Our Blog
This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
OKWe may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.
Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.
These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.
Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.
We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.
We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.
These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.
If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:
We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.
Google Webfont Settings:
Google Map Settings:
Google reCaptcha Settings:
Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:
The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:
Excellence Wins
/in Extraordinary Customer/Client Service/by Tom DoescherTom Doescher
In his 2019 book, “Excellence Wins,” the co-founder and president of the Ritz-Carleton Hotel Co., Horst Schulze, takes you behind the curtain and explains the unique culture that he and his team put in place. Although it deals with a hotel, I believe his principles could be applied to any business that truly puts the customer/client/guest/patient first. In my opinion, most companies say they put the customer first, but fall significantly short of that goal.
I would highly recommend reading “Excellence Wins.” It’s an easy, entertaining, and quick read, with lots of meat. To whet your appetite, I’ll highlight just a few of my favorite takeaways:
♦ Customers want three main things: 1) They want a product or service with no defects; 2) They want timeliness; 3) They want the person with whom they’re dealing to be nice to them. (Editorial comment: I know this list sounds too simple, but as I reflect back at my own disappointments dealing with so many different companies, most of my complaints fall into these categories. I’ve written about leaving a doctor that I loved because of all three of the above items.)
♦ Customer service isn’t just for those who face the public. It also extends to people inside the organization who deal with each other.
♦ “That’s not my job.” (Editorial comment: This is one of my top complaints. I really don’t care whose fault it is; I just want my computer back. Blaming someone else in your company looks really bad!)
♦ Four Supreme Objectives: 1) Keep the customer; 2) Get new customers; 3) Encourage the customers to spend as much as possible — but without sabotaging Objective No. 1; 4) In all of the above, keep working toward more and more efficiency. (Editorial comment: Many companies that I work with offer additional services because, over the years, customers said they would appreciate that additional product or service. So when you’re serving customers, offering them additional products/services is what they want. Just don’t hard-sell them.)
♦ This is one of Schulze’s best tips: Two percent of customers simply cannot be pleased. They’re irrational. They want things they can’t afford, or they want things that will irritate the 98 percent. He calls this “the jerk factor” and provides some really entertaining methods of “firing” the jerks. (Editorial comment: Most companies could benefit from following Schulze’s lead with jerks.)
The book is filled with very practical, implementable, relevant ideas that would apply to most companies.
I’ll close with one of my favorites: One aspect of the Ritz’s service that’s received a lot of coverage is the fact that the Ritz empowers its employees to spend up to $2,000 to solve guest problems without requiring their manager’s approval. (Editorial comment: Schulze provides some amazing stories and also notes that employees don’t abuse the policy. There’s probably a bottleneck in your company and, if front-line employees were given more authority, it could be eliminated.)
Please get the book and enjoy reading it. Set a goal of implementing at least one new idea in your business.
Are You Willing to Seek Advice?
/in Sharpening Your Personal Leadership Skills/by Tom DoescherTom Doescher
In the Doescher Advisors Executive Health Checkup, the third category is Emotional Health. When I perform a self-assessment or even ask my partner, Barbara, what area she believes needs some work, we agree it’s Emotional Health. I’ve been a chronic worrier most of my adult life. A more popular word today is “anxiety.” Actually, during Covid I self-diagnosed myself with cognitive distortions.
I was telling one of my old Plante Moran partners about it and shared that I even worry about clients’ problems. To which he said, “That’s why they love you so much.” Well, this may be good for business, but it’s not so good for my personal emotional health.
For all of the other five categories in the Executive Health Checkup, I have others who are helping me — like mentors or my physical trainer. But I didn’t have anyone helping me with my excessive worrying. As often happens in my life, several dots were in the process of connecting. Since Barbara and I had relocated to the Flint area, we didn’t have a good therapist to recommend to our clients. With the help of our longtime counselor, who’s now a professor of family counseling at Liberty University, we’ve identified a solution: Sycamore Counseling in Livonia. In fact, we’ve already referred several clients.
One day it dawned on me that maybe I should engage someone to help me with my cognitive distortions — worry, anxiety, or whatever. I was assigned to Zhela, and I asked Barbara to join our sessions. Those of you who are married realize that your partner is usually the person most impacted by your issues.
I’m really glad I took the step to seek help. Zhela has diagnosed me with ANTS, which is automatic negative thoughts syndrome. She has helped me understand my condition with advice, articles, and podcasts, and she’s also provided me with three anxiety-release exercises.
It’s a little too early to declare victory, but just being able to define the problem and having someone to talk to has been helpful.
All of this is to say that, if you’re suffering in some way, especially post-Covid, I would strongly encourage you to seek professional help. As always, I would be honored to speak with you and share more details about my situation.
p.s. Maybe when you perform an Executive Health Checkup self-assessment, you score low in another category, like financial health. In that case, please reach out to a wealth management financial advisor to help you establish a plan to recover.
The Ultimate Overcomer
/in Sharpening Your Personal Leadership Skills/by Tom DoescherTom Doescher
I recently heard Cynt Marshall present and then read her book:
Oh, my goodness! To say “Thriving Through the Unexpected” (per the subtitle of the book pictured here) is a gigantic understatement. To look at Cynt Marshall’s photograph on the cover of “You’ve Been Chosen,” you’d have no idea what she’s overcome. I’m not going to ruin the book, which I would highly recommend to every person I know, but she has experienced childhood trauma, pregnancy issues, discrimination, and a life-threatening illness. Any one of those issues, alone, would derail most of us. Yet today, Marshall is the very successful CEO of the Dallas Mavericks, owned by Mark Cuban.
Marshall has more to be bitter about than any 20 people I know who have suffered major tragedies, but her upbeat can-do attitude, with not a hint of resentment, is inspiring. It certainly recharged my battery. I have no idea why Cuban hired her, but I’m sure her positive, encouraging demeanor played a role.