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Customer Service Kudon'ts Kudos

Product reliability valuable only IF you can get the product

In the last two months, I’ve experienced shipping mistakes and delays with FedEx, USPS, and UPS. Initially, FedEx never delivered a client check because they never picked up the check from the drop-off box. When the second delivery supposedly was sent with overnight priority, it showed up several days later. A one-day USPS check delivery […]

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37 and Counting Building Bridges Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Good Content Kudos Opinion

Costco mom and pop caring complements big-time operation

As companies grow bigger and more global, customer service in many quarters is feeling more like dealing with a caring mom and pop enterprise than a mega-company. That’s clearly the attitude of such companies as Costco, which has been making me feel right at home since 1999. (Full disclosure: I’m an unabashed, biased Costcophile with […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Opinion

When reliable customer service suddenly goes awry

Oh, say it isn’t so! I’ve noticed some quality control issues lately that are totally out of sync with what I expect at Costco. And, Amazon seems to be exemplifying a corporate version of “the Peter Principle,” described in Investopedia as: “… an observation that the tendency in most organizational hierarchies, such as that of […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Leverage Opinion

Turn a tech trauma into an opportunity

A couple weeks ago, I criticized J.B. Hunt, Costco’s Whirlpool delivery partner, for tech-fueled communications snafus. Between Costco and J.B. Hunt, auto-generated notices flew back and forth about canceled orders, etc. When I investigated, I learned that all was well. It was just auto-tech run amok. Well, I believe tech likely ended up helping me […]

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36 and Counting Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudos Opinion

Costco prioritizes customers, employees over shareholders

This the first of a four-part series on companies exemplifying superior customer service and employee treatment—and the rewards accruing to their bottom lines and shareholders in the process. It’s a win-win model that exposes the zero-sum gain model of “I win, you lose” as an absurd and ineffective way of doing business. You listening, Donald […]