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Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

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

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How Credible are You?

Posted on May 28, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Granted, customer service is vitally important. We train companies on customer service and promote the importance of it day after day. But in order for the customer to believe what you say and to trust in you, you have to have a certain level of credibility. Remember, in many of these cases, what the customer is thinking about as you’re communicating with them is that they don’t know you, and yet you’re asking them to believe what you’re saying. So how do you overcome this inherent credibility gap?

Some of how you overcome is to use a tone of voice and body language that promote confidence and assuredness. But in many organizations, particularly in hospitals (where you are giving shots and putting patients into MRI scanners and giving them medication), how you communicate can only provide so much of an impact. In these situations, customers need to know your credentials.

Customers need to know if you’ve been a nurse 10 or 15 years; they need to know if you’ve done hundreds of MRIs; they need to know if you’ve drawn blood samples hundreds or thousands of times. Because in many situations, the reason why you’re trying to build credibility is not just to build trust, but it’s also to overcome and eliminate customer anxiety. If the customer knows your qualifications, if they know your experience, they know a little bit of history, then that knowledge can often help to build confidence and eliminate anxiety and concerns.

Make sure that you’re credible by appropriately conveying your experience and training.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/


Technology Helps to Keep Customer Relationships Healthy

Posted on May 12, 2010 in Business Advice, Education, Healthcare, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

With the passing of Healthcare Reform, medical practices are bracing themselves for significant increases in appointments and workload as tens of millions more Americans anticipate acquiring health insurance. Having insurance eliminates a key barrier to utilization of healthcare services, so volumes should increase; yet there’s no guarantee that revenues flowing into medical practices will increase at the same rate as their workload.

So the question is how do they operate more efficiently? One key productivity driver in most businesses is the use of technology. Any many practices will use technology not only to become more efficient, but they’ll also use it to improve their customer relationships.

Technology can provide this dual role (increasing efficiencies and customer satisfaction) for virtually any business.

The practices will rely more and more on technology to send out appointment confirmations via e-mail. Reminders will be sent of the appointments as the date draws near. Satisfaction surveys will be launched post-visit via e-mail invitations. The practices will get more automated in their communications with their customers to ensure patients are prepared for their appointments, arrive, arrive on time, and provide feedback after the visit.

Think of how this applies to any business. The local courier service could use technology to keep their customers up-to-date on the stages of the order, pickup, and delivery – thereby eliminating most incoming/outgoing phone calls requesting status. The car dealership could use technology to ensure that the customer shows up on time and gains feedback on their experience while it’s fresh on the customer’s mind. The university’s admissions department could use technology to ensure that the prospective student and her parents know how to navigate the campus, understand where to access financial aid forms, and are kept up-to-date on the financial aid evaluation and admissions status.

Technology can be a great driver of efficiency, but it can also be a great communications tool with customers to keep them up-to-date and to keep your organization looking responsive to their needs.

Use technology to keep your customer relationships healthy.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/


If we were only treated like our pets…

Posted on April 29, 2010 in Business Advice, Carolinas, Healthcare, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

I went to the veterinarian last week to take in our family cat – the one that had been in a fight with another cat and didn’t exactly win. Squeaky was on the mend, but the vet wanted to make sure that the antibiotics had worked and that her temperature was down.

When we walked into SouthPark Animal Hospital in Charlotte, NC, the two front desk staff greeted our cat like she was their long lost sister. “Hi, Squeaky!” they exclaimed. “We’re so happy to see you! How are you feeling? Are you better?!” Their love of cats (or at least in our mind, OUR cat) was evident. They took care of her, brought her back to the exam room to take her temperature, and when they brought her back out to the lobby, the vet assistant told my daughter and I that “We love Squeaky!”

Wow! It’s just a cat…isn’t it? Not to them…and not to us, either.

Let’s think about how this relates to us human beings. How often do you go into any other business and get a reception like this? How often do people’s faces light up, they smile, their voices convey enthusiasm at the sight of you? How often do they repeat your name? How often do they tell you how much they love (or at least enjoy) caring for you? How often do they enthusiastically give you the impression that you’re the most important person in the world at that moment?

What a great customer service world it would be if businesses conveyed how much they cared about us the way the staff at SouthPark Animal Hospital convey that they care about our pets!

If a business can muster this enthusiasm for Squeaky, let’s try to muster something similar for our 2-legged customers.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more information at: http://www.cssamerica.com/


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