Customer Service Tip of the Week

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Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

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Is This Good Customer Service? – 9/29/26

Posted on September 29, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive.

The message said: “You are next!  Your technician, Fred, from Acme Electrical is on their way to your home at [address].”

The text then briefly went on to talk about some personal aspects of Fred, what’s most important to him, something he enjoys doing as a hobby, etc.  It was a short text, it ended by saying that Fred would arrive in about 30 minutes, and it offered a phone number if my friend needed to call the company in the meantime.

The text that my friend forwarded to me was brief considering all the information included.  Along with forwarding the text, she asked me essentially the following question “Is this good customer service?”

I’ll share a few of my thoughts, but click here to e-mail me your thoughts.

In several ways, yes, this is a great example of customer service.  The company was clear on what would happen next.  They set expectations for timing of the visit.  They started the process of personalizing the visit by sharing the name of the tech and offering some information about him.  They kept it informal but professional.

The company set the table for a great experience.  Now, reality has to meet or exceed the expectations the company set.  How will the conversation flow?  What will be the timeliness in the process?  What attitude will be conveyed by the tech?  Will the person be respectful of the customer and her home?

Every time there is a customer touchpoint, there is an opportunity to provide a certain level of customer service.  In this texted touchpoint, the company was very intentional about trying to lay the groundwork for a positive, pleasant, personalized, professional visit.

Consider all your touchpoints, not just those face-to-face moments of truth.  Look for ways to build in the expectations for the quality of customer service that you want to consistently deliver.

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Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors – 9/22/26

Posted on September 22, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from the customer, and that earful is sometimes a complaint about a co-worker or his company or something else that occurred before Jackie was ever personally involved in the situation.

After conducting some small group role plays during the training, I asked for volunteers to recognize one of their co-workers who did an especially good job playing the role of the employee dealing with an angry customer.  The person who volunteered to share kudos decided to recognize Jackie.

She said that Jackie was presented with the complaining customer, who was griping about something having nothing to do with Jackie himself, and Jackie’s co-worker complimented him for what he said during the role play:  “Thank you for sharing what happened.  Even though I was not involved with the issue, I am here now, and I will help you find a solution.”

What impressed Jackie’s co-worker during the role play was that he took ownership of the situation.  He noted – but didn’t harp on the fact – that he didn’t cause the problem.  Jackie didn’t get defensive with the customer.  Jackie was not argumentative.

Instead of focusing on the past, Jackie took ownership, took responsibility for moving toward a future resolution.

Sometimes we get fixated on the definition of ownership being taking blame or responsibility for our own mess ups.  But ownership is also incredibly vital in customer service when it involves taking ownership for resolving the errors of others.

Take ownership over resolutions when dealing with others’ errors.

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Why “No” is So Important – 9/15/26

Posted on September 15, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question.

The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing with the employee that the customer’s approach would work.

The employee reacted with: “I’m sorry, Mr. Smith.  We likely cannot have it done by then.”  The customer asked to talk to the supervisor – somebody they felt could make that timeline happen.

The reality is that the employee knew that the request was not possible, knew that the method proposed by the customer wouldn’t work, knew that the customer’s requested deadline could not be met.  However, the employee phrased that knowledge without certainty or confidence. 

So, You’re Telling Me…

There’s a famous scene in the movie Dumb and Dumber where Jim Carrey’s character is told by someone he’s interested in that there’s “like one out of a million” chance she’d go out with him.  Carrey’s character responds: “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

When “No” is the true answer, but we are not clear on the No, many customers take that as: “So, you’re telling me there’s a chance?”

Professionally Say “No” and Offer a Plan B

There is a way to be professional and say “No.”  There is a phrasing you can use to be empathetic and say “No.”  There’s a way to use the word “No” or “Unfortunately not” or “We cannot,” and have it received well with empathy and with the transition to what might be a Plan B.

Maybe that Plan B does not occur in the exact timeline the customer wants.  Maybe Plan B is not the exact step-by-step process that the customer would like, but if you convey that you’re still getting them to the end goal, they may be more open to the initial No than you realize.

Don’t be afraid to professionally say “No” to the customer.

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