Everyday I walk into a store, a restaurant, a hotel, airline etc. and I encounter someone who obviously does not want to be there. And while the customer service consultant part of me gets irritated at those people, the truth is I do empathize with them as well. Dealing with customers is not easy because […]
For you children of the 80’s and 90’s you know the title of this post to be from the classic (well, depending on your version of classic) song “Ice, Ice Baby” from Vanilla Ice. If the hook of the song is stuck in your head now, like it is in mine, I’m sorry! So why […]
Did you parents (or a teacher, coach, relative etc.) ever tell you, “You’re better than that!” after doing something that you shouldn’t have done? What were they telling you? Literally- your actions or words did not reflect who you really are! Isn’t why hearing, “You’re better than that!” hurt so much? Because you knew it […]
My favorite soft drink is Coke Zero. It doesn’t have the bitterness of Diet Coke. To me it tastes very close to regular Coca-Cola without the calories. I now ask for it by name at restaurants-and am finding that many restaurants are offering it in addition to Diet Coke which makes me happy! Why am […]
Do you like dealing with salespeople? Most people don’t! This means that many of the people walking into your community to look for an apartment; or emailing, calling or texting you are already predisposed to NOT like you either. Sorry. Why don’t we like salespeople? Here are a few reasons: Customers don’t want to be […]
When customers are complaining about something to you when the service is not what they expect; when they’ve been left in the dark about a request; when they’ve been treated poorly, you may find that they not only want to tell you about the problem, they want to fight with you about the problem. These […]
Apartmentalize, the National Apartment Association Education Conference is in our backyard this year, in San Diego from June 13-16, 2018. If you’re attending please look for me, I’ll be walking around (a lot!) and would love to connect with you and meet you in person. Second, I’d like to encourage you to attend an educational session […]
I recently delivered the first keynote address (The Psychology of Customer Service) at the FOCUS Conference 2018 in Los Angeles, which was presented by Satisfacts Research and Apartment Ratings. As I looked out at the audience I was amazed at how many familiar faces I saw, from all around the country! I had people I […]
Selling the Hallmark Way Do you have a “guilty pleasure” for the Holiday season? You know, the one thing that you like to do during this time of year that you don’t always admit to the people around you? For me the guilty pleasure is watching Christmas movies. Lots and lots of Christmas movies. In […]
Every time I drive on California’s infamous freeways, I am reminded that my life and well-being is often in the hands of the dude next to me who is shaving, the woman on the other side applying mascara, and the teenager behind me texting her “BFF”, sipping her very hot caramel frappuccino while steering her […]