The onboarding journey sets the tone for new customer relationships. Unfortunately, many organizations don’t think or talk about it from the customer’s perspective. People don’t want to be “onboarded.” They want to start using your product or service to accomplish their goals. If that takes 90 days, fine. If it takes 90 minutes, even better. … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – ONBOARDING
Three Invaluable Types of Trust that are Often Overlooked
In my years working with Fortune 500 companies, I’ve seen firsthand how systematically building and maintaining customer trust creates what I call “The Trust Tailwind” — an accelerating force that fuels growth through shorter sales cycles, smoother cross-sells, and stronger advocacy. These advantages compound over time, helping trusted brands outperform their competitors by as much … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – WI-FI
#WordNerdWednesday I had to double check this week’s WNW entry with multiple sources before I would believe it. Apparently “Wi-Fi” doesn’t stand for “wireless fidelity.” It doesn’t officially stand for anything. Brand agency Interbrand came up with Wi-Fi to promote a then-new wireless connection technology called “IEEE 802.11” to non-techies. The public wasn’t likely to … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – PARTNER
“How do we get customers to see us as a strategic partner, not just a vendor?” I get this question all the time. My answer is simple, if not easy – to gain trusted partner status with your customers, START ACTING LIKE ONE. I don’t mean that to sound snarky. It’s the B2B equivalent of … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – BENEVOLENT CONCERN
#WordNerdWednesday Organizations need to balance competing stakeholder needs. Consider these common situations: ⇨ Acknowledging a product’s limitations might mean you lose the sale. Do you tell prospects anyway? ⇨ Keeping prices low might hurt profit margin. Raising them might cost you sales. What do you do? ⇨ A customer’s order arrived damaged. Do you make … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – WEDNESDAY
When I found an article on how the days of the week got their names, I had to share it with you, my #WordNerdWednesday crew! A link to the full piece is in the first comment, but here’s a sneak peak with my color commentary below: “Wednesday, the fourth day of the week, was named … Read more
The Trust Tailwind: Four Elements That Shape The Success of Your Business
Trust is an underused, underappreciated asset–especially in business. We know it’s important; PWC’s 2024 Trust in Business study found 93% of executives think building and maintaining trust will improve the bottom line. They’re right. Trust Across America found we’re 91% more likely to buy from organizations we trust, and trusted organizations are 2.5x times likely … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – SPELLING ALPHABET
#WordNerdWednesday If you have a unique or frequently misspelled name, you’re probably an expert “spelling alphabet” user. To avoid getting an extra H or EA added to my name I use some variation of the following – “M as in Mary, E as in Elizabeth, G as in Girl, A as in Apple, N as … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – WASTE
#WordNerdWednesday You may not know this, but I lead a quarterly book club that draws on insights from other domains to help customer-focused leaders find creative solutions to perennial problems. Our Q2 2025 book selection is “Reset” by Dan Heath, and I wanted to float one of the definitions from the book by this community … Read more
Word Nerd Wednesday – A LA MODE
Last Friday was Pi Day, so named because the date (3.14) matches the mathematical constant Ï€, the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Dork that I am, I had to serve pie for dessert on Pi Day. Deciding whether or not to buy ice cream to go with it got me wondering – … Read more
