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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Good Content Kudon'ts Opinion

 Investor bottom-liners obliterate Southwest’s customer service-centric benefits

Free bags and non-expiring flying points, two major Southwest Airlines perks and a major differentiator, are gone. LISTEN An article in The Street points out, “Southwest Airlines has decided to become as crummy and passenger-unfriendly as its rivals, which offer fares that come with nothing and market them as giving passengers choice…[it] sacrificed its identity […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Good Content Opinion Social Media

 Trump group chat gaffe reeks of inattention

Lying, cheating, and stealing are the hallmarks of present-day government and have permeated corporate America everywhere “We, the People” turn.

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Opinion

 ‘There’s a sucker born every minute’-P.T. Barnum

Lying, cheating, and stealing are the hallmarks of present-day government and have permeated corporate America everywhere “We, the People” turn.

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudon'ts Opinion Social Media

 In a world gone mad, the ‘Mad Men’ TV series is more prophetic than ever

As consumers encounter ever-growing “Lie, Cheat, Steal” experiences, their yearning for “Trust, Like, Respect” is stronger than ever.

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudon'ts Opinion

 Pay Attention!

Aliens ‘neurolyze’ attention spans? The “Men in Black” movies featured neuralyzers capable of erasing memories. I’m wondering if aliens got hold of the technology and have a launched a worldwide invasion to compromise memories and attention spans in everything from writing and editing to technology and communication. Along the way, inattention, uncaring, and sloppiness are […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudon'ts Opinion

 Artificial Intelligence creates unreal expectations

Proper role is support vs. supplant The more we rely on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven systems to make our lives more efficient and competent, the less efficient and competent our lives are becoming. This adversely impacts customer service and support in many sectors. In many cases, AI itself can be flawed—creating all sorts of havoc. In […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudon'ts Opinion

 Technology sloppiness, poor due diligence ruin customer service

We’re being assaulted by technology over-communication, poor due diligence, and sloppiness—much of it coming from inconsistent monitoring and attention to detail. This afflicts many tech sectors, including “CRM” apps, “customer service” chatbots, and IT/customer support staffs unable or unwilling to pay attention. A former telecom tech specialist lamented to me that many apps get rolled […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Good Content Kudos Opinion

 ‘People who need people’ once were ‘the luckiest people in the world’

In the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl, star Barbra Streisand introduced the song “People.” In part, the lyrics went, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” From live phone customer service support to grocery checkout, increasingly the default is to push everything to technology: email, chatbots, text, grocery scanners. When it […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Good Content Kudos Opinion

 Bob Burger Recreation Center scores customer service victory

Lafayette, Colorado’s Bob L. Burger Recreation Center is the best community fitness facility I’ve visited in 45 years. And I’ve had some type of fitness membership—from private clubs to community rec centers and everything in between—during that entire time. The delightful customer service experience was even more impactful given the current trend toward stupid, inattentive, […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Good Content Kudos Opinion

Customer service, employee empowerment, and pro-planet movements coalesce around B Corp 

As Mark Lusky Communications celebrates 40 years in business and the fourth anniversary of the happycurmudgeon.com Customer Service blog, we pause to honor the evolution of the international B Corp movement, and one of B Lab’s Global Stewards, thought leader Jared Meyers. He founded Legacy Vacation Resorts (B Corp); is a Co-Founder of Florida for […]