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When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

Allow Yourself to Solve a Couple Puzzles Every Day - 6/2/26


Frank had never been a dog owner before, and when he first got Bosco at the shelter, Frank didn't really know what he was doing.  He would try to be a good parent - feed the dog, play with it, take it on walks - but he was doing Read more

Improve with a Purpose - 5/26/26


If you’re reading these customer service tips, you likely want to get better.  You want an idea, a technique, a reinforcement, or a question that helps you improve. But why improve? At some point you may waver on the commitment to improve, because it can take effort, introspection, time, and change.  Read more

Reciprocate the Thanks - 5/19/26


Jasmine had a great experience with the company, and the company sent her a link to provide an online evaluation following the visit.  So, she clicked the link, gave a rating, and made a comment about her experience. The company monitored their online reviews, saw the positive response, and replied Read more

Don’t Skip the Recap - 5/12/26


The playoff hockey game goes on for almost 3 hours.  There’s non-stop action, with plenty of penalties and takeaways and hits against the boards…and a few goals, as well. You didn’t get to watch the whole game because you had other plans, but you wanted to know what happened.  So, Read more

Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist - 5/5/26


In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix Read more

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

Affirming the Customer with Empathy - 4/14/26


We’ve spoken and written about empathy for the 20+ years of these customer service tips, noting empathy as the most important quality any individual can have if they want to be great at customer service.  We’ve shared that - in order to serve our customers most effectively – it’s Read more

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Temper the Tone of THE VOICE – 9/29/20

Posted on September 29, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The television show The Voice is a singing competition.  The opening episodes of every season begin with individuals singing while judges have their backs to the singer.  The judges can’t see the singer, so they are evaluating the performer purely based on their voice.

Oftentimes, when the judge turns around, he or she is SHOCKED at the look of the performer.  Maybe the judge figured the singer would be a bigger person because they have a deep voice, or the judge assumed there would be an older person singing because of the control that they had in their voice.

The judges’ perceptions of the individual are often wrong, but those are based on the voice that they hear.

Our customers are very similar.  Until they really get to know us, they often judge our personalities or what they think of us, and that judgment is largely based on our voice.  If it’s a telephone call, it’s almost exclusively based on our voice.

But how many of us really think about our voice when we’re talking with someone?

Well, we should think about it, regardless of whether we’re talking to a family member we’ve known for 30 years or a customer we’ve spoken with for 30 seconds.

The tone conveys a message:  Are you bored or engaged?  Are you happy or upset?  Are you distracted or focused?  Do you care or not?

And often the positive attributes of voice involve characteristics such as having some fluctuation.  The positive attributes involve having a little pace without talking too fast, talking just quick enough to show some energy and enunciate enough to be understood.  They involve emphasizing the most important words, and the attributes involve a little bit of tempo instead of a staccato – an almost excessive emphasis on each syllable.

When you want to come across in a positive way to the customer, view them as a judge on The Voice.

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Keep On Going – 9/22/20

Posted on September 22, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Thomas Edison once said “Many of life’s failures are experiences by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”

You are close to success – Keep On Going.

Winston Churchill once said “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”  This quote has been taken to another level in a recent country song by Rodney Atkins:  If you’re going through Hell, keep on going; don’t slow down.  If you’re scared, don’t show it.  You might get out before the devil even knows you’re there.

When you’re going through the toughest of times – Keep On Going.

Ed Gagnon once said “Today is harder to get through if we forget that we got through yesterday.”

Even if you can’t envision how this day could possibly end well – Keep On Going.

Too often we’re stumped by that failure, and the frustration causes us to stop.  But there’s a lot to be said for viewing our mistakes or failures simply as stepping stones to what will eventually be success.

Too often we’re dealing with rough times, and doing nothing seems like the only thing to do.  But there’s a lot to be said for making a decision and moving on – continuing to move towards some ultimate goal.  That long-term view can often pull you out of the mire of these short-term concerns.

Too often we’re so immersed in today’s challenges that we can’t see the promise of tomorrow.  But there’s a lot to be said for realizing that this too shall pass, because rough days in the past have ended, too.

The tip for today is Don’t let things stop you.  Don’t let that angry customer or that broken technology or that frustrating colleague or that restrictive policy or the difficulties of that new world that we’re living in cause you to stop.

Continuous improvement requires movement and progress. Getting better requires we Keep On Going.

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Create a Common Definition of Customer Service – 9/15/20

Posted on September 15, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Peter, Paul, and Marie are co-workers. They are all customer service representatives.  When Peter thinks of good customer service, he defines it as being friendly to the customer. “And I am friendly,” Peter says.  “That’s why I don’t know why they send me to customer service training.”

Paul thinks customer service is about being responsive.  When he gets e-mails, he replies right away that he got the message.  When he gets a voice message, he calls right back.  If the same customer calls 5 times for updates, that’s OK to Paul, because he’ll get back to that customer immediately every one of those 5 times.

Marie defines customer service as getting the customer what they want.  “If I do my job in getting them what they want, that’s all that matters. I hate when they whine that I was rude to them or short on the phone.  They got what they wanted, didn’t they?”

Peter, Paul, and Marie all have different definitions of customer service. They are all right…and they are all wrong.

Great customer service has a cordiality peace – a friendliness aspect.  Having that warm and positive engagement with another human being should always be a part of great customer service.

Delivering exceptional customer service also has a component of speed.  Being respectful of people’s time and responsive to their needs is a part of the process of serving a customer effectively.

And great customer service, in the end, should be about giving the customer what they need – it should be about striving to achieve outcomes as much as possible.

So, Peter, Paul, and Marie were all correct – what each emphasizes is part of the definition of customer service.  But they’re also wrong – each person has a limited view of what it means to deliver great customer service, and each individual’s version of great customer service will lead to a positive experience for only a subset of their customers.

For organizations to deliver great customer service, they need to create and instill a common vision among all staff of the desired customer experience.  Organizations need to make sure that definition is broad enough to address the attitude, the process, and striving for the desired outcome, as well.

Create a Common Definition of Customer Service.

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