Last week I had the privilege of taking a behind the scenes tour of Zappos and speaking with several of their top leaders. Mine was not the popular tour advertised on their website, but rather a real peek behind the curtain to see the wizardry of this renowned workplace culture phenomena and iconic brand. I’ve read…
Long before the iPhone 6 was launched, I was hooked on Apple. My first desktop computer was a MacIntosh SE II with a whopping 1 mb of ram, and I’ve been an Apple fanatic ever since. But as much as I crow about their products, I rave even more about the counter-intuitive culture that is continually on…
This is a guest post by my good friend and colleague, Robert Wendover. Bob is the Director of the Center for Generational Studies and the award-winning author of Figure It Out! Making Smart Decisions in a Dumbed-Down World. I highly recommend this book! Go ahead, I dare you. Ask a random person within your firm or organization, “How does this…
Dickens may have penned A Christmas Carol back in 1843, but the ghost of bad management is still haunting workplaces in 2013. Nowhere is this more prevalent and on display than in industries that boom in Q4 (i.e. retailing, food service, hospitality, transportation, entertainment, etc.) The make-or-break pressures of managing a business during the holidays can…
With roots steeped rich in Celtic, Roman Catholic, and Protestant tradition, the annual Trick‑or‑Treat ritual that takes place this week can be traced back centuries. Originally, children would adorn hand‑made ceremonial costumes and go door‑to‑door singing out “a trick for a treat!” Then they’d entertain their neighbors with carefully rehearsed songs, skits, and dances. If…
Imagine walking into a room where you are invited to play a game where you could win $1000 or more. In front of you is a large bulletin board that has pinned to it the logos of twenty large well-known companies; brands most everyone is familiar with. Next to this is another large board pinned…
Guest post by Shep Hyken Building the ideal corporate culture doesn’t happen by chance. If you are a leader of a company or organization and you want to instill a customer service culture, how do you make it happen? To become a customer-centric company requires first building an employee-centric workplace. If you want your customers…
A customer service manager of a regional banking chain recently told me about a challenge her managers were having in getting young tellers to handle incoming calls when they were assigned phone duty. “It’s astounding how many will answer our business line by just saying ‘Hello’ or ‘Yo. Wat up? This is Monique.’ It’s almost…
There is an epic war being fought along the front lines of every business in the world. Business owners and managers across all industries are engaged in heavy conflict with employees who aren’t able to get through a shift without checking the screen on their smart phones, many of whom check it every couple of…
Kyle (age 21) handles the scheduling, appointments, estimates, and all payment transactions for the auto service center near my office. On a weekday morning at 8:16, I call to inquire about getting my vehicle in for shocks and an alignment. Kyle politely tells me that if I can bring it in within the next 30…