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David Rance

David Rance
David Rance, CEO of Round, is a former customer care director for a national telco. Round is a leader in capability management models and software tools that enable organizations to align at their chosen level of customer centricity.

The Economic Meltdown Will Sort the Wheat From the Chaff

Writing this blog in the middle of the biggest financial catastrophe in living memory is a sobering experience. No one can predict with...

Great Service Has to Be Institutionalized if It Is to Become the Norm

If you ever have a great customer service experience, what thoughts go through your mind? Given the generally low standard of service these...

Your Contact Center Can Bolster Retention, Drive Value and Lower Your Costs–if You’d Just Stop Ignoring It

In 1776, Adam Smith published his seminal work, The Wealth of Nations, in which he called "division of labor" a "brilliant, good idea" that...

If You Want to Improve Your Bottom Line, Invest in Your Customer Service

The blessing (or curse) of running a customer service operation is that you always seem to see things from a different perspective to the...

Bad Service Can Sabotage a Great Product

So what has customer service got to do with creating a differentiated customer experience? Well, depending on what kind of company you are, the...

Customer Service Is in the Best Position To Deliver the Customer Strategy

Opinion on the role of customer service is polarized between two extremes. To some, customer service is a cost center where costs should...

Customer Service Is the Best Brand Ambassador for Any Company

Why do customers call customer service? Usually it's because they have a problem, an issue or a question. In other words, they...

Don’t Just Pay Lip Service to Empowering Your Employees; Enable Their Customer Passion

Western countries have now moved from a supply economy, where we made things and sold them to customers, to a demand economy, where the...

The Social Web Is the Perfect Forum for Customer-Empowered Service

So here we are in 2008. All the well-intentioned plans made last year abandoned as we battle with new economic and political conditions....

Northern Rock: The Death of Customer Loyalty

There have been traumatic events here in UK over the last 7 days that will ultimately have a profound impact on all B2C companies....

Alignment Really Does Make a Difference–to Customers and Employees

Executives are bombarded with ideas from within the company and for external 'experts' on how to improve business performance. It's no wonder they...

Don’t Silo-Out the Customer Service Department

When I ran customer service for a national cellular network in the '90s, customer service was in a different location from sales, marketing and...

You Can Cross the Line of Chaos to Make Your Organization Customer-Focused

As I travel the world presenting and working with clients, I am often asked, "What is the biggest challenge for organizations who want to...

Answering Calls Is Enough–Isn’t It?

Today I contacted my gas company, who incidentally has won prizes for their customer service. They charged me for listening over and over...

IVR Jungles

I am getting sick and tired of complex IVR mazes where several layers of options are presented; especially those that ask for 16 character...

Why Aren’t Banks Feeling the Heat From Customers?

As economic conditions 'soften' the customer-centric clothes that banks have worn for the last few years are definitely coming off. So too are...

My Advice for CEOs: Consider 2007 the Year of Alignment

In my work with companies around the world, I see CEOs trying to balance the demands of customers and shareholders in an increasingly competitive...

Is Customer Service Getting Worse?

Is it just me or is customer service getting worse? I'm a consultant working in the field of customer management, and my wife...

Have a Plan: Customer-Centricity Doesn’t Happen by Osmosis

In business, the words "planning" and "customer-centric" seldom appear in the same paragraph, let alone in the same sentence. It's almost as if being...

Let Go of the Dock: You Really Can Cross the “Line of Chaos”

As a kid, I was enthralled by my father's description of the "Crossing the Line" ceremony that is performed by sailors when they cross...

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