Your Customer’s Measuring Stick
Your customer’s measuring stick for efficiency may be entirely different from yours, and if you’re not aligned with your customer’s expectations, then you’re never going to meet their needs. Customer service and customer experience should not be confused. Remembering...
There’s usually more to the story… so tell it!
We all have customers or prospects who are willing to assume the worst about our intentions. In this time of social media and instant opinions, their criticisms can race around the newsfeeds of our marketplace in dramatic fashion. Take for example a viral video from...
Who will be YOUR farmer?
I was in the audience when it happened. It was 1978… Kansas City, Missouri’s Municipal Auditorium… the National FFA Convention… and, the speaker was Paul Harvey. The presentation title was, “So God Made a Farmer.” Audio from this speech was used for the powerful Super...
On “best practices”… and distinctive design
One of the points I made in the book, “Create Distinction,” is that “best practices aren’t always ‘best’ for your organization.” In other words, what made Starbucks distinctive can provide you with some great ideas and concepts — however, it is NOT a blueprint that...
A Lesson From My Dad
It’s impossible for me to describe how popular my father was back home. Suffice it to say that if I were elected President, my hometown news would proclaim, “Dallas McKain’s Son Wins!” Our family owned a grocery in Crothersville, Indiana. The way my Dad treated people...
How Jim Ed Brown Changed My Life
I was playing drums in a family band that opened for the country star at a concert at the little high school I attended. After the first of two shows, Jim Ed approached me and said, “I’m looking for a new drummer — and I’d like it to be you!” I couldn’t believe it — a...