A shedload of grief!

Regular readers (yes, you, Mum) will know that I spend a fair amount of time here banging on about customer service. Today, I doff my cap in honour, because I’ve got a guest writer in to tell his story. Eamonn O’Rourke is a great friend of mine – and mighty funny too. So pop the [...]

Customer service 101: Get people’s names right…

In these troubled economic times, much has been rightly written about customer service. If you want customers to stick with you, it seems a pretty good idea to put a bit of effort into looking after them.
A good magnifying glass for this sort of thing is the banking industry. You can’t have failed to notice [...]

Who’s the customer here?

Hi there!
I’m trying to make this blog as much about my personal business experiences as about the advice I both give and receive as I navigate the world of business. And sometimes that means being critical. I’m not going to name any names, but the following is absolutely true, and if the person responsible should [...]

Service the St Tropez way: Judy Naake

I’ve spent the past few weeks blogging about the recession, but I want to go back today to one of my old hobby-horses: customer service.
Yesterday, I was back in the studio doing some video work. One of our guests was Judy Naake, a lady I have met once before, and who is a supremely capable [...]

Brilliant service from an old-fashioned expert

You know that feeling when something small looks like it’s going to turn into a financial nightmare. I had one of those episodes this week (Excuse the glass-half-empty attitude- don’t worry, this story has a very happy ending).
So, after 18 months of living in my jeans pocket, the little electronic thingy which operates my car [...]

Consumer Transparency: the illusion of people power or great customer service?

In a comment on my post “On the hunt for new ideas”, Ash asks what I think about consumer transparency. Me have an opinion? I’m more than glad to oblige.
For anyone who needs some help slicing through the jargon, consumer transparency is a pretty universal term for “being honest” in all sorts of [...]

Choice is good, instructions are essential.

Today, a salutary lesson in business planning and customer service.
This is a story which my good friend Darren likes to tell; about his father-in-law, John.
I’ve met John several times. He’s now in his 70’s, still thoroughly full of life, and a ‘mad inventor’ type of chap. John has had more hare-brained schemes, inventions and business [...]

Advice from a Prince’s Trust Mentor

Earlier this week, I met up with an old media mate, Zach Barfield. Zach is a veteran serial entrepreneur, one of the best networkers I’ve ever met, and also horribly good fun.
Since I last saw him, he’s become a mentor for The Prince’s Trust; which I thought was rather good. So I asked him what [...]

Show some love to your waiter

Scroll a couple of posts back, and you’ll see that I spent the early part of this week on a rather fruitless jaunt to New York.
Having decided to enjoy my time there anyway, I was lucky enough to eat at one of the city’s finest fish restaurants. Let’s give them a plug- it’s Esca. If [...]

If you’re going to do a job well…

I’ve just got back from a very pleasant few days rest and respite in the Canaries, and very good it was too. And for the first time in ages, my flights were seamless (thank you Monarch). My flying history is not spectacular. Last week, I had to cancel a meeting in Vienna thanks to fog [...]