Customer Service Tip of the Week

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How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

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

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Motivating Yourself when Working Remotely – 5/26/20

Posted on May 26, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

For any of us who are working remotely, we are finding ourselves more and more having to be self-motivated. And while many people are naturally self-motivated, others need to have that manager who gives us the encouragement. Many of us need to have that ongoing informal dialogue with co-workers and customers. Many of us need the energy we get from being in a busy place with lots of movement and activity all around us.

In the April 28, 2020 Tip of the Week, we alluded to the importance of motivating ourselves. But let’s dig a little bit deeper today.  Here are several things to consider if you need a little bit extra energy or motivation for your day…

Find Out What Motivates You

Before you can motivate yourself, you need to understand what is motivating to you. We’ve done activities with clients where we had each individual employee develop a Personal Mission Statement; basically this was describing their purpose in their job. It wasn’t just the tasks or activities that they do, but it was the greater good that comes from those tasks or activities for their community, their customers, their co-workers, or their company. You could go through an exercise of developing your own Personal Mission Statement, or you could simply write a list of your motivators. It could be future success – where a great day today means a great week, a great month, great year, a great career. Your motivator could be your family, it could be free time, and whatever it is, write it down and put it in front of you every day.

Give Yourself a Challenge

I have a friend who I volunteer with, and she is well into her 70s; yet, she is easily the most energetic person I know. She takes multiple leadership roles and works as hard or harder than any of the individuals within this organization. I asked her where she gets all her energy.  Her response?  She said that she gets up every day and simply challenges herself to get as much done as possible that day. She basically has a contest with herself to see how much she can accomplish.

Celebrate Even Small Wins

Remember that small wins are still wins. So celebrate! This might sound goofy, but it’s something I strongly believe. I was conducting a workshop for a client several years back, and we talked about the importance to an organization’s culture for employees to have a clear purpose in their role and to celebrate.  At the time, Aaron Rodgers, a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers football team, would celebrate when he or his teammates made a big play by pretending to put a championship belt around his waist. So, I asked people to celebrate an accomplishment during this workshop, and the way I asked them to do it was to put on the figurative belt.

Employee by employee stood up, said something that they accomplished over the last week or two – as little or as big as they could think of – and then they would give themselves “the belt.”  It was funny, it was interesting, and it addressed the importance of really recognizing what you do – not just doing it, but RECOGNIZING YOURSELF FOR YOUR OWN ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

In this world of working remotely, so much more of the motivation has to come from within. Figure out what motivates you, and find ways to become more self-motivated.

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Tire Dealers Becoming Teachers – 5/19/20

Posted on May 19, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I recently needed two new tires for a vehicle, and I first went to the tire dealer’s website to find some options.  The site’s look/feel and ordering process had changed, and I didn’t see a tire I wanted, so I called the store to make an appointment.

When I arrived at the tire store (a place I’d been to 15-20 times), it was very different due to COVID-19.  There was a tent outside with chairs about 8-10 feet apart.  There was a small sign with different directions based on whether you had a scheduled appointment or were a walk-up. The door you normally enter was locked.  The inside experience was different – there was no coffee or water while you waited.  People were asked to wait outside or sit in their car while the tires were changed.  You drive your car into the garage and drive it out of the garage regardless of whether you were in the car while the tires were being changed.  There’s no exchange of paperwork unless you requested a small printed receipt when paying.

Virtually everything changed, and to make it work, the customer had to do their part.  I asked the employee checking me in how it was going with the new setup, and he said it’s going OK, but “the customers are not reading the signs.”

Customer v. Company Roles

Whereas a customer has a role in their own service experience, particularly in an environment like this, the company has the role to teach that customer about the new experience and the customer’s responsibilities.  The company has a role to confirm the customer’s understanding.  The company has the role to ensure the comfort and confidence about what’s going to happen.  The company has a role to explain those next steps and timeframes and then, as always in customer service, deliver on the expectation they set.

When the customer has to learn a new way to do business with your company, realize you are in teaching mode.  Don’t make your customers become experts in your processes.  Make it easy for any customer to have a great experience, even under these new circumstances.

Bring simplicity into your service system, and teach customers how to have a great experience.

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Moving toward Normalcy: The Face-to-Face Keys – 5/12/20

Posted on May 12, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

As we slowly go back to a face-to-face world, here are a few quick reminders for what positively differentiates employees who understand the importance of body language and expressions v. those who don’t.

Especially if you’re wearing a mask and serving customers, ensure your eyes are focused on the other person as opposed to the activities and technology that surround you both.  Spend one minute or two a day in front of a mirror to refresh on the kind of messages the forehead and the eyebrows convey when you’re looking at somebody. That might be all of your facial expression that the customer sees. Ensure that the smiles are visible in these other aspects of your expressions.

Maintain that 6-foot distance, but make sure you have a comfortable posture and the tension is not visible in your arms, your hands, or your shoulders.  Lean in to show you’re listening, but don’t move toward the customer.  Keep the comfort zone between the two of you.

Realize that it can be awkward and uncomfortable for the customer, just like at times it’s awkward and uncomfortable for you – having a mask on, keeping distance from the customer, having a plexiglass between you and the other individual.  But that awkwardness and the uncomfortable nature shouldn’t come across in your body language and expressions.  If anything, we need to be as proactive, gregarious, pleasant, and kind to the other person as we ever have been in order to create that rapport and establish that comfort level.

The facility itself is creating barriers to comfort, so the individual needs to go beyond what they would normally do to create that engaging encounter with the customer.

Since we’re not going to be back to normal anytime soon, be clear on those little extras we need to focus on and deliver to make sure customers are as comfortable as possible.

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