Recent Articles From EvanCarmichael.com http://www.evancarmichael.com/ http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Make-Service-Your-Nature.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Make-Service-Your-Nature.html The economic recovery is on its way according to the animals around my house. And, they seem to be trying to let me know just that. I recall how my childhood dog got under the back porch steps if a storm was coming. If she paced around a lot and whimpered, you could count on a hard rain. She was never wrong. Nature seems to be able to foretell the future. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Fingering-the-Goods.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Fingering-the-Goods.html "Fingering the goods" was a 1950's merchant expression for "shopping in a store." Except for the Sears Roebuck catalog, store shopping was about the only means for acquiring merchandise. On-line shopping does not let you "finger the goods." In-store service can give you an experience that can take your breath away. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Fiesty-Service--Prescription-for-Gloomy-Times.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Fiesty-Service--Prescription-for-Gloomy-Times.html Feisty is the source of initiative, drive and growth. It gets people out of bed and off to work early despite the dour news on the tube. It turns sleep walking, indifferent service people into joy carriers. It puts a smile on their face and a skip in their step--even in moments of doubt. Customers have always loved feisty service-service with spirit and enthusiasm. Today's customers need feisty service! http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Wheres-Buster.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Wheres-Buster.html A village without a "Buster" is a pretty boring town. A "Buster" can bring enrichment and hope. A "Buster" can bring a healing experience that erases emotional pain to replace it with confidence, strength and joy. Your customers need a "Buster." Be the "Buster" in your commercial village. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Comic-Relief-Rx-for-Great-Service-in-Gloomy-Times.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Comic-Relief-Rx-for-Great-Service-in-Gloomy-Times.html What makes a funny joke funny? The comedian creates a mental pattern and unexpectedly breaks that pattern in the last one or two words. Second, the construction of the humor is simple and easy to get. Finally, the lines have a "tongue-in-check" levity that is joyful. What if customer service could be unexpected, simple and joyful? It could bring comic relief to gloomy customers. Here's how! http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Time-for-Service-Warriors.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/Time-for-Service-Warriors.html We live in a time of spirit larceny. Layoffs have robbed colleagues of colleagues, leaving those who remain feeling hollow. And, the hustle for razor thin margins has put short term profits at center stage and long term relationships in the cheap seats. As organizations are put in a profit-at-all-cost vise, what can be squeezed out is the positive spirit of service providers. It is a time for service warriors. http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/The-New-Old-Timey-Customer-Service.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/The-New-Old-Timey-Customer-Service.html Whatever happened to Lee Roy Clark? Mr. Clark was the grocer in my South Georgia hometown. He was my introduction to what it meant to be a "merchant"—courteous and eager to help all who came into his small all-purpose store. The business world is today rediscovering the value of service that permeated Lee Roy Clark's bones. The Lee Roy Clarks of yesteryear get no credit for using methods now attributed to Disney, USAA, Nordstorm, and Ritz-Carlton Hotels. What happened between the early 1950s version of small-town service and its present-day renaissance? How did the business world move so far away from Lee Roy Clark and why is his brand of customer service now so eagerly sought? http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/The-Ethics-of-Service.html http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/1976/The-Ethics-of-Service.html Service works when it enriches the exchanges. Customers feel valued when the experience a service provider delivers something special to the encounter. But generous must be coupled with conscientiousness or it turns contentment into caution. And, a generous heart without an enthusiastic spirit risks leaving customers believing they have received a gesture without importance and a gift without worth.