Customer service expert John Goodman (founder of TARP Worldwide, the world's premier customer experience agency, www.tarp.com; his new book is called Strategic Customer Service) recently shared with some of my colleagues that the cutting edge of customer service is "Psychic Pizza". This simply means that companies anticipate what customers will want (or want to know) next and offer it to them before they ask.  Where does the term "Psychic Pizza" fit in?  Just imagine: Your doorbell rings, you open it, and there's a delivery man with the pizza you were just about to order.  In the customer service world, it's staying totally in touch with your customer -- thanks for your order, regular updates on the status of your order -- it is about to ship, your order has shipped, it is about to arrive, how did you like your order?. Amazon.com does a great job of this. As does Zappos.com and many other major online retailers.

Always trying to save time while taking great care of myself, I recently asked memory expert Cynthia Green (www.memoryarts.com) "If I could do just one thing to keep my brain strong, what would it be?" Any guesses on what she said?  Doing crossword puzzles? Learning a new language or how to play an instrument? Taking certain supplements? Those are the answers that most people first think. But the real secret is... exercise. Putting it simply, your brain needs the nutrients that your blood delivers, so more exercise means more nutrients. Sheree Bykofsky, book agent, author and avid poker player (www.shereebee.com/) was with Cynthia and me during our dinner and she wasn't surprised at all to hear Cynthia's response. In fact, Sheree explained that her secret to winning poker tournaments is to exercise vigorously during the breaks. I love knowing that I'm strengthening my brain even while I'm indulging in a silly movie or "Golden Girls" reruns to distract me while on my exercise bike, or daydreaming during my runs.