70% of Americans are willing to pay 13% more to businesses that are providing good customer service.

This is according to the American Express Global Customer Service Barometer – and it’s terrific news for companies that understand and use the keys to good customer service.

Unfortunately for businesses, 60% of Americans surveyed say that companies aren’t increasing their focus on providing good customer service – a figure that’s up from 55% in 2010. And, 26% of people believe that companies are in fact paying even less attention to quality service.

One of the top keys to good customer service is using active listening skills.

Find excellent tips on improving your active listening skills here.

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Business model innovation: Apple is doing far more than just selling products. Instead, they’re helping people finding the solutions they need.

Over the past several years, businesses have evolved by becoming more virtual: brick and mortar stores are becoming ecommerce only; musical CDs are becoming less common as people download music from the Internet; and printed books are seeing market share chip away as ebooks command a larger slice of the pie.

Then, there’s Apple. Ten years ago, Apple bucked the trend by opening up brick and mortar stores. They are doing far more than selling computers at these stores, though; they’re also offering business technology solutions.

What about your own business model innovation? How are you getting ahead of the curve?

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