ICONIC Insights

Your Customer’s Measuring Stick

Your customer’s measuring stick for efficiency may be entirely different from yours, and if you’re not aligned with your customer’s expectations, then you’re never going to meet their needs. Customer service and customer

experience should not be confused.

Remembering that all business is s...

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There’s usually more to the story… so tell it!

We all have customers or prospects who are willing to assume the worst about our intentions. In this time of social media and instant opinions, their criticisms can race around the newsfeeds of our marketplace in dramatic fashion.

Take for example a viral video from 2017 showing a significant amoun...

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Who will be YOUR farmer?

I was in the audience when it happened.

It was 1978… Kansas City, Missouri’s Municipal Auditorium… the National FFA Convention… and, the speaker was Paul Harvey. The presentation title was, “So God Made a Farmer.”

Audio from this speech was used for the powerful Super Bowl spot for Dodge’s RAM tru...

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On “best practices”… and distinctive design

One of the points I made in the book, “Create Distinction,” is that “best practices aren’t always ‘best’ for your organization.”

In other words, what made Starbucks distinctive can provide you with some great ideas and concepts — however, it is NOT a blueprint that you can duplicate for your organi...

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Sometimes, making your mark isn't what you want...

You’ve seen it — a new manager or executive comes to an organization. Immediately, those reporting to the new leader begin to prepare themselves for some action that their new boss will take to “make his (or her) mark.”

The exercise of “making a mark” is frequently based in the ego of the new ...

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A Lesson from my Dad

It’s impossible for me to describe how popular my father was back home. Suffice it to say that if I were elected President, my hometown news would proclaim, “Dallas McKain’s Son Wins!

Our family owned a grocery in Crothersville, Indiana. The way my Dad treated people and served customers not only ...

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