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Don’t Begin with the Dead End in Mind - 2/17/26


Habit #2 of Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Successful People” is “Begin with the End in Mind.”  It speaks to the need to have a clear vision or goal for what you’re trying to ultimately achieve, so you understand the purpose of what you’re doing.  It helps you Read more

Explain without Over Explaining - 2/10/26


The customer has a question, and we have an answer.  They need to learn something, and we’re in the position to be the educator.  There’s a process they have to go through, and we need them to understand. We know so much, and we could impart so much, but sometimes Read more

Look for a Stop Sign - 2/3/26


As a customer service professional, what you say matters.  The information you’re providing is useful.  The direction you’re giving the other person is helpful.  But... As you’re speaking, you also need to be reading.  Reading the other person.  Watching the customer, determining whether and how they’re receiving what you’re sharing.  Read more

When They Want the Supervisor - 1/27/26


Maybe you did your best with the customer, or maybe the customer didn’t even give you a chance.  They want to talk to your supervisor.  They see you, notice your title does not have “supervisor” or “manager” or “director” or “President and CEO” in it, so they want to Read more

Identify Your Point of Empathy - 1/20/26


I was watching a webinar recently on empathy.  The speaker mentioned that empathy - to a large extent - is something that you are born with.  It’s something that’s very difficult to learn.  And while I agree that some people are predisposed to being empathetic and understanding of others Read more

Pressure is a Privilege, but... - 1/13/26


When athletes are asked about the pressure of a playoff match or a late-game situation, many times they will say that “pressure is a privilege.”  In other words, usually pressure exists because you’re in a match that matters most.  It exists because you are a player put in a Read more

While I’ve Got You on the Phone… - 1/6/26


I’m a big planner.  Whether it’s strategic planning or planning out the year or planning my week first thing on a Monday morning, I like to plan.  I do this because it gets all of my action items documented and ensures that I have some understanding of what I Read more

Pass the Quick Impression Test - 12/30/25


Some studies have shown that people create an impression of you in less than a second when they first meet you face-to-face.  Other studies have shown that that initial impression can take up to 7 seconds.  Regardless, first impressions are quick.  First impressions are not always the lasting impression, Read more

2025 Holiday Poem - 12/23/25


We hear the word change And that change can be good, But we like things to stay same, And sometimes they should.   The weather can be wet And then dry as a bone. We know things will change, Even if all left alone.   Our customers change. Our co-workers do, too. It seems like our resources Are often too few.   The technology Read more

Make the Long Wait Feel Shorter - 12/16/25


When Greg entered the Tax Office, he was thinking only about two things: (1) How he was going to get the tax value on his home reduced, and (2) Whether the wait would be 1 hour or 2.  He checked in with the navigator who asked a few questions, Read more

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Customer Service Leads to Customer Involvement in Schools

Posted on May 18, 2010 in Business Advice, Carolinas, Education Please leave a comment

Several South Carolina schools were given "Red Carpet" awards for excellence in customer service. That’s right, high schools, middle schools, elementary, and other school-types received recognition for being "family friendly." An article (http://www2.scnow.com/scp/news/education/article/schools_win_awards_for_family-friendly_atmosphere_customer-focused_service/157334/) published yesterday noted that the winners of these awards received actual red carpets to display in their school lobbies – great form of recognition!

Schools had to describe their "family-friendly philosophies and environments, along with the methods used to promote and self-evaluate those efforts. They also were required to include copies of their school’s communication plan."

Examples of the winning schools included how one school made their library open to the community to use (particularly for internet access); another school opened its gym to community leagues/groups; another ensured it had extra coverage of phones and the front desk during the busiest hours; another increased their bilingual capabilities to match the changing mix of local residents.

It’s wonderful that schools understand and embrace the importance of customer service. The winners realize that they need to create a positive environment through their facility and their people. The examples of winning schools illustrate some key points which apply to any business including: be accessible to your customers to attract them (note the library and gym examples), make sure that you match your staffing to your workload to minimize wait times (note the front desk example), and change your service offerings and the way you do business based on your changing customer base (note the bilingual example).

Customer service is a large part of what customers consider when they’re evaluating any business – even schools.

Learn from these schools to attract customers to you, to minimize customer waits, and to make sure you’re delivering on your customers’ changing needs.

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


If we were only treated like our pets…

Posted on April 29, 2010 in Business Advice, Carolinas, Healthcare, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

I went to the veterinarian last week to take in our family cat – the one that had been in a fight with another cat and didn’t exactly win. Squeaky was on the mend, but the vet wanted to make sure that the antibiotics had worked and that her temperature was down.

When we walked into SouthPark Animal Hospital in Charlotte, NC, the two front desk staff greeted our cat like she was their long lost sister. “Hi, Squeaky!” they exclaimed. “We’re so happy to see you! How are you feeling? Are you better?!” Their love of cats (or at least in our mind, OUR cat) was evident. They took care of her, brought her back to the exam room to take her temperature, and when they brought her back out to the lobby, the vet assistant told my daughter and I that “We love Squeaky!”

Wow! It’s just a cat…isn’t it? Not to them…and not to us, either.

Let’s think about how this relates to us human beings. How often do you go into any other business and get a reception like this? How often do people’s faces light up, they smile, their voices convey enthusiasm at the sight of you? How often do they repeat your name? How often do they tell you how much they love (or at least enjoy) caring for you? How often do they enthusiastically give you the impression that you’re the most important person in the world at that moment?

What a great customer service world it would be if businesses conveyed how much they cared about us the way the staff at SouthPark Animal Hospital convey that they care about our pets!

If a business can muster this enthusiasm for Squeaky, let’s try to muster something similar for our 2-legged customers.

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


WANT to be Good

Posted on February 17, 2010 in Business Advice, Carolinas Please leave a comment

We used to lease office space at an executive office suite. This was a national company, and when you lease from them, you get a fully furnished office, phone and mail service, and staff available to help with projects. And while the office suite had a great location and beautiful furnishings, there was always something wrong with it.

We have many projects where we need support – keying data, making calls, assembling information for mailings, etc. And it seemed like every time we asked for support (support that we paid an hourly fee to receive), we got pushback, delays, apathetic attitudes, or poor/incomplete work.

It was SO frustrating. This service could have been great for us and for them – great for us in that we only paid for the labor time when we needed it, flexing up and down as the workload fluctuated. It was great for them in that they earned more money. We were being provided with poor customer service, and to make matters worse, their call handling began to fade. They would misroute calls that should have been sent to our office or patched through to our cell phones.

In short, we left.

We interviewed several other executive office suite companies, and settled on Office Suites Plus (www.officesuitesplus.com) – where we’ve been 7 years in Charlotte, NC. All that the other place wasn’t, Office Suites Plus is; they love the projects, they constantly smile, they handle the calls and requests effortlessly, and – if there is an occasional error – they apologize, and we move on.

But one of the best aspects of Office Suites Plus is that when staff turnover happens, they always seem to find someone with a great attitude. You might say they have a gift of hiring people who are not only pleasant but who WANT to help you, who WANT to make sure you have a good experience. But I’ve been in business long enough to know it’s not a gift – it’s an intention.

To consistently hire good people who do good work with good attitudes and who understand what good customer service is all about, a company must WANT those qualities and look for those qualities in the first place.

You need to WANT to deliver good customer service to consistently succeed.

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


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