Chip Bell

Consultant, speaker, and author

Chip Bell has helped companies dramatically enhance their bottom lines and marketplace reputation through innovative customer-centric strategies. For the sixth year in a row, Global Gurus in 2020 ranked Bell as one of the top three keynote speakers in the world on customer service. Bell has authored 24 books; seven are international best sellers. His latest book, Inside Your Customer’s Imagination: 5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions (Berrett-Koehler, 2020), shows how co-creation partnerships enable you to tap into the treasure trove of ideas, ingenuity, and genius-in-the-raw within every customer.

Mon, 10/29/2018 - 12:26
Give Your Customers ‘Crayons’ to Decorate Their ExperiencesCustomers want more than service. They want happenings.
Mon, 10/07/2024 - 12:02
The Madison, a historic hotel overlooking the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee, was rebranded into a modern hotel. It was, in some ways, a sad event. Memphis is the birthplace of the blues, and the Madison was my introduction to the powerful…
All I Need to Know About Customer Experience I Learned From a Jack Nicholson MovieHow movie lines inspire customer care
Wed, 09/11/2024 - 12:01
The diner scene from the 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces appeared in many customer service training classes. Do you recall Bobby Dupea (played by Jack Nicholson) trying to order a plain omelet with a side order of wheat toast? He ran straight into: “No…
Take Out Your Customers’ TrashCreating less hassle and gaining customer loyalty
Thu, 08/01/2024 - 12:02
‘T ake out the papers and the trash.” That was the opening line of the song “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters. It spent weeks as the No. 1 hit in 1958. Teenagers everywhere wore out their shoes dancing to the hot song. The lyrics hold a strong message…
Customer Fog: The Real Reason Customers LeaveFinding and fixing the problem
Tue, 07/23/2024 - 12:02
The cost of acquiring a new customer can be five to 10 times the cost of keeping an existing customer, depending on the industry. You already knew that. But while most organizations know why their customers opened the exit door, they devote little…
Do Your Customer Experiences Feature Unicorns?Making customer service memorable
Tue, 05/16/2023 - 12:02
‘I write children’s books because there are no unicorns in adult literature, and today’s world needs unicorns.” The quote came from renowned children’s book author Jackson Pearce at a weekend writers retreat sponsored by Georgia Writers Museum. The…
Refocusing Your Customer-Facing AssociatesWe need a concerted leadership effort to refocus on the ‘served’ instead of the ‘server’
Mon, 01/31/2022 - 12:02
It all started when we drove up to the speaker menu at a quick-service restaurant. “Can I take your order?” the attendant coldly barked. When my wife, on hearing the deep voice of the attendant, politely said, “Thank you, sir,” she got back a sharp…
Give Your Customers ‘The Knife’It’s a recommendation to walk with your customer on the wild side
Wed, 12/08/2021 - 12:02
One of my favorite Halloween memories was decorating the annual giant pumpkin with my son when he was young. As a toddler, he was primarily an observer as he watched me sculpt the face of the pumpkin with a scrimp knife. However, his commitment to…
Necessity Is the Mother of Customer Co-CreationYou will need all the half-baked, slightly wild ideas you can get
Tue, 09/28/2021 - 12:02
Necessity is the mother of invention. And few things are more necessary to the success of an organization than customers. Leave that thought on the page, and we will return to it shortly. Napoleon knew that a military force’s success directly…
What Leaders Can Learn From Crazy Horse, Part 2Leaders boldly take initiative, not out of duty or response to command, but from a strong sense of purpose
Tue, 07/06/2021 - 12:02
When you played cowboys and Indians as a kid, did you want to be the cowboy or the Indian? I wanted to be the Indian. All the ones I saw in comic books had super-cool moccasins and could move around with their bow and arrows without making a sound.…
What Leaders Can Learn From Crazy Horse, Part 1Great leaders do not reflect but rather radiate energetic passion
Mon, 06/07/2021 - 12:02
We live in an era of statue removal. Meanwhile the largest mountain carving in the world is under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota just 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The final carving will be 640 feet long and more than 50 stories…