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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

When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

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One Question to Prevent a Follow-up Call – 3/3/26

Posted on March 3, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The way some performance metrics work, you would think companies would prefer for their staff to talk to the same customer 4 times on the same topic for 8 minutes each rather than talking to them once for 10 minutes.  Many management metrics are too focused on average length of call rather than reducing the number of callbacks or increasing first call resolution.  It’s a transactional mindset from management that can trickle down to a transactional mindset from staff – where representatives become more focused on getting off the phone quickly than trying to avoid the even more inefficient follow-up call.

But we want to be smarter than that.  We want to be willing to extend a call by 1-2 minutes if it means avoiding 1-2 future calls on the same topic.  So, if there’s One Question you could ask to prevent a follow-up call, what would it be?  Well, I’m going to give you several examples of that “One Question” to ask:

  • Did you get your question answered?
  • Is there anything else I can help you with while we’re talking?
  • Did you get your need fully addressed?
  • What else can I do for you today?
  • Is there anything else you want to know about before we wrap up our call?

 
There’s nothing magical about these questions.  They’re all variations of the same theme.  Even though you think you have fully addressed their need, before you wrap up, convey a little patience.  Uncover whether there’s anything else related to your response that would be good to cover while you have them on the phone.

This One Question could avoid them having to figure out who to call when that other need pops in their mind.  It avoids them having to wade through your call queue and wait to get on the phone with one of your co-workers (or YOU!) again.  It could avoid your teammate having to open the call and close the call and ask all the discovery questions in the middle; it would avoid having the customer repeat themselves to refresh your co-worker on prior discussions. This One Question could avoid your co-worker having to read through all the detailed notes on the prior call for them to get up-to-speed.

Convey patience before the close.  Ask one more question to prevent the follow-up call.

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Everybody Doesn’t – 2/25/25

Posted on February 25, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he was using in working with his customers, his customer service skills were excellent.

Joey appreciated the positive feedback, but he was struggling to figure out what he did that was so special.  He’s not the most outgoing person in the world, not the most gregarious or chatty or social individual.  So, he asked for some specifics from Paula.

She talked about how he’s always patient with the callers on the phone.  He always responds to the emails.  If there was a next step, he always follows up with the customer later on to make sure they were satisfied.  He always touches base with a co-worker when he handed something off just to make sure the co-worker understood things and was able to follow through.  Joey always completed his projects on time, and when he anticipated a delay, he gave his team members a heads up well in advance.

Joey thanked Paula, but then he asked: I’m not sure what is so special about that. Doesn’t everybody do those things?

Paula paused, and then she responded:  Unfortunately, no.  At least not with your consistency.  You are always being patient, always responsive, always following up, always communicating with your co-workers, always managing expectations.  So, no, everybody doesn’t do those things.  At least they don’t do them all the time.

In 2025, “Delighting” the customers or “Delivering a WOW Experience” is great, but you can be special by executing those core customer service actions consistently…by doing them ALL the time.

Become better by becoming even more consistent.

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Fix One Problem without Creating Another – 10/29/24

Posted on October 29, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never seem to be perfect devices that are perfectly installed.

There are issues with the dishwasher not draining.  Certain settings aren’t working.  The water is not heating.  Installation was done incorrectly, leaving holes in the wall behind the dishwasher that are big enough for little varmints to squeeze through.  There are dishes that come out and are not clean, utensils with food still on them…ick!

When Monique had one of these issues, the repair tech was able to come out the same day.  Unfortunately, there was no part available.  But the repair tech was able to place the part order while at Monique’s house.  There was going to be a 4 day wait, but every day the tech would send a quick text or e-mail to Monique, either describing an update on the timing of the part delivery, discussing the repair process and timing, or confirming Monique’s availability for the tech to come back and fix the dishwasher.

Monique had no control over the tech, and the tech had no control over the speed of getting the part delivered.  But there was consistent communication, consistent updates, consistent description of next steps.

When the part arrived, the tech was able to get to Monique’s house quickly because he knew of her availability and she was awaiting the scheduling text.  He was able to fix it quickly, in part because she knew how she needed to clear space in the kitchen for him.  And it was done correctly, because he had brushed up on the most expeditious and quality way to install that part.

Even when you don’t have the perfect part or the perfect timing, there are opportunities to still provide near perfect customer service.

Fix the problem without creating another one.

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