ARTICLES
Something Missing?
Some time ago I was walking in downtown Toronto on Yonge Street and wanted a quick meal. I stopped at Villa Madina, a fast food chain which offers "Mediterranean cuisine with an emphasis on quality and convenience" I purchased a meal combo advertised as “Shawarma and...
Testing a Critical Touchpoint
Have you ever filled out a website form, hit the "Submit" button and received an error? Or, clicking "Submit" and left with what appears to be a completely non-responsive button or form? No message, no feedback, nothing? This can happen with contact forms or any type...
One Banana Becomes Three
A while back I was on a cruise with Norwegian Cruise Lines. Wanting to make a sundae at the self-serve buffet, I asked one of the buffet stewards if I could have a fresh banana. I had seen bananas at breakfast but none were displayed during lunch. With a big smile,...
Hiding in the Spam
These days, much of the communication which takes place with both prospective and new clients occurs via email. This includes both regular emails and online contact forms sent by email. Leaving an email query unanswered is a good way to annoy clients or worse, lose a...
Too Many Apologies = Alarm
Stackideas is a Malaysian company that develops and sells plugins for the Joomla Content Management System (CMS). Joomla is similar to WordPress, and a plugin is a "program" which adds functionality to Joomla. As a web designer/developer I used one of their products...
Would You Believe This Man?
In books I’ve read and, on the internet, I’ve often come across variations of the story of Einstein being asked: “Why are we here?”to which he responded:“We are here for only one purpose, and that is to serve others” Researching the above quote for this article led me...
Golden Gecko, Golden Experience
From the moment I walked into Golden Gecko Coffee I knew it was a special place. What was it? It was a combination of the happy, smiling patrons, the cleanliness, the special touches, Jake the enthusiastic owner with his equally friendly staff, the level of service,...
The 24-Hour Service Challenge
There's very much to gain in being of service to others. Whenever we serve others, we're making a deposit in our psychic bank account. We're giving of ourselves, of our skills and we exercise kindness. As such, we're likely to feel a sense of fulfillment knowing we're...
The Customer’s Bottom Line, Not Yours
Following a theatre outing, my family and I stumbled upon this Pizzeria in Toronto and we've been customers ever since. It's called Bellissimo Pizza. We like Bellissimo partly because: The pizzas have a distinctive taste. To us there's a nostalgic element as the taste...