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AI Isn’t a Replacement—It’s an Accelerator: How SMBs Can Use AI to Elevate Human Performance Across the Organization, Part 2
AI as an Executive and Organizational Force Multiplier
In Part 1, we explored how AI streamlines execution in outward-facing functions like marketing, sales, and customer service. Now it’s time to turn inward. In this second half, we’ll examine how AI empowers internal operations, drives better financial strategy, and helps executive leaders see farther and act faster—without sacrificing the human qualities that make a business thrive.
5 Steps to Building Customer Service into your Company's DNA
Wed, May 15, 2013 — This is an updated version of an article published in Yahoo Voices by Barbara Fowler, CMO and partner at Chief Outsiders "Make new Friends but Keep the Old Ones" True for Customers too. Positive customer service experiences are the key to building and maintaining a business. Multiple studies have repeatedly concluded that gaining new customers is much more difficult than keeping your current customers. A delicate balance must be kept between actions that go above and beyond in retaining customers and actions that focus on immediate costs or promote profitability for an organization. Just as important as this balance is the integration of a high quality customer service approach or mindset throughout all departments of a business.
Their Pain, Your Gain
Sat, Feb 23, 2013 — Some of your best customers would probably like you to do business with them in a different manner. Maybe it’s the day you deliver your goods to them? The minimums required? Maybe it’s the day of the month that you do your billing…or the amount of paperwork that you require of them? Instead of making doing business with you easier, do you sometimes make it a bit more challenging? Successful companies seek out their customers’ pain points and eliminate them. Constantly listening to the signals from the marketplace can help you see the storm clouds gathering, and to develop the strategies necessary to meet them. In order to do that, you really need to dig deep and find out what is bothering them, and how you can go about fixing those things. Define the Pain Point
The Welcomer Edge: The Secrets to Repeat Business
Sun, Feb 10, 2013 — Today's Chief Outsider blog is by guest blogger Diana Kyser McNeff. I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Richard Shapiro, founder and president of The Center For Client Retention and author of his recently published book “The Welcomer Edge – Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business”. Since 1988, Richard has been running The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR) which provides research, training and consulting to Fortune 500 companies on how to improve the customer experience. Before founding TCFCR, Richard held leadership positions at ADP (Automatic Data Processing) in Client Services, Client Satisfaction and Client Retention. At ADP, he developed the idea that when there is a gap between service expectations and delivery, the client relationship is most vulnerable —a customer is most likely to move to a competitor. Richard also credits his experience working in his father’s haberdashery store as a boy as the place where he learned the true value of a customer.
Customer Satisfaction Survey Questions: The Cardinal Rule to Know
Sun, Dec 23, 2012 — While working with an executive management team on customer satisfaction survey questions, they told me every survey seemed to have declining response rates. They asked me what I thought about just asking one question: “On a scale of zero to 10, how likely is it that you would recommend our company to your friends and colleagues?” My response: Have you looked into the possible reasons why the customer survey response rates are declining? Too often I’ve seen companies want to ask the would-you- recommend-us question without doing enough follow-up to understand what it is they are doing right or wrong. This is where CEOs need to lead their companies and improve.
The Best Customer Service Uses Ritz-Carlton Radar On, Antenna Up Model
Sun, Nov 25, 2012 — Does your company offer the best customer service? Most every company claims to have the best customer service—but would their customers agree? When running a midsize business, you face an ongoing battle to effectively connect and engage with your customers. Employees constantly multi-task and resources are stretched. As a result, customer experience management often falls to the back burner.
5 Steps to Making the Right CRM Decision for Your Business
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 — Today's Guest Blog is by Barret Blank, President and CEO of BB2e
The Importance of Authentic Service and Hospitality in Business
Tue, Oct 2, 2012 — What Makes Exceptional Service in Your Business? Recently I have been looking more closely at service — which factors contribute to great service in business and which elevate the quality of service to exceptional levels. I have considered both the objective, measurable components of service as well as the subjective — less tangible factors that focus on the specific relationship between those served and those serving. It's fairly simple for us to evaluate the concrete aspects of service. We, as marketers, preach and follow mantras of "what gets measured, gets done," and "if we can't measure it, we can't manage it." We rate and measure service quality with customer satisfaction research and Net Promoter scores. Measurement is, and will continue to be, a critical component of our understanding and responding to day-to-day performance in our businesses. In today's increasingly competitive market though, is evaluating only the easily measured variables sufficient? Is doing this alone enough to raise our customer service from great to exceptional? Does it ensure that our business performance is consistent with our vision, values and strategy?
Customer Retention, or BJs Chickens Have Flown The Coop!
Fri, Aug 31, 2012 —
What To Do When Your Sales Are Up But Your Profits Aren't?
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 — Several times as a CMO, I have been called upon to solve a net profit, rather than a total revenue problem. Sales in these cases were not bad. Not where we wanted them to be, but adequate. The problem was that no one was making any money.