Clare Dorrian

Raise your glass…

I can think of many reasons to celebrate this week…ok, so those of you who are familiar with my sunny demeanour will know that I don’t need much of an excuse to raise a glass.

October is breast cancer awareness month – time for fundraising and donations and to dig out our ‘pink’ pants (US version) to honor of the one in nine women who will fight breast cancer at some point in their lives.

Today is John Lennon’s birthday – the man who as a performer, writer, or co-writer is responsible for 27 number one singles and who, as part of the Beatles, won 7 grammys and 15 Ivor Novella awards (Yes, I am Liverpudlian. And yes I am a massive Beatles fan so I could go on…)

This week is also National Customer Service week. Now in its 18th year, this is time that many companies around the world will use to honor individuals and companies who go beyond the call of duty to champion extraordinary customer service and support. Hopefully companies (including you, American Airlines) will also take advantage of this week to reflect on and/or rethink your approach to your customers’ experience. This was certainly front of mind for those contact center folks I met at CCExpo a few weeks ago – How can they focus on their customers’ experience when their own is so bad, littered with a myriad of desktop applications to respond to even the most basic requests? Sheesh…

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Paul White

Why blue-chip organizations have a lot to learn from boutique cheese retailers…

Building on the recent blog theme of ‘cheese’ (see #scrm superstar Esteban Kolsky giving his take on how cheese relates to customer service here), I felt compelled to grill up a bloggy-toasted, croque monsieur of an entry.

I love many kinds of cheese; I have a certain passion though for Stilton!  Here is a useful guide on Stilton (the finest of all cheeses)… (I used to live about an inch (map inch) to the right of A & C).

Oh how much cheese I would eat in those days… we would cycle to Colston Bassett, spend 10 minutes trying the most recent produce, entertained by a roly poly dairy worker with rosy cheeks and lamb-chop sideburns.

When we had made our selection, one of us would cycle home with a round of cheese the diameter of an old LP the weight of a bulldog under one arm.  You can’t possibly be more excited about violating the highway-code in the heart of Lincolnshire’s bridleways than when you are the lucky one carrying the new cheese back to the village!

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