My wife, Sally, and I recently toured Napa Valley to visit the California wineries featured in a famous 1976 tasting in Paris. California wines won both the red and white categories, despite the fact that all the judges were French. The theme made for a fun trip, but we also discovered these wineries knew the Three Ways to Wow: build relationships, solve problems, and go the extra mile.

Sunday was the last night in Alexandria for my training project, and I had dinner my colleagues Ken and Vin along with Vin's wife Wendy. Vin and Wendy are from Toronto, Canada, so it was interesting to hear their perspective on the global economy as well as politics in the United States. As trainers, our conversation naturally turned to the role that learning professionals are playing in today's companies. One point we all agreed on was action doesn't equal performance.

Companies are often searching for ways to delight their customers, increase incremental sales, and reduce their inventory of low-volume or one-off items. These goals are typically pursued individually, but there's no reason you can't achieve all three at once. The secret is connecting your customer's personal interests with your unique inventory items. Here are three steps to take to use personal service to increase special sales and deepen customer engagement.

Today was the fifth consecutive Monday morning I had met someone for coffee. Each meeting was a great conversation, has yielded new ideas and resources, and has started my week on a very positive note. These meetings have also caused me to take my own advice -- continuously learn from those around you. As a result, I have not had a case of the Monday's in over a month.

Last week I made a short post about customer service email response times and vowed to do a little (unscientific) research on the subject. Twenty four hours is a standard response time, but there's a little more to it.