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Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

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Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly – 7/15/25

Posted on July 15, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution.

But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about you.

The more an issue drags on, the more likely the customer is going to call you back, e-mail your co-worker, try to get your boss on the phone.  It’s extra touch points.  Maybe they are just trying to get an update, or maybe they don’t realize that it’s on your To Do List already, or maybe they’re wanting to light a fire by bringing your colleagues into the matter.

Whatever the rationale behind their extra communications, it’s causing you more work, and it could be increasing pressure and stress from inside your organization.

When issues are still open, when they still are not resolved, they are part of your backlog.  They’re part of the things that you need to address.  They become one of those things you have to organize and manage, one of the many actions that you need to track and take.

So, the more open items there are, the more you have to manage, the better organized you have to be, and the more opportunity there is for something to fall through the cracks.

Stress is an emotion that we feel; it’s reflective of pressure that we’re under.  And while stress is a reality of life that we all have to deal with, there are opportunities for us to operate in such a way that we can avoid the causes of some of the stress.

One way to do that is to try to address issues on the spot.  Try to resolve complaints as quickly as possible.  It’s not just great service to the customer, but it’s a good way to serve yourself.

Avoid some stress by addressing issues quickly.

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Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork – 7/8/25

Posted on July 8, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a great handoff look like?

When one division or one person hands off the ball (a need, request, issue) to someone else, the handoff includes details about the customer, the situation, and contact information on the customer.  If anything has been done or next steps have been communicated to the customer, the handoff communication conveys that information, as well.

In addition, one great thing to see in internal handoffs is the message that the employee who is the recipient of the ball conveys back to his or her co-worker:

  • Got it!  We’re reaching out to them this afternoon.
  • Thank you!  We’re going to have one of our account reps call them back within the hour.
  • We’re familiar with this customer and their situation.  This additional information helps.  We’re on it!

 
And next-level internal communications even involve the recipient of the handoff closing the loop with their co-worker after there’s resolution:

  • Just sending you a quick message to let you know we were able to resolve that issue with Mr. Smith.  Thanks for the heads up!
  • We got in touch with Mrs. Jones late yesterday and answered her questions.  Just keeping you in the loop.
  • Had a great talk with the customer that you referred to us yesterday.  We have a game plan moving forward.  Thanks for the quick call and request for support!

 
Customer service is not always about how one employee handles one customer.  It’s often about how a team works together – professionally and positively in a responsive manner – on behalf of that customer.

Be a great teammate to provide great customer service.

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Highlight the Hidden Value – 7/1/25

Posted on July 1, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive…

“For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also provide free shipping!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  You also get this 21st century space age colander.  That’s right!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  If you call in the next 90 minutes, we’ll send you a 3-in-1 corkscrew – that also serves as a laser pointer and a flip chart marker!”

That type of marketing works in some cases.  It provides an in-your-face series of incremental reasons to make a purchase.

But what about those behind-the-scenes series of incremental reasons for the customer to keep their business with your company?

Janine had a new HVAC tech come out to her home to do the quarterly maintenance, and she was impressed with how much time he spent working on the equipment.  She had no idea what he was doing, since he was in the crawl space or working at the outdoor unit all the time, but she was really pleased with the time he took!

Kareem was calling about a charge on his credit card statement that didn’t look familiar.  Not only was the price a number that didn’t ring a bell, but the merchant name didn’t seem like a company he had heard of either.  The customer service representative looked on her system, apparently investigated a lot of details about the transaction, and came back to Kareem with a description of the type of purchase, another name for the merchant business, and a course of action for Kareem to take.  Kareem had no idea how the CSR came up with all this information, but he was very pleased!

These are just two real-life examples of how the customer had a great experience.  They had no idea specifically what the employee was doing on their behalf, but the time investment from the employee and the outcome of the work performed made a huge impact on the customer.  Their impression was that they got great customer service.

It wasn’t in your face marketing that made them so pleased, engendered trust, and built loyalty.  It was the effort on behalf of the customer, the time spent, and the clear next step.

Sometimes the actions the customer never sees are the ones that build value the most.

Understand your hidden value and how much repeat customers appreciate it.

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