Customer Service Tip of the Week

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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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4 Tips for Personal Sanity in Public Crisis – 3/17/20

Posted on March 17, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We can only control what we can control.  There are times like these where the healthcare world is fighting a quickly-spreading virus, and governmental, business, and other organizations are making changes to try to mitigate risks and find solutions where possible.

With all this activity swirling around us, we still have jobs to do.  We still have the work and the customers and the daily responsibilities, and we are expected to perform well even as changes around us become – temporarily, we believe – more unpredictable.

How do we get our mindset and focus on the task at hand or the person we’re serving with everything swirling around us?  Here are 4 Tips:

  • Get Educated, but not Inundated: Know what you need to know about the virus, appropriate personal hygiene practices, and other activities that could keep yourself safe.  Know key facts, but make sure you’re giving your mind a break from non-stop news and discussions on the topic.  Ensure you are giving yourself some balance.
  • Prepare for More Anxiety-filled Discussions: We’ve experienced this with some of our clients and their customers over the past 2 weeks.  There’s more emotion, fear of the unknown, quicker turnaround time expected on requests and complaints.  This is something for which you can prepare – alleviating customer anxiety using our STEP UP technique.  In a nutshell, the CSS technique states:
    • Share your understanding of their situation – offering some empathy
    • Tell them about yourself and how you’ve helped people in similar situations
    • Explain the Process for how you’ll address their concern, and ensure they understand
    • End UP! Close positively, thanking them for contacting you and sharing the concern.
  • Care for Your Own Mental Health: I’m no clinician, but it’s clear that plenty of rest, plenty of fluids, occasional deep breathing, and movement keep you feeling better physically/mentally.
  • Take Action Focused on Today’s Priorities: Even if you don’t know what tomorrow will bring, map out today.  Identify the “big rocks” – those higher priority tasks – and act on them first so you at least get the top items addressed most days.  Having a plan, working the plan, and celebrating the work every day can help with our mental mindset.

We can only control what we can control. Use these four tips to create a little personal sanity for yourself.

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Create Mutually-beneficial Relationships – 3/10/20

Posted on March 10, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We have worked with many clients over the years who have long-term staff in customer service roles.  At some point, the company decides to add a sales component to the responsibilities of the representatives, and the sparks start to fly!

I was not hired to sell. This is not in my job description. I’m a service person, not a salesperson. Customers don’t want us pushing stuff on them.

These are the kinds of objections that management gets from staff, and many of these objections are entirely valid.  For an organization to effectively pivot from purely service to service with some sales, leadership has to instill a mindset that it is possible to have a mutually-beneficial relationship with customers.  It’s not just that the company benefits from the customer’s purchases.  We also need to see how the customer benefits from what the company can provide.

When we were conducting a workshop with a client recently, we asked how to create mutually-beneficial relationships with customers.  This is some of what they said:

  • We provide them information that might save them money, such as information on rebates.
  • We provide educational information and services on trends in industry, technology, regulations, policies/procedures, and other information of use to them.
  • We have a loyalty program for their ongoing use of our products and services.
  • We understand what they want and need, we’ve asked them about their goals, and we take action based on what they tell us.
  • We know our products, so we can make sure we match up a specific need with a specific product.
  • We know our services and how to fix issues quickly, so we can be very responsive to their challenges.
  • We have connections with other groups within our organization and with other organizations, so if there’s something they need that we don’t provide, we know how to make that match.
  • If we know something is going to be backordered, we identify it and proactively reach out to them to make an alternative offer.

Some of what the client personnel told us related to positioning yourself as an educator for customers.  Some examples related to understanding your business exceptionally well so you can match their need with your solution.

Some comments related to being proactive on sharing information that might save the customer money, or being highly responsive when issues arise that might challenge them.  And some of these ideas simply dealt with knowing the customer better as well as knowing where to go to meet customer needs, even if it wasn’t within your particular organization.

If part of the customer service representative’s responsibilities is to sell, make sure that the organization and staff first understand how to create a mutually-beneficial relationship.

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Predictability Excites these Customers – 3/3/20

Posted on March 3, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Sherrie had used that airport one too many times.  Sure it was convenient to her home, only 20 minutes away, but it seemed like every time she scheduled a flight, there was a delay.  And since it was not a “hub” airport, if she had to fly any significant distance, she’d have to make a connection, and then more delays would occur.  Delay after delay, and re-route after re-route.  There was too much uncertainty about her arrival time or her ability to make connections.

The next time she had to fly, Sherrie decided to go to the larger airport that was located over one hour away.  Sure the fare was no better, but she had a direct flight to her destination.  She traveled the extra distance to the larger airport, and she got on her non-stop flight.  It took off late but made up time in the air, and it landed early.  On her return, she was late getting back because of air traffic, but there were no worries about making a connection.  There were no worries about getting re-routed to a different city for the second leg of a trip, since this trip was non-stop.  There was none of that uncertainty.

Some customers aren’t as concerned with product price if they know what’s going to happen.  Some people’s goal is to avoid hassle.  They’re more concerned with process predictability than product price.

People concerned with process predictability, those concerned with avoiding hassles – those are the people that customer service-oriented companies love.  Because those customers put a premium on the aspects of their experience not driven purely by the product.  The service processes, consistency, and quality are differentiating factors.

Identify the types of services you provide that are very process-driven or time intensive.  Identify the customers whose satisfaction and repeat business are driven by these key factors of customer service.

Then help your company become more predictable for your customer.

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