Customer Service Tip of the Week

Home  /  Use What the Customer Gives You – 8/25/26  /  Customer Service Tip of the Week

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

When They Might Walk Out the Door…Permanently- 7/21/26


Have you ever had one of those conversations with the customer where they literally tell you they’re about to stop doing business with your company?  This is it.  They may bring up a competitor or found another way to get their need met, or they are just leaving. When we Read more

Transparency in Customer Service- 7/14/26


We’ve worked with a lot of clients in the local government sector, and many of these clients have Customer Service Standards and/or corporate values that include Transparency. Think about an old-fashioned transparency sheet, that malleable see-through page you put on an overhead projector.  You can see everything on one side Read more

See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26


That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next. But in the life Read more

Gaining the Benefits of the Greeter- 6/30/26


Most likely, we’ve all entered some establishment – a retail store, restaurant, or service center - when there is a greeter at the door.  The most famous greeter position is probably the Walmart greeter.  I often thought that my father-in-law would have been a fantastic Walmart greeter, because he Read more

Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

•••••

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

Posted on August 25, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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, got the customer’s e-mail address, and created a new message.  The employee thanked the customer for the e-mail, stated that they understood the customer needed some help, and asked what they needed help doing.

Scenario #2: A customer called a pet store asking if they had an item in stock.  The employee said: “We are out of stock, and we just got a shipment in, but I’m not sure when they’ll be unloaded.”

While the customer was still on the phone, the employee could be heard talking to their manager about the shipment.  The manager got on the phone and said: “How can I help you?”

Good v. Great Customer Service

These two scenarios highlight a difference between good and great customer service.  In neither situation was the service bad.  However, in Scenario #1, the customer was explicit about their need, but the response was generic.  Therefore, the customer would have to reiterate their need and wait on the response.  The employee could have done some research, provided an answer in the e-mail, and offered additional information or a follow-up phone call, if needed.

In the second Scenario, the customer was explicit with their question, and the manager was involved in the conversation with one of his employees, but the manager got on the phone with a question that implied they knew nothing about the situation.  Therefore, the customer would have to reiterate their question and wait on the response.

There are customer service handoffs and transitions.  It might be from a generic inbox to an individual representative.  It might be from an employee to a co-worker.  But frustration can occur when the customer took time to convey the specifics, and it’s as if the specifics were ignored.  That they’d have to restate what they already shared.  That their voice wasn’t heard.

Go from good to great by sharing and acting on the information the customer has already given.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


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

Posted on August 18, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 gets their question answered in one contact.
  • The customer gets consistent information from their mailings, the website, and staff.
  • They get to choose how they want to communicate with your business.
  • They don’t have to wait long to talk with someone.
  • They are comfortable with what they need to do next or how to take action.

 
Note that this is what the customer wants, but each has a benefit to you and your organization.

Getting the question answered in one contact means fewer handoffs between employees, less room for error or issues.  Consistent information builds customer trust and reduces the number of customer calls seeking answers or conveying confusion.

Allowing the customer to have multiple options to contact your business reduces their frustration of not being able to send an e-mail ifs they want, doing a video chat if they want, using self-service options when that’s their preference.  Short waits mean that there’s less of a chance the customer is frustrated with the process when they eventually get to you, so you’re dealing with fewer irate customers.  And the more comfortable they are with the next steps, the less likely they are to ask you a series of questions, to call back repeatedly, to expect you to do something for them.

Instead of just reacting to the customers’ issues, creating a great customer experience can actually help your lives to be a little bit better.

Provide a better customer experience to create a better employee experience.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


Manage New Customer Expectations – 8/11/26

Posted on August 11, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 used to having to park far away at the race, not used to delays because of the weather, and not used to dealing with the heat or the elements or whatever Mother Nature would toss out at any point in time.

The local municipality has leadership that focuses on providing cost-effective services.  They want to keep the taxes down.  They want to be efficient.  The community has grown by 50% over the last 15 years, with the vast majority of the residents coming from the Northeast and the West Coast.  Those residents are used to having more municipal services, more frequent trash and recycling pickup, more same day appointments available.  And when they try to get those services done, or done more frequently, or done same day, they’re often irritated by the fact that the municipality does not do what others did elsewhere.

When you’re dealing with new customers, you’re often dealing with people who have expectations, but they’re not necessarily basing those expectations on previous experience with your company.  They’re often basing their experiences on similar but different activities, different services, different locales.

We can’t assume “how we do things around here” is realistic to them because they’ve not been “around here” before.

View every new customer as someone with – likely – different expectations than your repeat customers.  And, as we’ve said many times before, the gap between expectations and reality could be a problem.

Proactively set realistic expectations with new customers.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ... 226 227   Next »