Chip R. Bell's Blog, page 27

Putting Innovation in Your Brand

Branding started as a tool for creating identity. While marking products to identify the maker is as old as time, our most graphic lesson comes from the Old West. During the late 1800’s in the Western part of the U.S. where cattle were the primary cash crop, there were no fences to mark territory. Ranch owners needed a means to identify which cattle grazing on the open range belonged to a particular ranch. The act of burning a unique symbol into the hide of a cow became a way to resolve diffe...

Innovation Leadership is Made of Spears, Not Sand

“What do great innovation leaders do that other leaders fail to do?” It was a pointed question from a way-too-obvious skeptic during the Q&A following my keynote. I prefaced my answer with a line often spoken by my good friend, Bruce Fritch, “True leadership is on the order of spears, not sand.”

The word “spears” is not intended to be a representation of a weapon. Instead, it is a metaphor for deliberate focus, concrete passion, and inspirational courage. The reference to “sand” in Fritch’s li...

Holiday Punch List for Innovative Customer Service

It’s almost over! With Christmas Eve just one week away, the holiday shopping season is winding down. Folks on both sides of the cash register are feeling the pressures of the season.

For many customers, panic is setting in. They’re tired, they’re frustrated, they’re worried they won’t find the perfect gifts for everyone on their lists.

Many store associates are equally tired and frustrated. They’re working longer hours, getting fewer days off and probably standing on their feet all day.

How can...

Customers Want to Be “Home” For The Holidays

Whatever happened to old fashioned customer service? The kind you remember as a kid…especially if you grew up in a small town or close-knit neighborhood. The butcher gave your dog-in-tow a fresh bone… there were no rules back then preventing pet dogs from coming into a butcher shop. The gas station attendant washed your windshield and checked your engine fluids while your car was being filled with gas. And, you got credit because of who you were, not because of a plastic card or a merchant ac...

Leadership as a Christmas Ornament

Sooner or later it happens if you decorate enough Christmas trees. At some point you discover that almost all of the ornaments are handmade or have some special meaning. Discarded are those generic, store bought ones that looked pleasing to the eye but had no short cut to the heart. The special ones all have stories attached; the store bought ones just have hooks.

The annual winter holiday celebration—whetherit is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Eid Al Adha—reminds us of a season of generosity...

Give the Gift of Inspiration

What inspires you? Inspiration comes from a Latin word which means to “breathe life into” or to “animate.” I get inspired by an unexpected, completely generous act of kindness. I watched a man stop four lanes of traffic that passed through a residential neighborhood in order to allow a puppy to cross. Then, he drove away. It was not his dog.

We are inspired by unique scenes—a perfect rainbow, the laughter of a baby, a parent teaching their young child to pitch, or a shopper helping an elderly...

The Innovative Service Rules for Shopper Frenzy

On Friday, we entered the annual period of shopping frenzy we paint the color “black.” According to Wikipedia, the name of the day started in Philadelphia in the early 60’s and was chosen to characterize the traffic—both vehicle and pedestrian—that crowded the streets hunting for deals the day after Thanksgiving. It is also used to refer to the fact that many retailers make about 40% of their annual revenue (putting them “in the black”) in the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Today, t...

Why Customers Love Small Businesses

This past week I received good service from four companies—Apple, Bass Pro Shops, Custom Printing and Roper’s Collision Center. But, the stories I would tell stories about this week are from the two small businesses you never heard of…unless you live in my neighborhood!

Apple was very good, mind you, but after I bought a new Apple MacBook Air, they did not call me to see how it was behaving. But, Roper called after having my car in their operating room! Bass Pro Shops did not remember my uniqu...

Getting Great Customer Service During the Holidays

It is the winter holidays!! You get constant reminders of the number of shopping days left and the really big deal bargains you are missing at Acme. Holiday store decorations seem to come out earlier every year. All this pressure can turn generosity into greed and a casual shopper into a lean, mean buying machine. It’s enough to give Black Friday a dark label!

But, despite the elbows, line jumpers and parking spot stealers, some people seem to get great customer service. Great customer service...

Small Business Superstars: The Gospel According to Betty’s

What would it take to make your small business a destination location–the store, firm, website, or service that everyone was talking about? Betty’s Country Store is the talk of the town in Helen, GA, a quaint Alpine mountain village a few miles from my river house. (Visit www.bettysinhelen.comfor a virtual taste.) Even in the winter, the store is full of guests, eager to enjoy all that makes Betty’s an in-site (a place of innovative service).

The antique farm implements and a 1930’s gasoline p...