shep hyken
Reducing Friction Makes You Money
Shep Hyken | February 25, 2021
By Shep Hyken Reducing friction is all about creating an easier experience for the customer. In my book, The Convenience Revolution, I identify six ways to create convenience. The first, reducing friction, is tied to all five other principles. And, all of them focus on creating convenience and reducing friction for customers. But how about we look inside our organizations and the way we conduct business internally? Do we think about the friction we cause our employees? What extra work do they do because of antiquated systems and processes? For our outside customers, when we reduce friction, they find it easier to do business with ...
The ER Strategy 2.0: Small Improvements Add Up
Shep Hyken | February 17, 2021
Not long ago I wrote about how small improvements can make a big difference. Even just a 1% improvement can make an impact. And, if you focus on 1% (or more) again and again, over time you will make big improvements that will have a positive impact on your customers, employees, internal processes, and your bottom line. You’ll find ways to save money, make money, develop better ways of doing business and much more. One of our team members at Shepard Presentations reminded me of an article I wrote a long time ago, and that maybe it was time to revisit the concept. The article she was referring to was written almost 10 years ago and w...
The Show Starts When the Phone Rings
Shep Hyken | February 11, 2021
By Shep Hyken You may or may not know that I’m a magician. Some of you may know that I’m also a musician. But today I want to talk about being a magician. Growing up throughout high school and college I performed at parties, corporate events and comedy clubs. That experience in show business gave me the stage chops to start my business as a professional speaker. I share this background to give you some context. Many of my friends are professional entertainers. A friend I’ve known for years is Jeff McBride, an amazing magician who performs throughout the world and resides in Las Vegas. I was reading an article by Jeff in a ...
The Problem Isn’t the Employee, It’s the System
Shep Hyken | February 3, 2021
By Shep Hyken Here’s a true story shared by my friend and speaking colleague Beth Terry. The short version is that there is a doctor, who is probably a good doctor. But he’s a terrible boss. When a patient – as in his customer – complains about something, he listens and then goes back to his employees, and in a knee-jerk reaction, he berates and punishes them by taking away their incentives. You can only imagine what that does to the morale of the team. And what happens next? The employees quit, which is understandable. There are plenty of employee surveys that point to the number one reason people quit their jobs. Many peo...
Be a Goldfish
Shep Hyken | January 27, 2021
By Shep Hyken I was recently asked what three traits I think are most important for someone in customer service to have. I’d like to broaden the topic to anyone dealing with someone else’s problem or question, be it a customer or another person inside the organization, also known as an inside customer. My response to the question was quick: Empathy, which I have chosen as The Word of the Year. More than ever, our customers need to feel a connection. Good communications skills, which includes listening and also ties back to empathy. If you miscommunicate with customers, that could lead to them saying something like, “I...
Small Improvements in Customer Service Create Big Wins
Shep Hyken | January 20, 2021
By Shep Hyken Little successes added together make for large success down the road. Small successes add up. To put it in baseball terms, you don’t need to hit a home run every time it’s your turn at bat. So, here’s the question to consider: What small change will enhance the experience for the customer, even if it is just by 1%? My friend and client, Jason Bradshaw of Volkswagen in Australia, was tasked with improving the customer experience for the VW dealerships. Within two years he had made big strides. It didn’t happen with big sweeping changes. It happened with little ones. Even “tiny” ones that he referred to as...
An Empowerment Lesson From the Ritz-Carlton
Shep Hyken | January 13, 2021
By Shep Hyken If you’ve been following my work, you know I’m a huge fan of the Ritz-Carlton. I was recently on a Zoom presentation with Horst Schulze, first president and co-founder of the Ritz-Carlton chain. When Horst speaks, I listen and take lots of notes. One of the questions he was asked had to do with empowerment, specifically about the $2,000 the Ladies and Gentlemen – what Ritz-Carlton calls its employees – are allowed to spend to ensure a guest has a great experience. That reminded me of an experience I once had at a Ritz-Carlton. The housekeeping staff had left dirty towels in the room from the previous guest. I...
Shep’s 2021 Top 10 Business Predictions
Shep Hyken | January 7, 2021
By Shep Hyken Every year I write my customer service and customer experience (CX) predictions in my Forbes.com column. This year, I thought I would share a brief version of them with our Shepard Letter subscribers. So, here are my Top 10 Predictions for 2021: 1. Customers continue to get smarter. This has led to my list of predictions for several years. Our customers keep getting smarter about customer service and experience. They tolerate fewer customer service failures and demand better because they know it’s possible. 2. Customers are becoming impatient. They want what they want NOW. Consider the result of the more than 1,00...
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