From the category archives:

Current Event Commentary

Loyalty is based upon emotion

February 27, 2012

You’ve heard me say it from the platform, or maybe you’ve read it here in my posts: Organizations work extraordinarily hard at creating efficiency. They often have no clue about how to connect with emotion. Efficiency is the key to Customer SERVICE. It’s getting the customer through the line with speed and accuracy. It is [...]

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Bringing something the core group cannot…

1 comment February 17, 2012

I disagree with Seth Godin. Don’t get me wrong, I admire his work and usually am in lockstep with his viewpoints. Just not this time… A couple of days ago, Godin wrote: “It’s an insult. If someone (who isn’t John, Paul, George or Ringo) calls you a fifth Beatle, they’re not being nice.” Problem is, [...]

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Why book a professional speaker for your meeting?

February 14, 2012

After my post asking why experts are often such lousy speakers, a few people wrote to ask me, “Why book a professional speaker?” Well, let me begin to answer by stating a couple of obvious points. First, I’m very prejudiced when it comes to the subject. (It’s somewhat akin to asking a jeweler, “Why should [...]

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Why are “experts” such lousy speakers?

2 comments February 7, 2012

It was the question asked on a LinkedIn group board: Why are experts such lousy speakers? As the professional speaking side of my business is booming, one of the points Shelley in our office is hearing constantly from our clients and prospects is: “We have tried booking less expensive ‘industry experts’ to address our conferences, [...]

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Beware of bias…

February 3, 2012

Back when I was involved a bit in local television news — I was a free-lance anchor and entertainment commentator for the CBS affiliate in Indianapolis in the late ’80′s and early ’90′s — a broadcast veteran and I were talking about the media’s role in reporting Presidential politics. “Watch the next campaign,” he wisely [...]

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An ultimate experience from a reliable source

January 27, 2012

I’m flying from Baltimore to Vegas on an airline I don’t normally take…usually I would go Delta for the SkyMiles, but this airline has a non-stop, arriving two hours earlier, and I need the sleep. In the middle of the 5½ hour trip, a flight attendant makes an announcement, naming two passengers, and asking them [...]

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Distinction may involve what is absent from your business

1 comment January 24, 2012

At a recent meeting I was addressing near Boston, I learned the fascinating story of the Berry family, and their restaurant on Cape Cod, Moby Dick’s. It’s a true story of distinction. You can read on their website how the restaurant came to be — and how the oldest son, Todd, discovered how much he [...]

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The difference between profit and growth

January 11, 2012

There is profitability…and then, there is growth. Many businesses – and their leaders – do not understand the difference. If I want to be more profitable, I can do either one — or a combination — of three steps: 1) Cut expenses 2) Get my current customers to spend more money with me 3) Get [...]

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Quality of connections trumps quantity of connections…

January 5, 2012

“How many followers do YOU have on Twitter?” “Have you maxed out your ‘friends’ on Facebook?” “What’s the traffic on your blog?” Questions anyone on social media are being asked these days — and it exemplifies part of what has been wrong with our thinking in business: More must be better. And, it’s NOT: More [...]

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A great way to end the year…

2 comments December 31, 2011

If you read this blog regularly — and I really hope you do! — you know most of what is posted here is about improving your business; particularly as it regards the experience your customers receive. However, on a personal note, I just received something to end the year that has really moved me, and [...]

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