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Small Biz Survival
  • customer service | mistakes

    I wanted to give him my card

    February 19, 2009August 27, 2014

    You are thinking business card, right? I mean after reading that title?Nope. I’m talking about giving someone my gift card, for coffee. This week I almost ran out of a coffee shop to give a frustrated customer my giftcard for the place because they hadn’t been served well. The store’s mistake and I wanted to…

    Read More I wanted to give him my cardContinue

  • entrepreneurship | ideas

    From ideas to world changing

    January 29, 2009August 27, 2014

    “ideas? easy. remembering them? harder. doing them? still harder. more than once? grueling. and world-changing.”Jon Swanson, via Twitter  Photo by Jon Swanson, used by permission. New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

    Read More From ideas to world changingContinue

  • customer service

    okay coffee, great customer service.

    January 22, 2009August 27, 2014

    I drink a lot of coffee. So when we saw the sign that said, “World’s best coffee” at the Coldwater, Michigan exit from I-69, I decided that we had to stop later in the day. Nancy and I were going to her folks to return a computer that I had been working on. It’s a…

    Read More okay coffee, great customer service.Continue

  • customer service | mistakes

    There is always something

    January 15, 2009August 27, 2014

    By Jon Swanson We have a local mechanic. He’s a nice guy. We’ve talked often over the last few years, more often than I would like some months. He does the work. He’s nearby. He’s friendly. But almost every time there is work to be done…I have to go back. Something is missed. A bill…

    Read More There is always somethingContinue

  • customer service

    No questions asked

    January 7, 2009August 27, 2014

    By Jon Swanson We were out for dinner with eighty of our closest friends. The server spilled on Nancy’s coat, the cream sauce from the stuffed mushrooms. She immediately got her manager. James came over. Apologized clearly and specifically.  He told us to get it cleaned, laughed with others at our table who asked for…

    Read More No questions askedContinue

  • marketing

    Thinking differently about common tools

    November 1, 2008August 27, 2014

    I’m from a big town. 300,000 people live within 14 miles of me. It’s almost the smallest town I’ve lived in. When I look at a placemat like this, I think “small town.” It’s an advertising medium designed for people without access to or budgets for large media. It’s an advertising medium designed for diners…

    Read More Thinking differently about common toolsContinue

  • marketing

    237 Authors in one giant Age of Conversation

    October 29, 2008August 27, 2014

    It takes a truly collaborative spirit to bring together 237 authors from 15 countries for a not-for-profit book. That’s the Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It? Contributor Jon Swanson and I each wrote a chapter. Jon gave a preview of his part in Talking Together. A little bit of mine is at…

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  • customer service | mistakes

    Missing the train

    September 11, 2008August 27, 2014

    I knew where I was going in the big box office supplies store. I go there regularly, though not often enough that my face is known. When I got to the aisle I needed, I walked past two employees. They were deep in conversation. I quickly figured out that one was probably in training. As…

    Read More Missing the trainContinue

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