August 30, 2008
24-minute interview with Jack Mitchell, author of Hug Your Customers and Hug Your People. Jack gives specifics about creating customer service cultures, based on his experience as CEO of Mitchells/Richards/Marshs, three highly successful clothing stores on the East Coast. Jack tailored his responses to the nonprofit audience, so people who work at museums and similar sites should find many useful ideas about how to shift their own internal cultures towards customer service.
August 2, 2008
26-minute interview with Susie Wilkening, Curator of Museum Audiences for Reach Advisors, a market research firm based in New England. Wilkening discusses how to learn from visiting the mall, and trends they’re seeing in audience research, like authenticity and the rising power of Gen Y women.
May 22, 2008
20-minute interview with Michael Lee Stallard, author of Fired Up or Burned Out. Michael’s firm, E Pluribus Partners, consults with companies on how to increase connection amongst employees. Connection increases productivity and reduces turnover. It also helps companies—and their employees—thrive while creating great customer experiences.
April 18, 2008
36-minute interview with Dr. John Falk on the role identity plays in visitors’ desire to visit museums. John is a Free-Choice Learning Professor at Oregon State University and founder of the Institute for Learning Innovation. He is the co-author of several books on informal learning, including The Museum Experience, Learning from Museums, and Thriving in the Knowledge Age. Here he discusses five “identities” museum visitors have that shape their actions, how they learn, and how they use museums. Towards the end we talk about how his research can be applied to museums today to create a better fit between what museums offer and what visitors are looking for.
February 20, 2008
Examine Your Practice is a medical mystery shopping service to improve patient experiences. Founder Jodi Manfredi talks about how her business works and what she’s learned about improving patient experiences, including some easy things that owners can do themselves. 19 minutes.