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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

4 Actions for the Customer - 9/10/24


One way to look at the difference between proactive and reactive is that proactive is something that’s often done before it absolutely has to be done.  Maybe it’s something done that really doesn’t have to occur, but your professionalism takes over, and some action or communication that you know Read more

Don’t Kick the Problem Down the Road - 9/3/24


The error was obvious.  Shania is a clerk at a local government office, and she could tell that something was wrong with the permit request.  She was about to reject the request because the address was invalid. If this would have been handled like the normal process, Shania would have Read more

Reflect the Best of Your Customers - 8/27/24


When Alice walks into a business, whether it’s a restaurant or government building, whether it’s a Goodwill or a grocery store, she has a certain way about her.  She’s the customer, and it’s not unusual to hear her say to the employee:  Thanks for being here today! It’s not unusual Read more

Create Your Personal Motto - 8/20/24


Take a look at these mottos: It’s the real thing. Just Do It. Have it your way. Betcha can’t eat just one. Breakfast of champions. Do you know the companies?  The answers are at the bottom of this tip. So why am I asking you about mottos?  And why do almost all of them make me Read more

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A Complaint is a Gift – 5/7/24

Posted on May 7, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

A complaint is a gift.  Okay, so the complainer is not always a “gift.”  The customer’s delivery of the complaint is sometimes more like a stocking filled with coal than a vase filled with roses.  But this is why we need to be able to differentiate the complaint from the complainer for a moment.

A complaint is feedback; it’s an opportunity to improve.  It’s often an example of something 5 or 50 other customers have experienced, but they did not voice to you.  Companies send out surveys, and many customers don’t respond.  Some customers proactively provide real-time feedback; others will only share when asked, if even then. 

It’s hard to learn from a lack of information.

So, a complaint is a gift because it provides information.  It tells you what the customer experienced, perceived.  It conveys who was involved, what happened or didn’t happen, what experiences didn’t meet expectations, what was too early or too late, what attitudes came across poorly, what products didn’t work, what policies were frustrating, and what processes were clunky or not self-evident.

In the moment, we need to deal with the complaint and the customer.  But to make a complaint a gift, we need to revisit the complaint after the fact and identify what information was gained, what lesson was learned, and how we can apply those learnings moving forward.

Give yourself time to get over any negative emotions from the dust-up with the customer, and then glean what you can from what happened and the customer’s perspective on the experience.  Use the complaint for continuous improvement.

Unpack the complaint to make it a gift.

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Mastering Confidence in Customer Service – 4/30/24

Posted on April 30, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

It’s not what you said…it’s how you said it.

If you’ve ever had someone say this to you, raise your hand.  (I just raised my hand)

Usually this is being said when someone is upset with you, but regardless of the reason, that phrase illustrates that HOW we say something often impacts the other person as much or more as WHAT words are used.

So, let’s use this truth to our advantage.  Confidence in customer service is an important discussion because we’re trying to instill confidence in the other person about what’s being shared.  The more they are confident in what we share, the more they’ll take our guidance, the more comfortable they will feel.  And the more confident they are in what we share, the less likely they’ll ask more questions, the less likely they’ll “answer shop.”

Here are some tips to instill confidence beyond the words you use:

  • Convey Calmness – Unless you’re going the enthusiasm route, exude a certain confidence by conveying calmness in your hand movements and their position when talking.
  • Use Brevity – Don’t drone on when a simple “Yes” is the real answer.
  • Add Some Inflection – Have variability in your tone when you want to ensure that your statement comes across like it’s from the heart, not from a script.
  • Avoid the Long Pauses – The “umms” and “uhhs” convey indecision and lack of certainty. If you are unsure of an answer momentarily, restate the question back to them to buy yourself some time, then directly move to the answer.
  • Complement Your Words with Your Body Language – Nod when saying something affirmative. Offer eye contact to show your intent on your answer and your customer.  Maintain good posture to show you’re assured of yourself and your statements.

 
To deliver great customer service, you not only need to have the right knowledge of your customer, policies, procedures, and products, but you need to confidently convey that information.

Master Confidence in Customer Service.

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Be Amazing – 4/23/24

Posted on April 23, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Watching Michael Jordan steal a pass and then dunk a basketball is amazing.  Taking a rocket to the moon is amazing.  The taste of my mom’s homemade beef soup is amazing.

We all have our personal examples of what is amazing.  Usually, it’s something that we cannot comprehend, that we cannot do, or we just truly appreciate.  Unfortunately for me, I’m not amazing enough to steal and dunk a basketball in the NBA Finals, or to be an astronaut, or to be somebody who can replicate my mom’s cooking.

But fortunately, none of those skills or attributes are required for being great at customer service.  We can still amaze others in customer service.

To amaze is to do beyond what others expect or typically experience.  It’s to be different…in a good way.

So how can you be amazing in customer service?  Find your something better or your something different…in a good way, compared to others in customer service.  Find that thing you do or that way you do something that is beyond what others expect or experience.

When the customer walks up, most employees remain seated.  Stand up when the customer arrives.  Most employees will hop into their script when they get the phone call.  Instead, make your first couple questions about them as a person rather than about their account number.

Most employees never share their name in a conversation.  Start the conversation by introducing yourself.  Most employees try to figure out where the customer needs to be transferred or where they need to go next.  Instead, you could take them to the next stop, or you could help them navigate to the next step in the process.

Consider what most employees don’t do, what they are in a rush to do. Consider what information they leave out, what activity they try to avoid.  Then – to be amazing – do what other employees don’t do, what they don’t have the patience to do, sharing what information they leave out, doing the things that others try to avoid.

Be amazing by being helpful, patient, informative, and supportive.

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