Recently I was at a conference  where former New Labour spin-doctor Alistair Campbell was speaking. He stated that the “citizen and the consumer had merged” and that people want “private sector standards and public sector values”.  I pondered on this and decided it meant that people want the efficiency of the private sector and the [...]

Some questions for customer service and customer experience managers to think about… What if: your agents could follow the right process, just as you had designed it? your agents didn’t have to ALT_TAB through 15 applications on their desktop? your agents didn’t have to use Post-it notes or index cards or refer to training manuals? [...]

You can reliably count on Apple to penetrate to the heart of technology’s impact on our life. So, no surprise that they named their introductory mobile app MobileMe (now replaced by iCloud). In the ever-sloshing sea of hype around new technology, separating the ripples from the tsunamis is not as easy as it should be.  [...]

Sure, Gordon Ramsay is too good looking, seems to bask in celebrity, acts like a rude sod, and teaches management by intimidation. But, if, as one suspects, his eponymous London showpiece reflects the man, you gotta like him. Ramsay runs a terrific restaurant. No, we’re not talking French Laundry or Joel Robuchon here, my standards [...]

The last few weeks have been fairly hectic, with the KANA User Summits taking me from London, Twickenham to Miami, Florida and back again to Belfast– all within a few days…  Despite the jet lag, I always enjoy the User Summits as I get the chance to hang out with our customers which, given some [...]

The Keynote Speaker at this year’s KANA Summit is Ross Shafer. Ross comes from one of those backgrounds that shouts “only in America.” He grew up on a Reservation, opened a restaurant, transformed himself into a game and talk show host, morphed into a motivational speaker and now is a best-selling author on what motivates [...]

Post-it notes, Notepads, calling a colleague, stretching above cubical wall and yelling “Hey, have you received the PO yet? Can I invoice?” have become a part of our day to day work. How many times you have to ‘run around’ to get an order processed? Umpteen phone calls, emails, contract reviews etc. All this is [...]

A few months ago I wrote about ‘People Power’ and how it’s people that make companies successful. Now, years ago, I used to get pulled up by my bosses for being ‘too friendly’ and was told it was ‘unprofessional’ to be on first name terms with vendors or clients. I was supposed to be more [...]

“I think that you’ve got to make something that pleases you and hope that other people feel the same way.” Chef Thomas Keller. I live in a tiny, tiny town called Yountville. For foodies, Yountville is synonymous with Thomas Keller and his superlative French Laundry restaurant. As America’s greatest chef, Keller has branded our little [...]

A silly bird shows up, like clockwork, outside my living room and expends an hour or two, each and every afternoon, flying into our window. Whack. Whack. Whack: head first, into the glass. Einstein famously said that doing the same thing over and over yet expecting a different result is the precise definition of insanity. [...]