Service
To subscribe to the TP Wire Service Service RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your feed reader or aggregator: http://tpwireservice.com/mt/archives/service.xml
Discussion Boards: Critical Customer Service Piece
The idea of using public support forums has been around for years, but is increasingly becoming a standard part of the online presence package. Businesses large and small now offer them. Often the discussion forums are the most vibrant, human and active parts of a company’s Web presence.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
A Geek's Guide to Great Service
If it all seems a touch fanatical, well, maybe that's what it takes to do something remarkable for customers. And that's the ultimate goal for Robert Stephens, who also likes to say that "marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Kayak Service
"We fix customer problems in real time," says Paul English, co-founder of travel website Kayak.com, reports Jonathan Blum in Fortune Small Business (June 08). Paul also fixes customer problems with real people — that is, his entire staff of 58, each of whom is responsible for responding to some portion of customer questions or complaints.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy customers - and no service staff
21 MAY 2008 from CNN Money | Read the full story»

Travel website Kayak.com uses a do-it-yourself online database to help keep millions of users happy, without employing a single customer-service representative.
Hat tip: MyBusiness Magazine
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Podcast: Green Business Ideas
Small businesses can differentiate themselves from competitors by providing excellent, consistent responses to customers. Ashu Roy, CEO of software company eGain, gives tips for improving service by e-mail, Web chat, or phone. (AudioFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
A modest proposal to fix Dell's customer service
A former leader in its field, customer satisfaction ranking now lags behind most competitors. Here are some suggestions.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
IBM: The New Contours of Service Innovation
IBM and the University of Cambridge released an interesting and convincing report earlier this week calling for increased investment in "service systems."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Does a New Website Hold the Secret to Great Customer Service?
Thor Muller, CEO of getsatisfaction.com, talks about why companies like Google, Comcast, and Twitter think he might have the answer.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The New Math of Customer Relationships
21 APR 2008 from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge | Read the full story»
Harvard Business School professor emeritus James L. Heskett has spent much of his career exploring how satisfied employees and customers can drive lifelong profit. Heskett and his colleagues will soon introduce a new concept into the business management literature: customer and employee "owners."
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
How to Get Customer Service via Twitter
10 APR 2008 from ReadWriteWeb | Read the full story»
[W]hich companies are using Twitter for customer service? And how can you get a company's attention via Twitter?
Hat tip: Signals vs. Noise
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
the $35 movie ticket
Given that we live in a world where experiences matter, it makes sense to see an elevation of the movie going experience.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The End of Customer Service
MAR 2008 from Time | Read the full story»

Companies love self-service for the money it saves, and with consumers finally playing along, the need to interact with human beings is quickly disappearing.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The bad table
Hence the marketing dilemma: who should get your best effort? Should it be the new customer who you just might be able to convert into a long-term customer? Or should it be the loyal customer who is already valuable?Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Best Seat in the Plane
Remember when first-class seats meant the best on the plane? That’s not always the case anymore.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Baggage Becomes a Big-Ticket Item
11 MAR 2008 from the Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
Pack light or pay up.
Forcing customers to pay for service previously included with ticket purchases, UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and US Airways Group Inc. will begin charging $50 round-trip for checking a second piece of luggage on May 5, and Southwest Airlines Co. has already implemented a similar fee for checking a third bag. Other airlines may follow, eager to collect hundreds of millions of dollars without raising ticket prices.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Consumer Vigilantes
21 FEB 2008 from BusinessWeek | Read the full story»
Memo to Corporate America: Hell now hath no fury like a customer scorned.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
On the Internet, Everyone Can Hear You Complain
A San Francisco start-up called Get Satisfaction is the latest online ombudsman to try to mediate customer service complaints. (Subscription required)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Coming to You Live From the Cockpit
12 FEB 2008 from the Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
Listening to air-traffic control communications while flying across the country on United Airlines, Hugh Coppen heard the flight's captain receive a warning of turbulence ahead. A seasoned traveler, Mr. Coppen acted quickly before the captain alerted passengers. "I knew to run to the bathroom, because you may not be able to go for the next hour," he said.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Celebrity Experience - Roy
Mary made me feel sort of like Jack Nicholson at the Oscars... It's not that hard for a company to do this. Donna Cutting's new book: The Celebrity Experience gives great examples of how an organization can do this, no matter what! She emphasizes that too many people say no or can't see a way to make things happen. Cutting gives us six tasks or ways to make everyone feel like a Rock Star.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Humanize It: Bring a five-star sparkle to your customer interactions and watch your business flourish
"The best thing you can do for your business is not about new technology, brute force, or first-mover advantage. It’s something simpler. And more dependable. Humanize each customer interaction, in order to turn your product or service into much more than a commodity. In your customer’s mind, commodities are interchangeable and replaceable. Humanized relationships are not."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Amazon Obsession
Jeff Bezos attributes Amazon’s success to its obsession with customer service, reports Joe Nocera in The New York Times (1/14/08). "We are not great advertisers," says Jeff. "So we start with customers, figure out what they want, and figure out how to get it to them."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The discipline of one ring
When you need to answer the phone in one ring, you discover exactly what it means to provide a certain level of service. Either you're succeeding or failing.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Postal Service Ends M Bag Subsidy
The United States Postal Service says that, since being ordered by Congress to break even, it can no longer afford to subsidize the nonprofits' shipping costs through M Bags. M Bags are large duffel bags that nonprofit organizations use to bulk-ship textbooks overseas to impoverished regions around the world.(Audio
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Airlines plan to pack in more per flight
Passenger jets are flying 80 percent full these days, and it's only going to get worse. The nation's largest six airlines say they're going to fill their planes even closer to capacity. Jill Barshay reports. (AudioFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
Hyatt goes boutique with Andaz
Andaz (which apparently means personal style in Urdu) Describes itself as a ‘personalised casual luxury hotel experience’, and has replaced the traditional check-in desks with what they call dedicated personal hosts; title-less staff who use Tablet PCs to check you in, respond and cater to your personal tastes and preferences, and aim to build a one-on-one host and guest relationship- rather like a personal butler.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Paying to Hear the Complaints
New Web-based services are making it easier for smaller businesses to compile important customer information. (Subscription required)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Dell Learns to Listen
17 OCT 2007 from BusinessWeek | Read the full story»
The computer maker takes to the blogosphere to repair its tarnished image. (Video
)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
A Bruise or Two on Apple's Reputation
22 OCT 2007 from BusinessWeek | Read the full story»
Is the company's stellar service keeping up with its hypergrowth? Some customers don't think so.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Now, the customer's always managed
Most companies try to at least appear interested in how their customers feel. But if you're starting to feel more like a lab rat than a loyal customer, get used to it, says commentator Ian Ayres.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Is Your Service Language Calibrated?
"How do we define service at this company?" If you were to send that question in an e-mail to the person responsible for operations, the person responsible for hiring, the person responsible for marketing, the person responsible for sales, the head of your company, and a front-line employee (assuming these aren't all the same person)... would they all respond with the same answer?
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Don't make me scream
[A]ny service that forces customers to scream is a bad idea. Screaming is something that we do when we’re frustrated or angry... I can’t imagine a worse association for a company to have.sFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
Value-based Customer Service is not Lip Service
Anita Roddick died this week, leaving a tremendous legacy -- the creation and establishment of a small brand that reshaped cosmetic retailing, firstly in the UK and then globally. She anticipated the values of her customers, super served them and never wavered. Her success followed naturally.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Crowdsourcing Customer Service
10 SEP 2007 from BusinessWeek | Read the full story»
Get Satisfaction's site lets users interact with—and help—multiple companies.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Yorkville Copy Service
Over the past 35 years, Bill Torres has whipped up intense customer loyalty and beaten back Kinkos simply by treating his customers the same way he treats his friends, reports John Eligon in The New York Times (8/25/07). In fact, his customers insist they are his friends...Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Saturn Rings
Saturn’s sales are up, and it’s mainly thanks to a return to its roots in customer service, reports David Welch in Business Week (9/3/07). Things weren’t so great for Saturn when it tried to ape BMW, with ads bragging on its "horsepower and handling" instead of the "haggle-free selling and friendly service..."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
At Netflix, Victory for Voices Over Keystrokes
Shunning low-cost call centers and e-mail-based service, Netflix is hoping to use customer service as a strategic weapon against Blockbuster’s rival DVD-mailing service. (Subscription required)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Sprint Nextel Defends Cutting Customers
Sprint Nextel Corp. isn't apologizing for its decision to ax customers it determined were calling customer service too often....Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Top 10 Reasons Why Your Customer Service Fails
It’s no secret that when the time comes to evaluate your customer service, the finger pointing begins – and all fingers point suspiciously somewhere else.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Customer Feedback as CPR
Customers may be calling in not only to receive support; they are also often calling you to provide useful information. If your product or service is not working, you want to know right this minute, while something can still be done to restore the confidence in your service. And you can actually use that feedback as an opportunity to get an honest conversation going.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Anatomy of the new customer complaint meme
Delivering shoddy service or selling defective products happens, but there's nowhere to hide from unhappy customers who use social media to highlight a problem you've created and refuse to address.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Have you had a CUSTOMER Conversation Today?
Have we as customers become more realistic? Or have we just given up? Maybe, after years of talking about excellence in service, brands have finally met our expectations. And some smart companies have found good ways to secure our loyalty.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
An animated customer experience
Recording your call with a customer service rep and sharing it with the world is one thing; recording it and turning it into an animated video takes the idea to a new level. (VideoFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
What if Customers WERE the Service?
I walked into my local Best Buy store because I needed technical assistance with my Palm. What I didn’t know is that they don’t support the device, they just sell it. For support, the nice albeit a bit detached girl at the Geek Squad desk said, you need to call the Palm customer service.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
INDIANA JONES in Customer Service
She called asking a very simple question.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The "NO Effort" Effect
Given all the reports and articles published on negative experiences, I am puzzled at the lack of effort from companies.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
I've had it with e-mail only customer service
I'm up to my eyeballs with frustration at the direction many companies are taking with "e-mail only" customer service. It has reached the point where I will no longer do business with companies that won't talk with their paying customers.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Project Runway
From JFK to LAX, airports are trying to appeal to an increasingly captive audience. One cross-country traveler puts them to the test. (Subscription required)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Reasons to Have a Flexible Customer Service Policy
Smart companies have customer service policies in place to protect their best interests and the bottom line. Smarter companies, however, know how and when to bend certain policies for customers who have the right profitability, loyalty, frequency of purchase and long-term revenue potential.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
hyatt's hollow innovation
The role of a hotel has always been to provide the comforts from home, away from home. A place that allows guests to seamlessly blend and manage their personal and professional lives.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
WANTED: Customer Service Champs
It’s interesting to me that every time I read articles and newsletters about leadership, I find references to how true leaders treat their employees with respect and dignity, value their opinions, and ask for their feedback.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Starting over with customer service
Customer service is broken. Not just because of bad management, though we have plenty of that to go around. Customer service is broken for three reasons...Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Seven steps to remarkable customer service
Seven steps to remarkable customer service — As a bootstrapped software company, Fog Creek couldn't afford to hire customer service people for the first couple of years, so Michael and I did it ourselves.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
"Sorry"
If it's hard to say you're sorry when it's your fault and when there is no money at stake, imagine how hard it is to say you're sorry when neither is true. And yet, if reading the constant stream of horrible customer service stories that cross my desk every day, that's all anyone wants.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
How to Become a Customer Action Hero in 10 Steps
"Rate your experience from 1 to 10." "Would you recommend our company?" We ask the questions of our customers. But what do we do with their answers? Jeanne Bliss gives us the action plan to actually make our customers happy with our services.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The 10 Best (and 10 Worst) Companies for Call Center Service
03 JAN 2007 from CRM Low Down | Read the full story»
The internet has turned the Customer Relations Management world on its head. Just five years ago it took thousands upon thousands of unhappy customers before a company lost enough business to change its ways. Today, just ONE disgruntled client, through access to the internet, can cause a company to lose millions in a matter of few days.
Hat tip: The Creativity Exchange
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Service Trumps Price for Holiday Shoppers
Harried customers agree.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy New Year
We wish you a new year filled with prosperity and growth, both personal and professional.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Happy Holidays!
We're observing the Christmas holiday today and will return to posting tomorrow, Boxing day. We wish you a day filled with joy and peace.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Customer-Focus When the Customer Doesn’t Even Pay
Diego pointed to this article for its uncommon attention to aesthetics, I point to it for its uncommon attention to the customer...Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Tracking the Evolution Of Customer Service
Traditionally, many businesses have defined customer service with a simple mantra: "The customer is always right." Got a problem? We'll fix it. But over time, customer service has evolved.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
A bar with room service
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Armchair M.B.A.: And Now a Syllabus for the Service Economy
To help prepare university students for the new services-based economy, I.B.M. wants colleges to teach services as a science. (Subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy Thanksgiving
We hope that you all have a day rich with community and contentment. The wire service will resume tomorrow.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Generation gap threatens customer service meltdown
With Christmas on the horizon and the retail rush beginning, U.S. researchers have warned that a customer service meltdown is on the horizon as the generational gap between shoppers and retail staff widens.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Love and Money
Joel Spolsky shares this great story from a flight attendant:
"... Once the pizza was brought back, the passengers were boarded, our live tv and xm were turned on and the pizza was served by ALL the crew, not just the flight attendants..."Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Advertisements Revisited
"Ready. Fire! Aim." is one of Tom’s favorite mantras. In that spirit, we've been experimenting with advertising here at the TP Wire Service. We've also considered and researched it for our parent site, tompeters.com. The results have underwhelmed us. We're removing the ads from the TP Wire Service RSS feeds today and will be removing the ads from the TP Wire Service home page in the near future. Tompeters.com will remain ad-free. We welcome your thoughts on the subject. Here's to "Relentless Experimentation!"
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
What Costs Are Worth It For Customer Service?
Companies should approach customer service as a balancing of costs and benefits, spending where it will be most effective.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Ideas to Help Employees To Provide Good Service
The restaurant business, which depends on service more heavily than most other industries, offers a glimpse into how companies juggle rewards and reprimands to motivate employees.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Avoiding Practices That Baffle Customers
Ask any retail or restaurant executive about the keys to success, and you'll hear something about providing excellent customer service. But there's a fine line between catering to customers and annoying them, and that line is made even thinner by the fact that what delights one shopper may repel another.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Extended Stay, Extended Pampering
Resorts have been making a special effort to cater to their long-term guests, learning their likes and introducing unusual amenities. (Subscription required!)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Hospitality for Everyone
03 OCT 2006 from the Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
"[I]t's pretty easy to deliver great hospitality to a celebrity," he says. "What's far more important to do is to focus on all the other guests." (Subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Customer Champion: Burton Snowboards
Bryan Johnson, VP of global marketing, and Cathy Quain, VP of global retail, Burton Snowboards, on impacting customers with a personal touch. (AudioFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
Basic Training
There are no shortcuts on the road to a great experience.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
2006 Customers First Awards
The winners of Fast Company's 2006 Customers First Awards transform ordinary transactions into entertaining experiences -- delighting customers and showing everyone else the way.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Labor Day
"Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country." [U.S. Dept. of Labor]
There will be no postings today at TP Wire Service in observance of the holiday. Have a wonderful day.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Technology: Call Centers That Feel Your Pain
Customer service companies track the emotional quality of calls.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Press '0' If You've Had Enough
Customer service via online chat is gaining popularity as people get fed up with hold times. By James BelcherFiled under Service
| Send this ![]()
Companies Receive Poor Grades for Customer Service
A new study shows consumers are turned off by automated phone services and hold times.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Measure Your Failures to Succeed
Jeanne Bliss just wrote a wonderful article for MarketingProfs on how survey-based success metrics are manipulated to help meet and exceed objectives... Jeanne shares how companies set metrics like customer satisfaction, loyalty and net promoter scores to measure their performance without really using these to manage their customer relationships.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Italian post office delivers profits
21 JUL 2006 from Fortune | Read the full story»
Poste Italiane's CEO and his 150,000 foot soldiers are making money on everything they do - except the mail.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Selling the Special Touch
18 July 2006 from the Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
A growing number of companies in industries not known for great customer service -- banks, hospitals, law firms and car dealerships, to name a few -- are increasingly seeking help from luxury hotels that pride themselves on service, like the Four Seasons Hotels Inc. and Marriott International Inc.'s Ritz-Carlton hotels. (Subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Self-Service Sleeping
Customers love to check themselves in at the airport. Can they ever feel the same way about hotels?Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy 4th of July!
We're taking the day off in celebration of Independence Day here in the U.S. We hope everyone has an opportunity to relish freedom today. Enjoy!
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Dell, the Ultra Service Provider?
Dell enhances its highest level of support with new features.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Takin' Off the Ritz -- a Tad
23 JUN 2006 from The Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
The name that has defined luxury as a cross between formal elegance and unwavering service bordering on the robotic is scaling back the 20 rules to 12 "service values" and asking employees to think for themselves. (Subscription required!)
Hat tip: Tim Manners at reveries.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Toyota Recall
Toyota had the second-highest number of recalls last year, but it also dominates consumer satisfaction polls by J.D. Power, report Joann Muller and Jonathan Fahey in Forbes (7/3/06). Only Ford, with 11.7 percent of its vehicles recalled in 2005, exceeds Toyota, which recalled 10.1 percent, followed by GM at 6.8 percent, Honda at 4.0 [...]Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
impatience drives out human service
Obviously, the big challenge for all business is to deliver customer service as efficiently as possible because people don't like to be kept waiting.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Customer Love: 10 Steps to building a kickass Customer Service Department
18 MAY 2006 from the brandbuilder blog | Read the full story»
When customers call you with a problem, don't fight or argue. Smile, listen to them, and fix it.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Art of Customer Service
7. Hire the right kind of people. To put it mildly, customer service is not a job for everyone. The ideal customer service person derives great satisfaction by helping people and solving problems. This cannot be said of every job candidate. It's the company's responsibility to hire the right kind of people for this job because it can be a bad experience for the employee and the customer when you hire folks without a service orientation.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Long-Distance Journey of a Fast-Food Order
The voice at the other end of the drive-through speaker may be coming from thousands of miles away. (Subscription required!)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Boutique Airlines
29 MAR 2006 from Brand Noise | Read the full story»

A new generation of boutique airlines is taking flight, serving a minimum of cities with a maximum of style. Upping the ante on exclusivity, they offer business-class-only flights, concierge services and a members-only booking policy...
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Customer Service Goes to Hell
E-mail could replace expensive customer-service calls, but businesses are dropping the ball. Here are seven companies that get it right -- and seven that don't. From Forbes.com.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Travel Concierges
The Observer newspaper picks up on the changing face of travel services. The traditional travel agent, they say, is being replaced by a more personal service - a 'travel concierge': Working as travel-focused personal assistants, concierges will take care of the practicalities of organising a trip as well as ensuring extras are provided...Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Beware of Dissatisfied Consumers: They Like to Blab
When consumers have a bad shopping experience, they are likely to spread the word, not to the store manager or salesperson, but to friends, family and colleagues. Overall, if 100 people have a bad experience, a retailer stands to lose between 32 and 36 current or potential customers. These are some of the conclusions of The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006, conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005. The biggest source of consumer dissatisfaction? Parking lots.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Suddenly, an Industry Is All Ears
The big cellphone companies are eager to improve their customer support and service, an area that was an afterthought just a short time ago. (Subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Everyone Likes to Laud Serving the Customer; Doing It Is the Problem
27 FEB 2006 from The Wall Street Journal | Read the full story»
Executives who sincerely want to satisfy consumers should analyze how they rate service reps' performances -- and make sure they are actually rewarding good service. They should also train their employees well and then rely on them to exercise some of their own judgment when dealing with consumers. (Subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Under New Management: Your Call Should Be Important to Us, but It's Not
How can companies listen to their customers if those customers have such a hard time reaching a human being when they call? (Subscription required!)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Measuring performance in services
10 FEB 2006 from The McKinsey Quarterly | Read the full story»

Service companies can't measure and reduce variance as easily as manufacturers can. Service tasks vary, depending on the person performing the service, differences in customer behavior, and the business environment. (Free subscription required!)
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy New Year
Wishing you a prosperous and fulfilling New Year, the TP Wire Service will resume its postings tomorrow.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Happy Holidays
Wishing you a joyous holiday season, the TP Wire Service will resume its postings tomorrow.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Of Buying Cell Phones and Lipstick...
If you come into a Sam's Club store in Texas and a cell phone or a PDA you want isn't available, the salesperson will now get the phone FedEx-ed to your home overnight. This is one more step toward turning cell phone buying -- typically, a long and torturous process -- into an enjoyable experience.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Happy Thanksgiving
Have a wonderful holiday. The wire service will resume tomorrow.
Filed under Blogging | Books | Brand You | Branding | Design | Education | Entrepreneurs | Excellence | Healthcare | Innovation | Leadership | Marketing | News | Peculiar Picks | Service | Strategies | Talent | Technology | Trend$ | WOW! Projects
| Send this ![]()
Technology Lets High-End Hotels Anticipate Guests' Whims
Hotels are keeping track of guests' preferences and changing the room conditions automatically - from temperature to what's in the minibar. (Subscription required!)Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
Enterprise Does It Again
There may be another rental company out there that delivers like Enterprise does, but I'm so hooked I don't even want to take the chance of investigating.Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()
The Three "Ds" of Customer Experience
07 NOV 2005 from Harvard Business School Working Knowledge | Read the full story»
Eighty percent of companies believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8 percent of their customers agree, says Bain & Company. Here's how to repair the disconnect. From Harvard Management Update.
Filed under Service
| Send this ![]()



