Customer Service Tip of the Week | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 68

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Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

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They’re a Good Person Having a Bad Day – 5/4/21

Posted on May 4, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

How can someone have so much anger about something that is so insignificant?  Why is the customer getting all out of sorts for something that is not a big deal?  Why are they getting upset with me when I had absolutely nothing to do with their problem?

Although we want to help these customers and we try to navigate through their specific issues and focus on them and their needs, sometimes we can’t help but ask ourselves these questions.  And when we ask ourselves these questions, it could be because we don’t understand, we’re starting to get wound up and feed into their negative emotion, or there’s something going on with us that’s keeping us from helping them.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

This statement may be true or very untrue, but handling these situations well requires we handle our own emotions well.  It helps us to have a bit of empathy with them so we can remain a little detached from the emotional nature of the conversation.  Sometimes a key to handling these situations effectively is handling ourselves effectively.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

If we pose these questions of “Why is the customer overreacting?”, sometimes those “Why’s” just feed on each other in an unproductive way.  We need to find a way to answer the Why for ourselves, even if it may not be the ultimate correct answer.  We need to find a way to answer it such that it helps us maintain our composure.  It helps us to stay calm.  It helps us to focus on the facts instead of getting burned by the friction.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

Try telling yourself this, as it helps me to avoid taking things so personally, to be a bit more understanding, and to maintain my composure.

It helps to assume that the angry customer is a good person having a bad day.

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A Wait is a Moment of Truth – 4/27/21

Posted on April 27, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Moments of Truth in customer service can be conversations with a customer about some complaint that they have, they can be interactions when they’re buying something in the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant, they can be questions about an order that the customer calls in to the company, or they can be brief interactions in an emergency room or in the lobby of a government building.

During these interactions, there are often waits. At the fast food restaurant, the employee at the window is waiting for the food to be prepared. In the E.R., the employee waits for the room to be cleaned for the next patient.  When the customer calls about an order, there could be wait time while the employee researches the order and the customer’s question.

During these Moments of Truth, the employees are often waiting or doing an activity while the customer is present.  Yet, too many employees only communicate with the customer when the employee needs or conveys information. The employee doesn’t realize the importance of keeping the communication going during the rest of the Moment of Truth.

We need to view these periods of silence as opportunities to build rapport, as opportunities to improve the customer experience.  While research is being done or the wait is underway, we can simply say nothing and create a cold, impersonal experience for the customer – where inactivity can create customer doubt, frustration, or questions.

Or we could engage the customer.  We could talk to the customer about their situation, describe what is being done during the wait, educate them on some aspect of the product/service/facility/website, or note what activities may follow.  We could use these times of waiting and research as times to build rapport and relationship.

The next time you’re with the customer and the customer is waiting, keep the communication going.  Turn wait times into part of a positive customer experience.

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Challenges Create Opportunity, People Create Change – 4/20/21

Posted on April 20, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

There are so many great things that have been said over the years about overcoming challenges, pushing aside the roadblocks of life, dealing with difficulties.  And these are important points of discussion because challenges are all around us.  There are challenges with our personal health or in our personal lives.  We could have the challenges of dealing with mean or angry individuals at work.  It could be the challenge of trying to support a customer but not getting the support of your co-worker.  The challenges could be inconsistent communications or ineffective systems and processes.  Maybe our challenge is due to our own personal burdens or biases or lack of professional development.

We have these challenges, but to overcome them or push them aside or deal with them, people have to take some action:

  • You’re dealing with essentially the same complaints from customers in your office every day. What can you do to reduce the number of those complaints that you have to deal with each day?
  • You’ve been given bad directions to a customer’s home 4 times this week – it wasted your time! What can you do to make sure it doesn’t happen 4 times next week?
  • You deal with an issue where you’re just not comfortable or confident. What can you do to become more comfortable and more confident?
  • The system is not intuitive for you. It takes you much longer to accomplish your work than it should.  What can you do to become more proficient?
  • The frustration of that angry customer gets to you. You get flustered and you get defensive, and the next thing you know you’re in a 10-minute conversation that never seems to go anywhere.  What can you do to manage your own emotions better?

We’re always going to have challenges.  We are human, and the people we work with are human, as well.  The systems that we work with are FAR from perfect, too!

Identify 1 or 2 of the challenges that cause you heartburn.  Then determine 1 or 2 actions you can take so that these situations happen less frequently or you’re more effective at dealing with them in the future.

Challenges create opportunity.  Be one of the people that creates change.

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