The S.A.L.T. and Pepper Weblog

One of the most common requests we hear from readers of our book SALT & PEPPER is to summarize and publish all of the personal and customer service rules for success hidden in Hank’s story.  We try to not disappoint our readers so we asked Hank to share with us his secrets for success. Here [...]

WOW! Sometimes the planets align and you come across an incredibly powerful example of something you have been passionate about for a long, long time.  Tonight, while watching television at home in Boston, a Walmart commercial came on and I am still choked up and inspired about it.  The main character in the commercial, William [...]

Over the years we have been asking team members at various organizations and on various teams one simple leadership question.  That question is: Why do you follow your leader? We hear many answers so we have listed 50 of the most common answers below. Here is our suggestion for how to use this list for [...]

We have had many requests for excerpts of our book: SALT & PEPPER: Hank Davis’ Recipe For Success in Retail and Beyond. So, as the old saying goes; “ask and you shall receive.”  Here is Chapter One in PDF format. Chapter One: SALT & PEPPER: Hank Davis’ Recipe For Success in Retail and Beyond Enjoy [...]

The SALT & Pepper Group recently announced its first publicly available research report, the Retail Service Quality Investigation (a.k.a. the RSQI). Some members of the press who covered the RSQI’s release ascribed it a very condemning message, but although some of the report’s results should certainly cause retail executives some concern, the real message in the [...]

During a recent conversation with a colleague we discussed the differences between the terms “customer service” and “customer experience.”  Interestingly enough, the conversation was sparked by a question asked by one of our new friends on Twitter.  After going back and forth for quite some time we decided to agree on 5 key points.  They [...]

Our Parent Company got  a little front page press this week from our great friend Heather Landy and the team at the American Banker.  Congratulations to the team at Citigroup for taking their games to the next level! Here is the story! Fortune Tellers: How Retail Banks’ Front Lines Swing Bottom Line By Heather Landy [...]

Finally!  A very specific and effective approach for getting people involved is always what we are looking for in our research, whether that research be formal or anecdotal as this example is. This is what becoming world class is all about!  I am so excited to write this post as I recently befriended one of [...]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704080104575287153987995176.html?mod=wsj_share_twitter There was no real need for us to add to this story either.  We are not trying push an agenda so we will allow this story to speak for itself and, hopefully, we will allow this story to speak for us. One comment and one comment only: No matter how much technology we invent [...]

A fantastic article from Maria Hanson from LiveCareer! This is a great article and it reminds us about the amount of human productivity and energy that is wasted on a daily basis.  We really need to get focused and we really need to pay attention to what we create for ourselves as a personal brand. [...]