SimpleBiz360™ Podcast

Imagine an Octopus with eight sucker-bearing arms, a soft body, and a strong beaklike jaw. Now transfer this image to what happens when a company lies to a customer. Each outright lie (body) ends up requiring many sub-lies (sucker-bearing arms) to support the false story (body). Here is the rub…customers detect lies more often than not. What can we do to stop this? Easy…find the crooked jaws withi...

Features, features, features. What about the benefits? Many companies fail to explain the “WHY” when it comes to listing features. in the features. What if you were to pair every feature with a benefit. “The real benefit to you” is a phrase more customers need to hear. What’s in it for the customer? Support the show

Customer transactions travel a road of various micro-experiences (transactional components) that shape buyer’s opinions, perceptions, repeat and referral business. Collectively, these components are called Experience Events (EE). Are your identifying these events? Are you managing these events for customer-pleasing delivery? If not, you may unknowingly be waving goodbye to healthy repeat and refer...

Customer complaints can set up course corrections for companies that are going off road! The keys to getting back on track are 1) listening to the customer (not just hearing), 2) being humble enough to accept the criticism, 3) and being smart enough to fix the problems! In many cases, the complaints have a common thread that make the course correction that much easier to recognize. Support the sho...

The appetite for “DIY” products and services has never been higher. What does your company do to cater to this modern mindset? Assuming no salesperson will aid potential customers, what information are you providing to assist informed decisions? Do you deploy tools of Silent Selling? Support the show

Are you in need of some additional ‘WOW” factors in your business presentations to customers? One of the coolest ways to do this is to search your facts, features, and benefits vault for things you have never communicated to customers. Once discovered, tell and sell your customers in ways that create more compelling “AHA” moments. Support the show

Perception and facts often compete for the truth. Perhaps it is time to start examining the perceptions customer have of your business, and the services that are delivered. Often times companies lose customers just because their bad impressions became a reality that may be void of fact! Support the show

Some research suggests the need to create 12 positive experiences in order to negate the effects of one bad experience. 12-1 odds are a mighty hill to climb. Unreturned voice mails contribute to making that hill. Are you sure you want to let voice mails go unanswered? Support the show

Flexibility. Creativity. Willingness. Finding solutions that solve unique issues. Going the extra mile. Never saying never. Do these descriptions sound like your company? If not, imagine what kind of repeat and referral business you could attract by becoming these descriptions. CANDO companies win more friends and influence more people then CAN’T DO companies. Support the show

Mirrors fill a board room during an inter-company meeting. Edicts are laid down, and attendees are told to reflect what the C-level demands. Imagine what would happen if companies abandon that reflective mindset, and exchanged it with an outward-looking mindset? If customers pay the bills, then why don’t more companies look through the windows that lead to discovering what customers need and want!...

To some companies, servicing really kicks into high gear after the sale. Why then? Because those companies realize that the repeat and referral pot of gold awaits them, when their paying customers feel they are being cared for after the sale. We encourage you to inject this mindset into your business models. Support the show

We have all witnessed companies that aren’t flexible. They defend their legacy procedures as a badge of honor, and claim they have been doing business the same way for decades. For some companies that is their hallmark. For others, it is going to allow the competition to zoom by them. Where do you stand? Do you have some stinkin thinkin that needs to get eradicated? Support the show

Imagine if you and your team went hunting for ways to become more streamlined with customers? After all, time is the currency of the experience economy, and saving customer time converts to money saved. Have fun on your hunts! Be bright. Be brief. Be done! Support the show

Does your management style look like this: “Your hired. Come in tomorrow at 4:00, and you can start waiting on those tables of hungry people.” Why do so many brands manage this way? Are you sure these employees know the mission, and all the mechanics that support the mission? Maybe it’s time to reprioritize the order in which we teach, train and delegate. Support the show

Is failure always traceable to employee ineptitude or carelessness? Or, is failure the result of risk takers who stick their neck out to try something new? No company gets better unless they fail first. How will your corporate culture process future failures? Support the show

Review. Sort. Pile. Then, when you have time, manage the task later. Or, imagine managing each task as you encounter it? Imagine how much time you would save by steam lining task management? Support the show

This sounds like a funny question! However, the reality is sad. So many companies don’t train their associates to be greeting initiators. When we bypass the chance to greet first, we are often starting the transactional experience as thought the customer is an intruder! Why would we do that? Why do so many of us do that? Imagine if your company deliberately started saying hello first? Support the...

Our surroundings are filled with observations and conversations that can reveal potential improvements for our businesses. All we have to do is look, listen, and think! Are you in? If not, you are possibly missing some cool, easy, and impactful change agents that are tucked inside everyday life! Support the show

One. Just one. Today. There is low-hanging improvement opportunity fruit all around us. We invite you to grab a pen, paper, find a quiet space, and we are confident you can find an easy, customer-pleasing improvement in 30 minutes of thought. One. Just one. Today. Support the show

Like it or not, consumers are gauging the purchasing process through the lens of experience. Every word, motion, action, or inaction, seems to be subject to an experience scorecard. If your company is not buying into this, you are most likely losing potential sales to the competition. Support the show

Be the customer from time-to-time. Thank about how your products, and services affect the buyer. As you peer through the user lens, ask yourself what you would want to know. This periodic exercise can be fun, and beneficial to your bottom line! We encourage you to embrace this mindset. Think. Fix. Deliver. Create more repeat, and referral customers. Support the show

Do you give customers detailed information? How often? Is it vital information? Are you bypassing the release of pertinent information the customer is wanting to receive? What formats do you use to communicate information. Is this information written with internal company-speak, or is it presented with simplicity, and clarity that customers can understand? Support the show

Solving customer problems requires a rolling up of the sleeves, managing the details, and finding a workable solution. This can be hard work requiring patience, diligence, and research. Is this your company? If not, should it be? Support the show

CIT units are a valuable corporate component that can offer insight to necessary changes. As many athletic coaches have said, “if we are not striving to always get better, we are getting worse.” Why? Because competitors who use CIT units will surpass stagnant mindsets. Complacency breeds mediocrity. Support the show

Most customers like it when vendors display good listening skills. Vendors have heard plenty of customer feedback, and many times the feedback is very similar. As a result, the vendors start to finish the customer sentences in hopes of speeding things up. If this is you, maybe it’s time to slow the train down, and let the customer finish? Support the show