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Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/19/24


In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW. Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively Read more

Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/12/24


It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to Read more

From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience - 11/5/24


Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well. A customer had ordered a register book off the company Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

Delight Your Customers - 10/22/24


Buddy the Bug Man was different.  His company was new, and the only reason why Janet tried him out was that the service she had used for years just wasn’t working.  Whether it was mosquitoes in the yard, ants in the kitchen, or cockroaches flying through on their way Read more

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

Notice the Little Changes - 9/24/24


“My, how times have changed.” Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, one of the biggest reasons why an organization’s customer service deteriorates is that times have changed…customers have changed…and the company has not… If we think about customer service delivery today v. decades ago, changes in technology alone Read more

Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy. It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry. When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a Read more

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Build Your Shield – 3/21/23

Posted on March 21, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

When the customer complains or the boss gets upset, when the negativity gets too personal or you get that unprofessional e-mail from the angry client – those are the times when we can feel hurt.  Those are the times when we in customer service roles can feel that physical or emotional or spiritual gut punch.

But there are ways we can build an inner strength to deal with some of this outer negativity.  There are ways we can build our own capabilities to deal with criticism.

Be Self-motivated. Don’t rely on others to motivate you or affect your self-perception.  The more you get your motivation and drive from the inside, the less the feelings and perceptions of others will affect you.

Accept Responsibility for Your Actions. If you accept responsibility for the issues you caused, you can more readily understand the other person’s point of view in those situations.  And when somebody comes after you with accusations that are not your doing, it helps you more objectively receive those comments, knowing they’re not really speaking the truth about you.

Be Proud of What You’ve Accomplished. Know the good that you have done, and keep that good top-of-mind even if a bad tone is coming your way.

Be Tolerant and Respectful of Others. You don’t have to love the other person, you don’t have to agree with their position.  But if your concern is conveying respect and being tolerant of the other individual, it helps you to focus more on treating them as a human (imperfect like we all are) rather than getting immersed in their negativity.

Have Integrity. Do the right thing, even when it’s not the easy thing.  Take solace in knowing that what you’re doing is fair, honest, and true, and you’ll never regret how you addressed the situation.

We can prepare for the difficult moments by building our own shield day-after-day.  This is not a shield to separate us from the complaints or the complainers.  It is something that we can nurture inside of us to strengthen our ability to handle criticism in the moment.

To Build Your Shield, self-motivate, accept responsibility, take pride in your accomplishments, be respectful, and have integrity.

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Avoid the Aggravation; Confirm the Key Point – 3/14/23

Posted on March 14, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In this age of instant information and auto-completion of texts or e-mails, we are quick to get one thing done and move on to the next thing.  Technology often helps us to complete our work more quickly.  Yes, there’s even AI technology that’s starting to wreak havoc on the internet because it does work for people.

But with speed and automation come basic risks.  The risks I’m referring to are those in-the-moment risks when you’re engaged with the customer – the risk that we’re going so quickly that we don’t get the right information. Therefore, we take a wrong step.  Therefore, there’s unnecessary work done.  Therefore, there are delays or rework or frustration.

It helps to confirm key points to avoid unnecessary aggravation.  Check out these 3 true scenarios:

Scenario #1 – The Wrong Number: During a call, the customer gave a phone number for the employee to contact.  The employee thanked the customer but did not confirm they heard the phone number correctly.  The employee called the line and didn’t get a hold of anyone.  It turns out that the employee wrote down the wrong number.  They didn’t call the customer back; they just assumed nobody was available at the number given.  There was a delay and frustration, all because the employee didn’t confirm what she heard.

Scenario #2 – The Self-imposed Deadline: The employee was very conscientious.  He wanted to get things done as quickly as possible.  He got the request from the customer and thought he could get it done by the next day.  So, he put other things on hold and rushed to make this customer request a priority.  Little did the employee know that the customer didn’t need the request addressed for a week.  The employee self-imposed a deadline because he didn’t ask the customer.  The employee put other projects on hold and worked late unnecessarily.

Scenario #3 – Paying for What?: The employee asked the customer for a payment in advance of recurring monthly services.  The customer wrote the check, and one month later the customer received an invoice for service provided.  The customer wondered why they were being billed if they paid up front.  After calling the business, the employee noted that the upfront payment was a security deposit, and the customer would be billed for the services received immediately thereafter.  The customer was not happy that they thought they were paying for services in advance, but instead they were just giving a deposit that they might not get back for months or years.

Sometimes the employee and the customer can avoid the aggravation if the employee is patient enough to confirm their understanding or to confirm that the customer understands.  Information given is sometimes assumed to be received correctly.  But that’s an assumption that can cause downstream issues.

Avoid the aggravation. Confirm the key point.

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Frame the Ways to Get Back Your Customer – 3/7/23

Posted on March 7, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Every organization that gains customers is in a position to lose customers.  For the sports organization, it’s the lost account holder.  For the healthcare provider, it’s the member who enrolls with the competitor at the end of the year.  The retailer, the software provider, the financial services firm – lost customers occur, typically with clear financial repercussions.  Even with local government, it’s the customer moving elsewhere, the customer circumventing the system, the resident griping and complaining.  Maybe that loss is loss of support, but it is still a loss.

So, if you’re smart enough or lucky enough to get a chance to identify the reason for the loss, maybe there’s a chance you win them back.  Or at least there’s a good chance that you can put some improvement in place to mitigate similar losses in the future.

If you’re formulating a survey or talking with the customer, create some structure around how you ask about exit reasons.  Use this framework as a starting point:  Think about Product, People, Process, Policy, and the Place.  You’re trying to get a holistic view of the customer experience in those controllable categories of exit reasons.

For Product or Service, what about the product could have been improved?  What could have been done so it stood out a little more relative to the competition?

For People, think about the organization, the culture, how those communications flow and how those relationships are developed.  Ask the customer about the attitude, skills, knowledge of your team.  How do they communicate with the customer?  And did the company as a whole proactively communicate with the customer – trying to keep the relationship strong?

Regarding Process, how self-evident is the experience?  What are the wait times or lead times like for the customer?  Is everything as self-evident as possible?  Are the terminology and technology and paperwork simple enough and clear enough for any customer to understand and navigate?

Do the Policies restrict the customer experience or enhance it?  Are policies conveyed clearly, and are they in the best interests of the customer?

And what about the Place?  This could mean the physical facility or the environment that people experience online or with your apps.  Is it intuitive and clear and, again, easy to navigate?

There are many reasons why companies lose customers.  To win them back, organize your thoughts within this framework.

Consider the Product, the People, the Process, the Policy, and the Place.

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