I’m still re-devouring William Gibson novels. At some point during the lockdowns, I realized we were living in his universe: corporate monopolies, pandemics, communities-in-cyberspace, alienation-via-technology … things he covered 30 years ago. (Not David Howell Evans) Here’s one item that, I hope, he got at least a little bit wrong: the Edge. In his short story “New Rose Hotel,” Fox, …
Podcast 101: Start with the why
Our second statement on building a culture that honors results and relationship: Start with the why. Tune in to find out what this has to do with tattoos on your rear end. (Sexy sax music provided by Sexy Sax Man.) We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: Email Mike and Mark. Listen here … subscribe on Spotify, …
Why they aren’t the Newport Bengals: Slavery is never good for business
“Now, who is your momma?” As a proud Kentuckian, I’ve always smiled at Neil Rackham’s classic “SPIN Selling” describing the differences of doing business in the North vs. the South: I remember once watching a southern banker in Kentucky selling trust services to a customer who looked like Colonel Sanders’s twin brother. In this case the Preliminaries took up almost …
Content creation: employee engagement needed
Automotive News posted this 5-minute video about Audi Milwaukee’s successful efforts on TikTok. Millions of views, two actual sales and a longterm customer base. While I refuse to join TikTok because I don’t want President Xi to know where I am at all times, I’m posting the video here for two reasons: It’s a great example of the content creation …
Work is not your god, but God wants you to work.
“Your Work Is Not Your God: Welcome to the Age of the Burnout Epidemic.” That’s the title of an essay by scholar and ex-professor Jonathan Malesic. He wrote a book about the subject. The essay is definitely worth a read if you can pardon the F Word toward the end. The title of Malesic’s essay implies that we have made …
Podcast 99: Do you have a culture … or a cult-?
There is tension in your organization’s culture. And it is most definitely a tension to manage, not a problem to solve. We would love your questions and comments for future episodes: Email Mike and Mark. Listen here … subscribe on Spotify, Amazon or Apple … or view below.
Millennial customers explain Millennial employees
Crazy kids and their yeah-yeah music … Our most recent podcast discusses Millennials as both customers and employees. We’ve talked about inter-generational conflict before: A while back, I had a post explaining how Millennials are not lazy (see: Nashville) and do want help (see: my friend Andy Buck). I added another Nashville post since then: a young artist–the exact opposite …
Podcast 98: “Millennials Don’t Know and Don’t Care” … and Other Half-Truths
A listener’s 20-something kid opens the eyes of Mike and Mark to what businesses are up against: Do your younger customers know and care? How about your employees? Listen in to start the discussion in your workplace–because it’s only going to get worse. … We would love your questions and comments (and book ideas!) for future episodes: Email Mike and …
True CX: Employee Engagement … in what?
Want more profit? Engage your employees. But engage them in what? Let’s start with the basics. I studied it in grad school, Ford Motor Company used it in its pioneering Consumer Experience Movement and I’ve used it with clients: the Service-Profit Chain. First published in the early 1990s, the Service-Profit Chain describes how the real predictor of a company’s above-average …
Podcast 95: The Workplace Book Club — No shame in tears
Charles Dickens has some thoughts on crying. He makes some blanket statements about the three ways expressing negative emotions improves you. Does it apply to the workplace? Mike and Mark are #twoguyswithoutlookswithbooks. The excerpt and study guide for this episode, “No shame in tears,” is available for free download. We would love your questions and comments (and book ideas!) for …