Business Advice | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 26

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Student Success – Align to Achieve

Posted on in Business Advice, Education Please leave a comment

It’s a core management belief – if you want to change the behaviors of employees, you need to reward and recognize those desired behaviors, because some people are motivated by the carrot, by the incentive.

Benedictine University is applying that philosophy to its customers – namely, its students. In the article Benedictine University Announces Student Success Award, one the approaches that Benedictine is taking to improve Student Success is highlighted. The University has enacted a program for “students in good standing (a GPA of 3.0 or higher) who are on track to complete their online degree within a designated period of time.” Essentially, if they meet the criteria, the University may offer awards that defray from $1,000-$10,000 of their remaining tuition.

If you read many of the studies and best practices about Student Success, particularly in community colleges, the vast majority are internally focused on programmatic, orientation-based, or advising-related initiatives. But if we view Student Success as a partnership between the college and the student, community colleges also need to look about how they can affect student behaviors, how they can motivate the students to Succeed, how they can align student “incentives” with organizational goals.

When you’re planning your Student Success strategy, ask yourself “How can I motivate the students to succeed?”

Learn about our CSS Education services at: http://cssamerica.com/cssed.htm

Interested in improving your educational organization’s customer/student satisfaction? See our other blog posts at: http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/category/education/


Patient Satisfaction – Driven by What You Do After They Leave

Posted on in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

The nurses.com article Discharge calls help nurses affect readmission rates, patient satisfaction notes that an increasing trend of calling patients post-discharge is having positive effects on patient outcomes and satisfaction. At one hospital, the calls involve social workers contacting patients to gauge the patient’s mindset (“psychosocial” state) as well as determine whether they’re getting their clinical needs met.

Generalizing what’s done here to apply to any industry, the customer is contacted soon after the transaction to gauge satisfaction (i.e., how they’re feeling mentally) and to follow-up to ensure that whatever next steps were identified are being addressed.

But before we say “this is too much work to contact every patient or customer…” after every encounter, let’s focus on another finding in the article. One facility looks at the home care population, and a member of management stated that “we stratify them into high risk, moderate risk and low risk. If they are high risk, they will also have a nurse practitioner with a specialty in heart failure either calling them or visiting their home within 72 hours of discharge.”

This is the key to being efficient and most effective – stratifying your patient base. Organizations that want to drive high levels of patient satisfaction need to realize that they must keep relationships fresh, they must gauge patient perceptions post-discharge, they must ensure that appropriate follow-up and compliance with post-discharge instructions are occurring. But they also must NOT view every patient the same.

Some patients are more at-risk of readmission, more likely not to return if dissatisfied, more driven to be satisfied/dissatisfied based on their relationship with the organization.

When you look to reduce readmissions and improve patient satisfaction, do the necessary follow-up and relationship-building in a targeted manner to make those improvements with efficiencies.

Remember that patient satisfaction is often driven by what you do AFTER they leave.

Interested in improving your hospital’s patient satisfaction? See our other blog posts at: http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/category/healthcare/

Check out our patient satisfaction improvement services at: http://cssamerica.com/csshealth.htm


Fan Equity – The Latest Study…Clear as Mud

Posted on in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Emory University recently published results of their “NFL Fan Equity” study. In the study, they evaluate and rank the 32 teams’ fan bases. You may wonder how your team ranks, but prior to getting too involved and passionate about the results (the study has been hammered by fans since its publication), let’s first define what the study addresses.

It ranks teams by their fan’s “equity”…okay…what does that mean? It means loyalty…but teams that are ranked in the middle of the pack continually sell-out. It means revenue in relation to wins…so that means that teams that win a lot can’t have the highest rank.

The problem here is definition – in any research, you’re going to get push back if the reader doesn’t like the results, particularly if you can’t clearly define the basis for the conclusions. If we were to do a study based on loyalty, we could look at season ticket holder renewal rates, or we could look at waiting list for season tickets, or we could simply ask fans (which this study doesn’t do) about their relative fan affinity.

So what in the world is “equity” – usually that either deals with equality/fairness or financial equity such as the amount of stock an individual owns. I assume they’re speaking of the latter, but it’s not clear when they toss in words like “loyalty” and “fan support.”

When you embark on any research project, keep two things in mind. First, know your goal. What are you trying to learn? What are you trying to accomplish with the results? How are you going to clearly communicate findings, conclusions, and recommendations?

Second, ask the customer. Don’t make evaluations of the customer (especially about their affinity, loyalty, renewal likelihood, growth opportunities, etc.) without asking them.

When you look to research your fan base, begin with the end in mind…and ask the customer directly.

Interested in improving your organization’s fan retention and revenue? See our other blog posts at: http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/category/sports/

Learn about our CSS Sports services at: http://cssamerica.com/csssport.htm