Steve Curtin
Steve Curtin is the author of Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary. He wrote the book to address the following observation: While employees consistently execute mandatory job functions for which they are paid, they inconsistently demonstrate voluntary customer service behaviors for which there is little or no additional cost to their employers. After a 20-year career with Marriott International, Steve now devotes his time to speaking, consulting, and writing on the topic of extraordinary customer service.
An observation: While employees consistently execute the mandatory job functions (duties/tasks) for which they are paid, they inconsistently demonstrate the voluntary job essence (service...
Several years ago, after presenting multiple half-day training classes over four days, I was disappointed to hear my client say on the way to...
November has been a hard month for me healthwise. Every October, I dutifully schedule a flu shot. Most years, that’s sufficient and I’m generally...
Too often, exceptional customer service is associated with breathless, over-the-top actions by employees that capture headlines such as Ritz-Carlton’s Joshie the Giraffe, Morton’s Steakhouse...
In 1989 Stephen R. Covey’s perennial book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was published. It must have resonated, having sold more than...
Whoever is responsible for the Chicago O’Hare International Airport TSA clearance should be forced to endure the gauntlet himself. This may be the only...
For years, researchers have studied disconnects between sender and receiver in electronic communications. It’s challenging to convey emotion and tone, for instance, via email...
When asked about his approach to work during an interview, the late J.W. Marriott, Sr. said, “There aren’t these two opposites, work and play,...
Henry David Thoreau observed: “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.” I thought about how this...
Many companies have slogans that look good on websites, banners, and buttons, but often these slogans have little credibility among customers or employees. They...
Voltaire, the 18th-century French philosopher, said, “The best is the enemy of the good.” I love this quote because, to me, it highlights the...
Do you work hard? When questioned publicly, an overwhelming majority of us will respond that, yes, we work hard. I’m not sure what the...
I know a successful Denver web designer whose mantra is: “Keep working for the referral.” In other words, even after he gets the business,...
Once, while I was sharing a retail example of exceptional customer service during a seminar in New York City, a participant interrupted to say,...
In 168 BC the Greek ruler Antiochus led an attack on Egypt. Before reaching Alexandria, his path was blocked by a Roman envoy who...
Earlier this month, I read a Wall Street Journal article titled The Art of the Airline Apology. The article features a 2009 study by...
Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame, but greatness, because greatness is determined by service.” To deliver service...
My wife and I recently hosted friends who were in town from Sonoma County in California’s wine country. One evening, the four of us...
Last weekend I emailed the following complaint to the customer service department at The Wall Street Journal: Our Wall Street Journal delivery person has a...
Do you recall the last time you waited in a long line at the supermarket to buy a handful of items with no express...