Putting Customers at Ease: The Patient’s Point of View

By Andrew S. Gallan Sally, a married 54-year-old mother of two teenage girls, had just returned from her mammogram follow-up appointment with a troubled look on her face. “What’s the matter?” asked her husband of 25 years. “Again, something showed up, so I have to go for another mammogram and some additional tests,” she responded. …

Putting Customers at Ease: The Patient’s Point of View

By Andrew S. Gallan Sally, a married 54-year-old mother of two teenage girls, had just returned from her mammogram follow-up appointment with a troubled look on her face. “What’s the matter?” asked her husband of 25 years. “Again, something showed up, so I have to go for another mammogram and some additional tests,” she responded. …

Put Your Customers to Work? Not So Fast!

By Lan Xia With the support of new technologies, companies are gradually realizing the importance and benefits of co-creation, where the value of a service is increasingly co-created by the firm and the customer. Consumers are increasingly put to work for the services they demand, from carrying their own food in fast-food restaurants to creating …

Why the mint on your pillow matters

By Stephen Mostrom Unless you spend a lot of time in Louisiana, you likely haven’t heard the term “lagniappe.” But this Creole aphorism has the power to transform your business. Defined as “the gift” or “to give more,” lagniappe represents the potential to turn customers into your largest sales force by exceeding expectations. As Stan …