Do People Leave Companies or Bosses?
It’s only when we dig a little deeper, perhaps at the exit interview, that we discover that the key employee who is leaving you, still loves the company and their colleagues, enjoys the work and is sorry to be leaving. They’re leaving because they could no longer take the manner in which they were being […]
You Can’t Front Load Relationship Selling
Relationship selling (as opposed to transactional selling) seeks to build trust with chosen customers in order to lock in loyalty. Our very best endeavours don’t always work perfectly. Products need servicing, things break and advice given today can be outdated in weeks or months as markets continually adjust. But customers are astute – they seek […]
The Inclusive Workplace
A staggering number of Post Covid reports refer to tired and burned-out employees. What will make people want to return to the work place? How do we put: the zing back into workplaces? the excitement back into employees? the fulfilment back into jobs? Start by making your […]
Should organisations conduct customer satisfaction audits?
Before going into the reasons why a customer satisfaction audit (CSA) can be very useful to find out what customers think and feel, it’s worth stating the obvious up front: If it’s for information purposes only, then it amounts to a time consuming and possibly expensive luxury. If it’s part of a strategy with clearly […]
How to Draw a Line in the Sand
It often takes a disaster before we stop and ask: “How could that have been prevented?” And: “How do we prevent this from happening again?” As our country struggles with so many challenges – including state capture, we contemplate how we got to this place. Would you have the courage to be a whistle blower? […]
Customer Service: Is It Instinctive?
“A customer is someone with whom you have dealings.” – Congruence Training This definition of a customer, which we coined in November 1996 when we started our customer centric journey, is important. Because if you’re human, you’re a customer to many brands and people every day. Chances are you also have multiple customers whether or […]
Do You Say What You Mean?
The big problem with verbal communication is that we don’t do it very well at all. In other words, often we don’t say what we mean which leaves the listener to interpret what we meant from what they heard. So we’ve all had to become good interpreters. It’s all the more puzzling because in English […]
Customer Experience (CX) Five New Kids on the Block
In this article Congruence MD Paul du Toit discusses five CX drivers that are edging to the top of the customer priority list and why they matter now. Positive customer experiences are driven by great products or services supported by efficient systems and service excellence. These are not the exclusive domain of powerful brands – […]
Succession Planning: A Threat Or A Promise?
Succession Planning: A Threat or a Promise? When the King dies the King’s heir inevitably takes over and rules. Since the King seldom survived much over 50 in the old days, this was generally a sound plan. The Prince would still be young, strong and, one would hope, clear thinking. If the King had no […]
Should Customer Experience Be Predictable?
You and your partner are out to dinner at a fine restaurant. The leather-bound 16-page menu arrives with multiple options for hors d’oeuvres, mains and dessert. The wine list is overwhelming. The discussion is dominated for some time by the complexities of choice available until, with some hesitation, decisions are made. The conversation meanders until, […]