back for more? Deliver on these two actions and most of your problems will be solved.Support the show

The best return happens when companies aim their improvements at customers. Buyers have a keen awareness of which companies prioritize customer satisfaction over company profitability. The best companies know that happy customers will lead to healthy bottom lines. Where are your improvements aimed at?Support the show

The common thread of championship athletic teams is humility. At a certain point, once the collective team becomes humble, the real improvement and growth starts. Without that humility, the teams will never achieve the ultimate goal of a championship. It's no different in business. If we want to succeed, and grow as businesses, the collective personnel must become humble enough to pursue improvement. Are you humble enough?Support the show

Sadly, customer perception molds customer reality. This reality may not be true, but to the customer, it is their reality. If companies want to create better customer experiences, it behooves the company to understand the various realities customers are seeing, feeling and receiving. If you have never jumped into the customer shoes to experience your product/service, now might be the perfect time to do so. While your at it, get behind their keyboard, wear their glasses, and sit in their chair. You will quickly learn that customers see our companies differently than we imagine.Support the show

Companies can lose BIG money when they deliver a product that looks, and feels inferior to the original sample. This happens all too often. Why? Companies want to pad profitability by using cheaper raw materials for the order fulfillment production. Is your company doing this? If so, maybe it's time for an integrity-driven approach to filling customer orders? BTW…the example in this video created a $696,000 loss for the manufacturer!!!Support the show

Many of us split our work week between our homes and company offices. Trade professionals transition from job to job in the same day. Each of us has common tools of our trade to work quickly and efficiently. However, many of us come to a work location without the necessary tools to perform our duties. Is this fair to our employers? Is it fair to customers? What about our associates and team members? Is it time to repack your backpack or car to make sure you have what you need to do your job?Support the show

What does digital trust really mean in today's AI-driven world? How are AI and quantum technologies changing the way organizations build and maintain trust? How can businesses act responsibly and ethically while embracing innovation?In this episode, Punit Bhatia talks with Sebastian Hallensleben, an expert in AI governance and digital trust. They discussed how the EU's common AI standards and the OECD's business guidance are helping shape the next phase of responsible and trustworthy innovation. Together, they explore how trust, ethics, and compliance come together in a world powered by AI and quantum technology.

We invite you to follow us for two minutes per week. With a small weekly investment of 120 seconds, you will come away with two business questions designed to stimulate your thoughts about how to improve customer satisfaction. Follow. Like. Share.Support the show

Many buyers prefer to order products and services independent of interacting with customer service personnel. Does your order entry process service “do it yourself” purchasing?Support the show

Can your customers effectively order product from your catalog? Or, do your customers have to go on a hunt and peck internet search to gather the information they need to place an order, just because your catalog is not informative enough? If you are making customers go through more investigating to order, then it is time for the marketing department to wakey-wakey!Support the show

Giving something extra is another way of expressing customer appreciation. L'agniappe is a Cajun expression that labels a mindset of giving something extra. To the Cajun culture, it is a conscious mindset that encourages usage. The trick is to provide this “extra” something without the recipient asking for it. What about you? How well do you deploy L'agniappe?Support the show

The reality is that 80% of handwritten notes will get thrown away. The remaining 20% will quietly love them, save them, cherish them , or reciprocate by responding back. This applies to customers, spouses, kids, grandkids and friends. I would much rather put a smile on the 20% audience who appreciates receiving a heartfelt message. What about you? We invite you to go a little “old school” by exploring the magic of handwritten notes.Support the show

Expressing appreciation is a dying principal in modern business. There is no way around this. Saying THANK YOU to customers is all but dead. An expression of appreciation on a paper, or text receipt is not making any customer feel warm and fuzzy. When are you going to pick up the phone, write a handwritten note, or send some chocolates to a customer?Support the show

Why? Why? Why? In my 35 years of doing business, whenever there are problems, customers always want to know why. However, so many vendors get a failing grade when it comes to answering this simple question. If you want to make customers really happy, start telling them why there are issues with their orders…don't just tell them there are issues. The main question on their mind is why. When will you start providing answers to the most prevalent question in business?Support the show

Customers defect after they have endured enough doses of la-di-da service. Time is the currency of the Experience Economy. When customers sense the violation of their time, they usually say goodbye to that vendor. It is simply their way to punish bad service. Where is your company in this cause and effect equation? Is it time to revise your service mindset?Support the show

What would customers say if you asked them what they thought of your customer service? Would they describe it as a lackadaisical approach to servicing orders, or a professional, well oiled machine? Talk to your customers. Be your customer. Find out what they think, and then throw away the Ladida approach and exchange it for a buttoned up approach. What say you?Support the show

Business is looking and feeling too casual these days. We operate at WARP speed, cutting corners, multitasking constantly. Then, amidst all this chaos, we partially answer questions with cryptic, text abbreviations. Our associates, or customers often ask us 2,3 or 4 questions at once, and then we go on to answer in unintelligible, short-hand quips that have tons of grey area, and, we only answer one of the multiple questions. This leads to misinterpretation, mistakes ensue, customers defect, and hard-earned profitability is swept away by the mistakes. Is this you? Is this your company? Let's all wake up and start writing business correspondence in complete sentences. Stop the insanity! Today!  Support the show

What if we became Chief Encouraging Officers at the office? Most of us spend more time working than we do with our own families. As a result, the workplace often takes on the role of our second family. Knowing this, why don't more leaders adopt a mindset of knowing employees by name, and knowing a little about their families? Maybe your employees are going through something, and encouragement could help their situation. We invite our audience to start knowing more about their employees. Try being a Chief Encouraging Officer!  Support the show

Intercompany divisions, often pursue goals, and objective specific to their operational structure. However, lost in the shuffle, is tying all the divisions together, so that everyone works in a harmonized effort to satisfy the customer. Are your internal divisions pursuing divisional success over total customer satisfaction? It's a fair question that many companies need to answer. How about your company?Support the show

The first 30 seconds we meet potential customers is all we have to make a good first impression. When we succeed, we launch the transaction process with the wind at our back. When we don't succeed, we dig an unnecessary hole that can often be hard to climb out of. What is happening in your company with those first 30 seconds of customer interaction?Support the show

We often hit the business “Danger Zone” when we blindly copy and paste attractive-sounding business procedures, instead of critically thinking critically about our own business. Where are you in this click and drag world? Do you manage by shallow convenience, or by deep thought?Support the show

The answers to improved profitability often hide deep below the way things look on the surface. Are you a detail-surfer, snorkeler or scuba diver? Maybe it's time to do a deep dive to become more profitable.Support the show

How to keep customers is not a topic often discussed in business board rooms. We spend a lot of board room time talking about getting new customers. However, we need to spend as much time discovering more ways to increase customer satisfaction so we can retain the buyers we have. What about your company? Is it time for a new mindset?Support the show

The concept of being an expert leaves little room for improvement. Do we really want put our products and services on a self-proclaimed pedestal, or do we want to come across with an air of humility? Support the show

Are you actually listing a phone number? Are you actually answering calls, recording voice mails, listening to these voice messages, and then acting on them? If you are not managing the phone properly, you are running the risk of creating unhappy current, and potential customers. Maybe it's time to start treating your phone with the respect customers are looking for!Support the show