retention | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 27

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

Don’t Fight the Fan

Posted on in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Don’t pick a fight with a customer. Don’t throw a baseball at them. Don’t kick a football in their direction. Don’t smack a slapshot over their head.

In the article Flyers touching third rail of fan relations, Phil Sheridan gives multiple examples of players chastising fans for complaining (about the play on the ice or a sign outside a stadium or performance on the field). The crux of the article is that it’s a big risk for a player to attack (verbally or otherwise) fans just because the fans are complaining. Even though many athletes don’t think fans understand what’s it’s like to be in their shoes, many athletes don’t understand the fan’s perspective, but they should be willing to learn.

When fans are passionate, they can impact a game. When they care for a team or club, they’ll spend money on them. And when fans impact a game or they spend money, they impact the organization and its players.

It’s the same thing with any other business. Customers have opinions, and if they care enough to voice those opinions, they’re conveying their passion. But they’re also giving you advice (on what to do differently or how to interact and engage them differently). The customers are sharing their expectations. And if customers care enough to complain, we need to care enough to encourage that dialogue and listen.

Studies have shown that customers are far more likely to stick with you if they complain than if they have an issue and don’t complain. They are far more like to stick with you if you address their issue than if you don’t.

Let the fan talk, vent, complain. Listen and learn. Encourage dialogue. Because if there’s dialogue, that means they’re engaged. When the dialogue stops, that’s when you should start to worry because that might indicate apathy and a lost customer.

Don’t shut down customer complaints.

If you liked this, you might like our podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” called “Take a Football Approach to Culture Change

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Grow Your Slice of the Pie

Posted on in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Shareholders like earnings. People like pizza. So how do you get better earnings in a pizza firm?

According to Domino’s Pizza CEO Patrick Doyle in this article on cnbc.com, it’s about “retention and customer satisfaction.” The company’s 4th quarter net income rose to $30.9 million. He also addressed how social media has allowed more 1-to-1 communications with customers.

Not every business lives and breathes customer retention, and much of that is because those that don’t live and breathe customer retention instead live for the new conquest, the new sale, the new client. It doesn’t have to be an either/or thing – retention v. the new sale – but it’s something businesses need to debate. And the debate needs to start with this one question – how much of next year’s revenue will (or should) come from this year’s customers?

Any understanding of the importance of customer retention starts with an intentional determination of the financial impact of retention. So how much of a slice of the revenue pie comes from past customers? How can you increase that slice? What’s your retention target? What drives their loyalty? How can you grow relationships with them? And when they leave, how do you find opportunities to get them back?

Answer these questions to grow your slice of the pie.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


Banking on Deposits Requires More Than Acquisitions

Posted on in Business Advice, Carolinas Please leave a comment

Many small banks are trying to increase their core deposits, relying less on fees to generate revenue. And while this is a good thing for many banks, there needs to be a retention component to the core deposit growth strategy.

In the article Small Charlotte-area banks get creative in boosting core deposits, Adam O’Daniel makes the point that small banks in the Carolinas are attempting to increase core deposits (i.e., local deposits) to help fund growth because of their stable nature; remember that cash that comes in from loans or short-term investments creates more variability, uncertainty, and risks for banks than cash from core deposits.

The way many of these banks are growing core deposits is through acquisition. The concept is that if the small banks buy even smaller banks in small towns, the acquirer would have that stable cash flow for a long period of time to fund other activities. Without getting too much into the minutia, here’s the key customer retention-related point – just as banks have acquisition strategies to buy other banks, they need culture-oriented strategies and client retention and growth strategies which address the employees and customers they acquire.

Internally, these banks need to be looking at how they retain the small town staff that have formed the relationships with the customers – because the customer relationship and loyalty may be more with “my Teller, Betty” than with “Bank XYZ.” The banks need to ensure that executives are incented for retention just as much as profits, since the acquisition assumed that the core deposits would be retained. And the banks need to have processes in place to quickly analyze and get to know their new customers, build relationships with them, and proactively seek to grow those relationships once retention is solid.

When trying to grow through acquisition, make sure you’re not going to lose the good employees and solid clients you acquire. Understand what drives loyalty at the local level.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/