Stellar! Adorable! Phenomenal! Hilarious! Sexy! Splendiferous!

Cyndi Lauper bluesified is all that and a whole shitload more. Cyndi brought her phantastic blues band to Milwaukee’s Northern Lights Theater this week and I was blessed to catch the Wednesday night show.

This ultimate rocker chick (and I mean that in the best possible sense of the word) was born to sing the blues, and does so as if she freakin’ invented it. Her amazing album, “Memphis Blues,” is nominated for a Grammy, and we got a powerful dose of what is certain to become a desert island disc.

Backed by an awesome blues band that includes legendary harp player Charlie Musselwhite, Cyndi quite simply blew the roof off, not merely with the music, but with her incredibly engaging manner as a humorist & storyteller. She’s both a consummate entertainer and a lovable superstar.

“Mother Earth” and a slowly soulful “Crossroads” from the new record totally rocked my world. Typically, I’ll listen to an artist’s latest album several times in the days leading up to the show…deliberately not so in this case, cuz I love Cyndi and wanted to experience it for the first time live. All I can say is WOW!

After a 75-minute set that included a priceless tribute to Big Mama Thornton’s version of “Hound Dog,” Cyndi came back and gave us another sixty minutes of encores…and we totally dug it. In addition to rearranged bluesy renditions of her hits, Cyndi delivered an acapella “Silent Night” that would have made me cry if she’d done more than the first verse. Closing the night by reprising “True Colors” after the band left the stage, Cyndi sent us home loving her more than ever.

Undoubtedly one of the funkiest rockers ever, Cyndi’s got a jaw-droppingly spectacular voice, and when she wails on the blues she shines as few can.

As an added bonus, Bob and his terrific team at the Northern Lights Theater provide rock star customer service, making it an absolute treat to see shows at the groovy 500-ish seat venue I’ve grown to love.

Bobby and Phil blew the roof off the UIC Arena last night in Chicago, Rockers!

A 2-hour second set that included the entire “Terrapin” Suite…goodness gracious sakes alive (as Aunt Bea used to say).

Please click here to see my video review, recorded last night right here at the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago. Whenever I stay overnight here in the Windy City, it’s always at the Hard Rock. Iris and the rest of the staff go out of their way to provide Rock & Roll customer service! I absitively love it here!!

“Our strong suit is what we do, and our audience.”~Jerry Garcia

The Grateful Dead understood the tribe is the reason they created an empire, and they have always given us the credit for that.

That’s why The Dead have unprecedented customer loyalty.

I just finished writing The Rock and Roll Guide to Customer Loyalty yesterday. To the best of my knowledge, it’s the first book that interprets customer service & customer loyalty entirely through our favorite musical genre. It will be released this spring.

Part of the reason I haven’t been writing here much lately is cuz my attention has been on completing the book before our vacation.

Speaking of our vacation, we’re leaving tomorrow morning for lovely Belize, which is perfect timing since we just got a foot of snow this week. Another example of the rock & roll gods smiling on me.

Peace, love & joy to all.

I was privileged and honored to speak for Unity Hospice yesterday at their annual staff development luncheon in Green Bay.

These folks do phenomenal work and are the very model of rockin’ customer service. What an amazing group of dedicated, caring, compassionate, loving and absolutely wonderful people!

We had a ton of fun and it was totally groovy to talk to so many of their employees who are diehard rock & rollers. We’re everywhere!

Unity is definitely the newest inductee into my Rockin’ Customer Service Hall of Fame.

The World’s Shortest Customer Service Seminar:

1. Be Nice.

2. Be Helpful.

3. Play Nice in the Sand Box.

It’s not complicated, so why don’t the vast majority of companies get it?

I’ve gotta send out a huge Rock & Roll Thank You to my good friend Phil Gerbyshak.

In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m incredibly lo-tech. While some friends call me Lo-Tech Joe, my wife takes it a step further, saying I make the Amish look hi tech. Consequently, when I was having some problems with Wordpress a few days ago I was totally clueless about how to resolve them. Fortunately, Phil came to the rescue to make everything copacetic within minutes.

Additionally, Phil has more great ideas than just about anyone I know. Check out his blogs:  Make it Great and Slacker Manager.

I had the pleasure this week of traveling to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to speak at the Northwest College Bookstore Association annual convention. Fortunately, it was held at the phenomenal Coeur d’Alene Resort. This is the second time I’ve spoken there and this place is top shelf in every sense of the word.

From the majestic setting (National Geographic calls Lake Coeur d’Alene one of the five most beautiful lakes in the world) to the incredibly friendly, attentive and knowledgeable staff, this place truly delivers. I don’t often write about great customer service because it’s increasingly rare out there, but this resort absolutely rocks it!

I believe we’ll induct the Coeur d’Alene Resort into the Rock & Roll Customer Service Hall of Fame.

Since I spend much of my life traveling the country speaking about creating customer loyalty, I’ve created the new category of Rock & Roll Customer Service based on my personal experiences. Hope you enjoy.

Last week I had the distinct pleasure of working with one of my new favorite companies, Residential Home Health in suburban Detroit. RHH is one of those rare companies that actually walks their talk by delivering outstanding service to all their customers. That includes the forgotten group called internal customers, more commonly called employees.

Led by David Curtis and Joe Mooney, RHH lives their core values in a manner that will revolutionize home healthcare.

As a thank you to the hospitals, caseworkers and doctors that refer them patients, Residential hosted a fabulous appreciation event with yours truly as the keynote speaker. If more companies treated their employees and customers the way Residential Home Health does, customer loyalty would not be the elusive goal that it is for most organizations.

Residential Home Health ROCKS!