Customer Service Tip of the Week | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 8

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

The Miracle of an Apology - 3/19/24


Unfortunate but true story… The manager basically lost his mind.  He terminated his employee on the spot.  She had told the customer that there was going to be a delay in the shipment.  The employee called up the customer ahead of time to let the customer know what was about Read more

It’s Not About the 5-Minute Wait - 3/12/24


Robert went into his supervisor’s office to update her on a situation at the payment desk.  Robert said that a customer was about fourth or fifth in line, waiting to be served, and the customer was complaining loudly about the wait.  He was there to make a property tax Read more

Lessons from the Greats - 3/5/24


I was recently facilitating a workshop on the customer experience, and I made the point that it’s usually beneficial to look at your personal life for great experiences; identify what really resonates with you in a positive way in order to uncover ideas to improve your own customer service. So, Read more

The Empathy Roadmap - 2/27/24


For some people, empathy comes naturally.  There’s an innate desire to learn about the other person and to sincerely convey that sense of interest and caring.  But for many of us, sometimes it helps to have a communication plan.  It helps to know what to do in order to Read more

“You’re the Boss” - 2/20/24


Terrence is excellent at what he does.  From a technical standpoint, he knows how to keep the facility clean.  He’s the lead custodian, and he knows that keeping things straight does not necessarily mean keeping things sanitary.  He knows what chemicals to use and not to use, how to Read more

Customer Understanding Leads to Relationship Growth - 2/13/24


We’ve worked with educational organizations at all grade levels over the years.  One special and unique characteristic about the staff who work in these organizations is that there’s a clear intent to know about the students as individuals, to focus on them rather than purely focusing on what’s delivered Read more

Define Customer Service Success Differently - 2/6/24


When I’m watching television, listening to the radio, or listening to a podcast, it’s always interesting when the topic moves to the question:  How can you be a success?  The speakers often discuss the process of becoming a success with the assumption that people believe success is defined by Read more

Care Enough to Give Them a Heads Up - 1/30/24


Nothing bad at all might happen.  Every day in the office could seem like every other day.  Sights and sounds and smells might continue to be the same.  But we have a lot of construction going on around our offices, and the building manager knows the type of work Read more

Be Better than AI Customer Service - 1/23/24


There was a recent CBS Sunday Morning Show story called: How artificial intelligence is revamping customer call centers. The journalist described how artificial intelligence is being used in customer service, and he noted the millions of pieces of information that can be processed in a matter of seconds. There are clear Read more

I Did This…For You – 10/31/23

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Michelle needed to run by the grocery store during her lunch break, and because it’s October in the USA, that means it’s Halloween month!  Fittingly, the grocery store had every shape and size of a pumpkin you can imagine; there was even this small basket of mini pumpkins.

They were very cute – with a wide body and a long stem on top.  Michelle immediately thought of a co-worker who was having a bad day; the co-worker’s morning presentation didn’t go well, and he had a lot of work to get cleaned up by day’s end.  Michelle picked up one of the small pumpkins, put it in her shopping basket, and bought it for her co-worker.

When she got back to the office, Michelle walked up to her co-worker’s desk and set the pumpkin down.  Michelle said:  I got this mini pumpkin for you.

Her co-worker looked down at the pumpkin, then up to Michelle, smiled, and said thanks.

Now, I’m sure many of you do things for co-workers and customers every single day.  It’s a task, it’s an action, you’re giving them information or handing over some product.  You’re having a conversation with the other person.

And believe it or not, the simple phrase for you makes a big difference to them:

  • I tracked down a status update for you.
  • I verified that the transaction went through for you.
  • I pulled this quick summary together for you.
  • I’m going to submit this request now for you.
  • I initiated the return for you.
  • I booked the conference room for you.
  • I followed up on that item for you.
  • I got this mini pumpkin for you.

 
With most of us, having somebody do something for us is a wonderful thing, but we might not fully realize or appreciate what they did unless there was some verbal reinforcement of the action.  And when that verbal reinforcement includes for you, it makes us feel special, it makes us feel like we got a little gift.

When you do something for others, weave in the phrase “For You.”

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Make Deposits with Your Customer – 10/24/23

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Carrie has a 50+ hour a week job, and – financially – she does better than many.  She’s in the media, but she doesn’t like everything to be public.  Carrie’s a real person with real issues and real needs and real gifts, as well.

One day, her best friend, the person that knows her best as well, asked Carrie a simple question: Why do you give so much to other people?

You see, Carrie has paid people’s rent when they were in a tough position.  She has paid others’ medical expenses and taken care of other life necessities.  And typically the only person that knew what she did was the person she was helping.  Sometimes she helped others anonymously, so even that person did not know.

Her best friend knew of Carrie’s giving because she pieced it all together, story by story, understanding how all the people helped somehow had some deep or tangential relationship to Carrie.  So, the friend asked Carrie the question, and Carrie gave the answer.

Carrie said: I always like to put in deposits because it’s the right thing to do, and I’m able to do it.  But also, I know, someday I’m going to have to make some withdrawals, and it’s probably going to be easier to make some withdrawals if I’ve built up a bank account of goodwill.

That’s a long story to make a short point about customer service.

When we do the bare minimum for the customer, we are providing a product or service. We are giving them the commodity they’re purchasing.  But when we do a little bit more – when we give them a little bit more time, when we show them a little bit more patience, when we reach out to them just to check in even when it’s not really necessary – We are making deposits.

And every business at some point in time is going to mess up, where our action or inaction will be a withdrawal from the account we have with that customer.  So, let’s give a little extra at every opportunity, and maybe when we make a mistake, the customer will be fine with us making that withdrawal.

Keep making deposits with your customer.

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Find Their Future Motivators – 10/17/23

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We’ve provided fan experience and customer retention consulting in professional sports for a couple decades now.  One of our professional basketball clients was the Miami Heat.  We were working with them just a year or so after they had acquired superstar Shaquille O’Neal.  When they signed him, ticket sales went through the roof. That often happens in pro sports – where the superstar will immediately drive higher revenue and attendance.

One of the recommendations we made to the team was to make sure they were honing in on those people who bought season tickets right after O’Neal was signed, developing relationships with them, and trying to uncover what else would motivate them to stay.  The main point I was making was that O’Neal was not going to be on the team forever, and you don’t want what motivated the season ticket holders to buy tickets (his presence on the team) to be the only reason that they stay as season ticket holders.

You don’t want them to leave immediately after he leaves.

That’s the case with many of our customers.  What motivated them to initially engage our business may not be what motivates them to stay, and oftentimes it shouldn’t be what motivates them to stay.  If a discount or a 1-time feature or benefit is the initial hook, that motivation is fleeting, and we don’t want the customer to flee when that motivation is gone.

One of the key drivers of retention is obviously what brought the customer to your business, but uncover other reasons for them being there.  Ensure that you find out what’s most important to the customer about their engagement with your business, because those reasons, as well, are retention drivers.

Even beyond the reason you acquire their business, make sure you uncover the other reasons why customers stay with you.

Find Their Future Motivators.

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