There is a great section of Chip and Dan Heath's book The Power of Moments where they dig into a study of service encounters. The takeaway is not what you would expect: Almost 25% of the positive encounters cited by customers [in a study of service encounters] were actually employees’ responses to service failures: slow … Continue reading Can you turn a negative professional service encounter into a positive one?
Tag: Chip & Dan Heath
The benefits of conducting “premortems” for new business pursuits
Those who work in the A/E/C space know about about the postmortem (or debrief): a glum meeting where the pursuit team attempts to hash out the reasons we didn't win a project. When the client is willing, we get to actually have the meeting with the client and quiz them on our failure. (As useful … Continue reading The benefits of conducting “premortems” for new business pursuits
How I declared war on “List B”
There's a great anecdote in Chuck and Dan Heath's book Decisive, about the commanding officer of a ship in the US Navy who "declares war on 'List B'." "List B" comprises the dreary, repetitive, but necessary tasks that sailors spent so much time on, such as painting (and repainting) the ship. The officer observed that … Continue reading How I declared war on “List B”
Did the Pret A Manger cashier actually like my coworker?
"I think she likes me." A former colleague, cup of coffee in hand, had just returned from the Pret A Manger on the ground floor of our office building. "Who?" I asked. "The girl down at Pret," he said. "One of the cashiers." He held up the coffee. "She just gave me this for free! … Continue reading Did the Pret A Manger cashier actually like my coworker?
Taylor Coe 