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customer relations
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Monday, November 17th, 2008A friend of mine (let’s call him Bob) recently suffered through what should have been a simple telephone call. Bob had worked for over a decade for a company with a particularly nice pension plan so, when he left for a new job, he decided to leave his retirement money in his former employer’s plan [...]
When it comes to customers, don’t make the same mistake twice!
Friday, November 7th, 2008My friend Amy was very frustrated this week when she got her daughter’s birthday cake for free. Sounds crazy? Read on.
Amy works a demanding job and only gets a half-hour lunch break. At the end of every workday she fights through traffic to collect her kids from daycare, so she can’t run errands on the [...]
Kudos to Neil Diamond for a first-class apology!
Thursday, September 4th, 2008My hat goes off to singer Neil Diamond, whose “silk and sandpaper” voice has contributed so many hits to popular music. Unfortunately, even rock stars get sick now and then, and Diamond recently suffered a bout of laryngitis that left fans in Ohio disappointed after one of his concerts. Diamond not only publicly apologized, he did [...]
How engaged are your employees? Gallup says it matters!
Monday, September 1st, 2008It’s Labor Day, the day when the summer traditionally comes to an end, kids get ready to go back to school, and the rest of us face a return to the daily grind. However, Labor Day was originally intended to honor working men and women, so this is a good day to ask just how [...]
Bad administration is bad business!
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008A friend of mine (let’s call her Louise) recently came to town with her five-year-old daughter, who’s about to start kindergarten. On the recommendation of a mutual acquaintance, Louise took her daughter to a local pediatrician for her pre-school physical, about two weeks before the school enrollment deadline. That first visit was pretty traumatic for [...]
Procrastination’s a problem - but is it unethical?
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008A month or two ago, NPR ran a very cute piece on a research study on procrastination conducted by Dr. Piers Steel of the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business. I’ve been meaning to write about it, but didn’t get to it until now. (Actually, I felt a little guilty about putting it off [...]
Why “handshake deals” aren’t always great business ethics
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008One of the services I provide to clients is writing contracts and engagement letters for them to use when they start new business relationships. Depending on what my client expects to be doing, the documents can get pretty complicated, spelling out the scope of work, the obligations of the other person, how and when my client [...]
So, what’s the big deal with apologies?
Monday, August 4th, 2008Recently, a friend asked why so many of my blog posts focus on various aspects of apologies. “It seems so narrow,” she said. “Are apologies really all that important?”
You bet they are.
As a practicing attorney, I’ve had over twenty years’ experience dealing with other people’s problems. (Let’s face it – regardless of how much they like [...]
Business ethics start at the top
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008Now and then, I’ll hear a company executive complain about the ethics of his or her employees. The complaints usually have to do with things like pilfering office supplies (a chronic problem just before school starts each September), wasting work time with Internet shopping or personal e-mails, or evasive encounters with customers or vendors. Larger [...]
Chef Emeril Demonstrates How Trust Enhances Your Business
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008A few months ago I took the opportunity to recommend Stephen J.R. Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust, for anyone who wants to strengthen their business and personal relationships. Covey’s book makes the case that increased trust cuts red tape and increases the speed of business. Here’s an example to demonstrate just how right Covey [...]
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