Customer Service Tip of the Week

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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

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

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Light Up the Room – 7/3/18

Posted on July 3, 2018 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Maybe you are one of those people. Maybe you work with or are friends with one of those people. You know the kind of person I’m referring to; it’s the person who lights up the room. Literally, the positivity, the tone of the conversation, and the energy of the room become more vibrant, more pleasant, more fun, and more enjoyable.

The people who light up the room make the environment better, and seemingly any topic or conversation or point of debate is seen through different, more positive and open lenses.

Whether we’re trying to be a good team player with our co-workers or trying to address the customer’s issues, needs, or goals, so much of how well we do is dependent on whether or not we are someone who turns up the wattage.

The people who light up the room seem to have certain traits and behaviors. They smile more. They tend to move more. They GO TO people as opposed to expecting people to go to them. They seem to connect with others and connect people with others. They’re looking around the room, not operating with blinders on; yet they somehow make each person feel exceptionally important. People who light up the room know how to use their body language to convey openness and interest. Their arms move and rarely stay folded. They ask and inquire. They convey appreciation and say thanks.

If you want to be a great team member or provide great customer service, think about the environment that you are creating for those around you. Think about the impact that you have on the tone of the conversation.

Think about how you can light up the room.

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Do Nothing for the Customer, and Make Them Happy – 6/26/18

Posted on June 26, 2018 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Thomas did nothing for me, and I was impressed. I was walking down the hall at my office a couple weeks back, and Thomas, the maintenance manager, stopped me. Apparently, the people in the office next door were suffering from undo heat in the middle of summer, and I had two cooling vents in my office, one of which was unused. The temperature in my office was absolutely fine, as Thomas had made an adjustment for me a couple years ago.

Thomas asked “Are you going to be in the office at 6 AM tomorrow?”

“No,” I said. Thomas said that he would be in my office at 6 o’clock to switch one of the vents over to the hotter office, and he just wanted to make sure he wouldn’t inconvenience me if he was there from 6 AM to 6:30 AM.

When I walked into my office the next morning, everything felt the same. Virtually everything looked the same except there was a tiny bit of white dust on my desk from the ceiling tiles. Thomas obviously had been in my office, he had left, and according to the people in the office next to me, their office was much cooler because of his work.

Technically, Thomas did not do anything specifically for me. He did it for someone else, but I left impressed. He asked my permission before entering my office. He came in at an exceptionally early time in order to avoid inconveniencing me. He did work that I’m sure was physical and somewhat messy, and yet he left my office looking the same as when he entered.

Sometimes we can impress our customers without doing anything specifically for them.

Consider if you do a great job communicating that certain technology is going to be down for maintenance, and since the customer knows that, they avoid those times and never experience the downtime.

Consider situations where an employee sees you waiting or senses you have a need, and they proactively engage you and let you know what they’re doing and why they might be a couple minutes before they can serve you. Essentially the employee is doing work for others, but you appreciate their consideration of you and your time.

You don’t always need to WOW the customer. Just proactively communicate expectations.

Do nothing for a customer, and make them happy.

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Of Ross, Unagi, and the Attacking Customer – 6/19/18

Posted on June 19, 2018 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


If you’ve ever watched the TV sitcom called Friends, you may remember that one of the characters was named Ross. In one episode, he is trying to educate some of his female friends (who just took a self-defense course) on a concept he calls Unagi. Basically, to Ross, this is a concept that would help him anticipate when he was about to be attacked. Once attacked, then he could use his karate. Of course, Ross got his terms confused; he should have said Zanshin; instead he used Unagi – a Japanese word for freshwater eel.

Ross also wasn’t particularly good at Unagi or karate, as later in the episode his Friends “attacked” him when his Unagi failed, and they got him in a submission hold.

In the world of customer service, it would be great if we had Unagi. It would be great if we had some kind of a radar that could anticipate that customer who is going to attack us or bully us into getting what they want.

Unfortunately, for the most part, Unagi does not exist. However, these are 3 different tactics to consider when you’re faced with a customer potentially trying to bully his way to a particular outcome:

Restrain – Hold back on the urge to verbally fight back with personal attacks against the customer, blaming them for things that have happened in the situation. Once we heighten our emotional level and try to match theirs, usually we’re going to end up having a situation get even worse. Restrain a little bit instead of reacting with defensiveness and our own personal feelings.

Redirect – Consider ways to get the conversation away from the personal attack and away from their solutions to focus more on a scenario where you are redirecting the conversation by asking questions. You’re trying to learn details. You’re trying to understand specifics, and all the while by asking your questions you’re not only getting the conversation to focus on what you want to focus on, but you’re also taking control of the conversation.

Recuse – At some point, the conversation gets too heated; it’s too personal; you may need to recuse yourself from the conversation. This does not mean to ignore the customer and the issue. What it does mean is that sometimes it’s best to bring in a co-worker, bring in a supervisor, bring in somebody else and recuse yourself from the situation. Oftentimes that mere pause for the handoff can deescalate the emotions. By bringing in someone else, it gets the focus off of you and the dynamics with you and the customer. Sometimes the customer feels they’re making progress through a resolution process by viewing the next person (especially if you position the handoff this way) as a key next step in the process.

Why you might not have Unagi, find ways to restrain, redirect, and – if necessary – recuse yourself when you’re dealing with the attacking customer.

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