Customer Service Tip of the Week

Home  /  Who Loves Ya, Baby? – 2/25/20  /  Customer Service Tip of the Week

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

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

•••••

Who Loves Ya, Baby? – 2/25/20

Posted on February 25, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Telly Savalas played Kojak – a hard-nosed detective who solved crimes while eating a lollipop.  He was a tough guy with a tough attitude but a soft side.  He used to say:  Who loves ya, baby?

So, who loves their customer?

If you want to see somebody who loves their customer, walk into a vet with your pet. Oh Bosco! I’m so happy to see you!  How have you been lately!  It’s like the dog is the receptionist’s long-lost friend or the doctor’s favorite cousin.

Congratulations, Zappos Zealot!  You’re one step closer to getting your holiday shopping done! We’ve received your order and are busy picking your gifts from our shelves as we speak. So jingle your bells, and roast your chestnuts, ‘cause we’ve got you covered this holiday season!  With Love, The Zappos Customer Loyalty Team.  Zappos must love that customer who they just sent that e-mail to…

Thank you for coming in today! Is there anything else I can get for you? Oh!  You want some potting soil for those plants you’re buying?  We have some good fresh bags in the back; let me call somebody to bring one up for you. Less than a minute later, a gentleman walks up with the bag, and the customer checks out with a dozen plants, fresh soil, and some helpful advice on how to get things growing quickly. Nice experience at Myers Greenhouse.

These are all experiences that I’ve had, and you may have had similar experiences where companies seem to love their customers.

It’s the organization that is sincerely excited to see the customer, even if the customer is a puppy.  It’s the business that is not just sharing an update on an order, but they’re sending an e-mail that’s shows their excitement to serve and conveys the enthusiasm of what you’ll do with their merchandise.  And it’s an employee that freely gives advice and goes an extra step to quickly give the customer a little something extra.

So, who loves ya, baby? These organizations and their employees seemingly love their customers.  Why don’t we take a few tips from them with our enthusiasm, respect, advice, guidance, and appreciation.

Let your customers know who loves them.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


6 Actions for Attitude Adjustments – 2/18/20

Posted on February 18, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The battle over one’s attitude can feel like a never-ending fight…

I need to stop letting little things bother me. I need to not let that customer’s anger infect my mindset.  Just because my co-worker isn’t doing what they said they’d do shouldn’t mean that I should have an attitude of indifference toward promises I made to others. Sure, I’m having a good day, but that negative political link on the internet sure looks interesting.  I really enjoy my customers, but all I can think about is this frustrating computer system that I have to deal with every day.

We may want to be optimistic or have a great attitude, but there are challenges and obstacles and negativity around us.  Our attitude is a decision we make, and it is reflected in how we go through the day, how we respond and react to others, in what we do and what we decide not to do.

So, if Attitude is Everything, how do you maintain the best attitude possible?

What we’re talking about here is how we’re wired, our mindset.  The attitude we employ is based on who we are, how we talk to ourselves, and what we view as our purpose.  Granted, it has many obstacles.  It is a sum total of every day we’ve lived, it is affected by the challenges we face during the day, and it has the worries that we think about what could happen tomorrow.

While I don’t have that silver bullet answer that will help you win the battle over your attitude every day – trying to make it positive/optimistic – here are 6 actions that I take to get my mind right:

  • I read something positive when I wake up in the morning, and I read something positive when I go to bed at night.
  • I avoid information sources or articles that have no bearing on my work or my life, but which have an obvious negative tone or slant.
  • I tend to gravitate toward people who seem more positive and who seem to share my values, and I try to reduce the amount of time I have to engage with those who are perennially negative.
  • I try to empathize and understand others who may be different or negative or complaining, because in that understanding my negativity toward their attitude tends to go away.
  • Many times throughout the day, I give thanks or celebrate small successes, even if it’s a success only I experience.
  • And as I’ve mentioned a couple times in these tips over the years, at the end of a work day, I total up a list that I create through the day of successes, and I just read it back to myself. It is too easy to forget all the successes when you’re in the midst of just trying to get 100 things done during the course of a day.

So much of how our lives turn out is based on the attitude we bring in. It’s easier for some than others to have that kind of attitude that will help us to live out our purpose and to engage others positively.

But whether it is easy or hard for you, be intentional about filling yourself up with the kind of things that bring out the attitude in yourself that you’d love to see in others.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


A Hair-Cut Above…and Below – 2/11/20

Posted on February 11, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

After going to the same barber for more than a decade, I decided to leave.  The customer experience went down, and the price went up.  For my last several visits, I was the one who was driving the conversations – when I could get a word in edgewise between my barber’s preferred banter with his co-workers.  The cuts were becoming less consistent, and his price kept inching up; the last price increase was just for his customers – they weren’t changing the posted pricing or the pricing of the other hair stylists, so that was equally confusing and troubling.

So it’s the 21st Century, right?  Therefore, I decided to try one of the more modern shops where you sign-in online.  Four times I went to the new shop, I had 4 different stylists with 4 different approaches to how to cut the hair.  The experience (other than signing in the same way, going to the same facility, and paying the same way) was different each time.  Each stylist had their own style of engagement (or lack of engagement), and the inconsistency in quality and connection was too much.  I decided to leave.

Enter Shop #3.  On my first visit, they asked me questions about my style preferences and about me in general; they took some notes, described the process of working with them, and did what they said they’d do.  The stylist had a great attitude, and overall it was a good experience.

I went back a second time; the notes from the first cut were there – the stylist confirmed the information, and I had an equally good experience and a very similar approach to the cut.

There are several little nuggets to mine from this story.  Here are just a few…

Don’t drop the quality and hike the price.  Inconsistency leads to customer loss.  The process can be the same, but the experience can be totally different.  Make the customer feel more important than your co-worker.  Don’t make your customer drive the conversation.  If the customer tells you something, don’t make them repeat it next time – just confirm whether the circumstances are the same.

Make sure your customer experience is consistently a cut-above!

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


« Previous   1 2 ... 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 ... 228 229   Next »