Customer Service Tip of the Week

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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

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

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It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” – 9/8/26

Posted on September 8, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 weight the mix of I/You so the focus was more on You and less on the I.  We needed to make sure that the e-mail’s audience felt like we were focused on them more than ourselves.  Feel that we’re more concerned with sharing information with them, helping them to get their needs met, instead of talking about everything we were doing or focusing on ourselves.

Obviously, the topic at hand can impact what that mix of I and You should be, but her point was really more about the feeling that the reader was taking away from the document.  She wanted the reader to feel like they were important, they were the priority.

The people who are great at customer service know how to use an “I.”  When they’re ending a call with the customer, they ask: Is there anything else I can do to help?

When they’re leaving a planning meeting, they state: Please let me know how I can best support this project.

When there is a complaint, they’ll say: I’m so sorry to hear about the situation.

It’s always best when you’re serving others to use terminology that conveys a focus on that other person.  It’s equally important to use the “I” verbiage when you are conveying your interest in helping, when you are seeking to support the team, when you’re taking responsibility for an issue.

Be conscious of the use of You and I to deliver the right tone in your customer and team conversations.

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

Posted on September 1, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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.  The customer is generic, not unique individually.  This is a transaction, not anything more.

In sports, we look at that customer – that account holder whose ticket for an individual basketball game might cost $100.  But the average account has 2.5 tickets.  There are 41 home games in the season, and the average account lasts for 5.3 years.  So, we can view that conversation as a generic customer or a $100 ticket, or we could realize that the lifetime value of the relationship with the person I’m speaking with is $54,325.

We’re working in the water utility call center, and somebody is calling in to ask how to use our ePortal, or they’re complaining about a high bill.  We noticed that their average bill is $75.  We could view this person as somebody who is asking a question we’ve gotten 100 times, we’re just trying to give them the standard response.  Or we can realize that the average homeowner will end up living in our community for close to 30 years.  Therefore, in today’s dollars, that $75 monthly bill equates to an account worth $27,000.

It shouldn’t matter whether this is a $100 ticket or a $54,000 account.  It shouldn’t matter whether this is a $75 invoice or a $27,000 account.  But for many of us, it does matter.

For many of us in customer service, it affects our mindset.  If we go into every interaction just viewing this as a transaction or somebody asking me a question or presenting me with an issue, it can feel routine, not interesting or unique, and sometimes that indifference in our mind can come across as indifference in our tone of voice and interaction with that customer.

So, it’s sometimes beneficial to get that phone call from the season ticket holder, and realize this is somebody who has $54,000 in value in ticket purchases alone.  It’s beneficial to think about this water utility customer as somebody who is contributing $27,000 to the municipality.

It shouldn’t matter, but sometimes it helps to get us in the right mindset when we see the true lifetime value of the customers we serve.

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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.

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