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Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist - 5/5/26


In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix Read more

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

Affirming the Customer with Empathy - 4/14/26


We’ve spoken and written about empathy for the 20+ years of these customer service tips, noting empathy as the most important quality any individual can have if they want to be great at customer service.  We’ve shared that - in order to serve our customers most effectively – it’s Read more

The Power of Teaching While Helping - 4/7/26


If you’re trying to develop a relationship with the customer rather than just simply handling their transaction and moving on, you are taking a long-term view.  You realize that that individual is someone you want to keep with your business for months or years to come, so it’s a Read more

Bear with Me - 3/31/26


As a customer, you’ve probably called a company and heard the phrase “bear with me.”  At that point, you know there’s going to be some sort of delay.  The CSR is giving you a heads up that there’s going to be additional wait time.  Essentially, they are trying to Read more

Slowing Down the Fast Talker - 3/24/26


Jeffrey had always been told by his manager to figure out the issue quickly and wrap up the conversation as fast as possible.  So, Jeffrey was hyper-focused at finding that one key word that could identify the issue and help him to transition quickly to what might be some possible Read more

Don’t Bury the Lede - 3/17/26


Mary was working at the office, and she received an e-mail alert from the water company.  There was a water outage in her neighborhood.  It looked like it was going to be a couple hours to fix the issue. Sure enough, a few hours later around mid-afternoon, Mary received another Read more

Confirm the Real Issue Before You Start Solving - 3/10/26


Have you ever gone “down the rabbit hole?”  It involves going deep into some topic, some discussion – with analysis that creates complexity as much as it resolves it.  And that dive into the rabbit hole often starts with a simple question. Going down that rabbit hole takes time and Read more

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


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 Read more

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Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist – 5/5/26

Posted on May 5, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix the problem.

Similarly, you can use these same steps to confirm that the solution you’ve identified is fully thought through and has the best chance of working:

Who needs to be involved in the solution? Is it something the customer has a part in, are there co-workers involved, and what do you need to do to shepherd this forward? Is there anyone else to bring in the loop?

What are the specific steps that need to be undertaken? What does that mental flow chart of activities look like, and is anything missing?

When do those steps need to occur, and is there any sequence where one activity has to happen before another? We want dependent tasks to be done on a timely basis, but we also want activities to run concurrently whenever possible so we can complete the work as quickly as possible.

Where do the activities need to occur? Is it in a particular location, on a certain web page, via a mobile app?

Why are we doing this? Will this resolve the root cause of the problem so we’re not going to be dealing with this again anytime soon?

How do we ensure that the solution worked? What’s the follow-up process? Are we going to call the customer in a week or two? Are they going to fill out a form to confirm the problem was fixed?

Think through all the potential moving pieces and timelines associated with the solution to ensure there are not any gaps that could cause the ticket to stay open, cause the issue to stay unresolved, or cause the problem to rear its ugly head again.

Use the 6 Step Checklist when you’re finalizing a solution.

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Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue – 4/28/26

Posted on April 28, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward.

But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to confirm?

Sometimes we might miss information without even realizing it, so we’re going to go to an old standby which only takes you 15 seconds to mentally walk through; use this as a 6 Step Checklist before moving on to resolve the issue.  Ensure you’ve identified the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

Who was involved in this situation?  Along with the customer, was anybody associated with the customer, or were any of your co-workers or other stakeholders involved?  Your path to resolution can easily be impacted if a certain co-worker had their hand in the process, or if there were more people involved than you were originally thinking.

What happened?  Be clear on the details of the specific issue or situation that occurred.

When did it happen?  Sometimes you can tell a lot if they called after hours, they walked in first thing in the morning, they tried to access a website on the weekend, or they referenced their account early in the morning.

Where did it happen?  Your business may have 5 offices in the region, and they all do things a little bit differently – some better than others.  Sometimes the location even within a given facility sheds light on what the concern was or what could have been some potential causes.

Why is this person standing in front of you?  Why did this issue raise itself to the level of an in-person visit, or a phone call, or an e-mail being sent to your inbox?  Is this a 1-time occurrence, or is this just the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back?

How did this happen?  Try to understand the steps in the process that led to the issue.  Maybe the customer didn’t take a step that was expected, or a return call never happened, or a wait time was long, or it was an issue with paperwork not the mobile app.

Get the full picture of what happened when you try to find the solution.  Take 15 seconds, and make sure you understand Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.

Use the 6 Step Checklist before resolving the issue.

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Use the Customer’s Words – 4/21/26

Posted on April 21, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after the line.”

They noted how they’re clicking on “the screen,” but the page doesn’t change.  They try to go “backwards” by clicking the “arrow pointing left,” and nothing happens.

This is a customer calling a technology help desk, and they’re using their words to describe their problem.

Oftentimes, customer service professionals are so knowledgeable about their products and services, their policies and processes, that they carry on a conversation with a customer, responding with terms common to the employee without realizing the audience.

We will talk about devices, monitors, URLs.  We will reference browsers and tabs, icons and more technical terms.  But if we hear the customer using certain terms – even if they are not the technical term WE use – we need to realize something.  If we want to add clarity and bring information to the customer in a manner of speaking that they understand, it’s often best to use THEIR words.

I’m not suggesting that we condescend or talk down to the customer.  I’m saying that the goal is for us to understand each other, and it’s more likely if we – the professional – change on the fly to use terms they’re familiar with than if we try to make them technical experts.  We’ve been trained for years on our technical terminology, so we can’t expect the customer to learn our wording in the matter of a 3-minute conversation.

To enhance the tone of the conversation and create some clarity for the customer at the same time, use their words.

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