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The Key Building Block for Your Customer Relationship - 10/13/26


An automotive manufacturer gets supplies for their vehicles from all over the world.  They have arrangements, service level agreements, expectations for timing and quality of all the parts.  And when they gather all these supplies, they assemble the cars.  They test the cars.  Then they take pictures of those Read more

Be Flexible to Fill the Gaps - 10/6/26


The non-profit has the expected challenges.  There are only 3 people in the organization, yet, they have the same responsibilities of a larger company.  They have to do finance, sales, marketing; they deliver their services to the community, and they need to keep a pulse on what’s going on Read more

Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

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

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Pivot to a Stronger Post-COVID Culture

Posted on May 11, 2020 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

If there ever was a time for virtually every organization to assess their culture, this is it.  Culture not only drives customer service, but it also drives long-term organizational success.  While leaders can define the Desired Culture and can chart a Vision, leaders typically do very little of the actual work in any organization.  Just think of the math.  In an organization that has only 100 employees, the chief executive does about 1% of the work.

We are not diminishing the importance of the leader as much as we are highlighting the importance of the leader’s role in developing an engaged, productive, and effective workforce.

“This is an opportunity to rethink the future.”

 
Most organizations have been forced to transition because of changes in demand for services, changes in how services are delivered, or changes in where and how employees work.  In other words, the external environment has forced internal change.

This is an opportunity to rethink the future.  This is an opportunity for leaders to take a step back and paint a picture of the future business, the customer’s engagement with that business, and the type of internal culture needed to succeed in that new world.

Four Steps to Plan for Future Success

Here are four major steps to consider today to ensure your organization is still relevant and successful tomorrow:

  • Create as clear a vision of the future customer as possible, including their needs and wants in both services and the service experience.
  • Paint a vision of the services that are going to address the needs and wants of that future customer.
  • Identify the mechanisms that you’re going to use, including processes, technology, and facilities, to deliver those services.
  • Determine the kind of culture you need in order for that delivery approach to meet future customer needs.

 
The front-end key to this overall approach is to incorporate the Voice of the Customer to ensure you are creating this new Service System based on customer needs, issues, and goals.  Don’t create a strategy in a vacuum.

The back-end key to this approach is to clearly work with staff to educate them on the future of the customer base and the future of the organization, and include them in the discussion of the desired culture and how to make that culture a reality.

This is a time to strengthen the culture, and to strengthen it you may need to pivot from where you’ve been in the past to where you need to be for future success.


Taking the BRE Pulse

Posted on May 15, 2018 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Blog 5-15-18In the recent article Annual ‘Take the Pulse’ business survey underway, the Chester County Economic Development Council promoted the launch of its business retention and expansion survey.  The CCEDC COO noted that “This annual survey is a tool we use to identify emerging trends and issues in our local economy. Coupled with other outreach programs like Engage! and our industry partnerships, we feel like we can really be proactive in addressing the needs of Chester County businesses.”

While the CCEDC is a somewhat large-scale economic development organization, conducting such surveys isn’t something that requires unlimited resources or time. It requires three (3) primary characteristics:

  • First, relationships with businesses that have been developed over time and will result in those companies being open to sharing their perspectives and plans.
  • Second, BRE representatives having an understanding of the link between community economic development goals and how research can help to foster broad-based strategies as well as business-specific Retention and Growth efforts.
  • Finally, a well-designed BRE survey that gives you the key attributes to prioritize those big picture initiatives and also uncover risks and opportunities with existing businesses.

For business retention and expansion programs that have limited resources, keep in mind the vital role that research plays in your efforts to retain and grow jobs with existing businesses. Work to  become systematic about acquiring the kind of intelligence that could help your community grow.

Interested in BRE Services?  Check out:  http://cssamerica.com/government/bre-news-research-services-brebuzz/ 


High Trust = High Patient Satisfaction?

Posted on March 22, 2017 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Blog 3-22-17According to a study conducted by researchers in the Department of Psychology at the University of Basel and Harvard Medical School, trust in doctors can lead to higher patient satisfaction.  The article notes that Trust had “a positive effect on the satisfaction, health-related behavior, quality of life and subjectively perceived complaints of those being treated.”

Essentially, a patient’s trust in the care giver reduced patient complaints, improved patient compliance with provider instructions, and overall improved patient satisfaction.  In other words, two patients could have had the same clinical care provided, but if one of the patients trusted their physician more, then that patient’s attitude and actions improved.

There are may aspects of customer service that impact Trust.  For example, one employee can “build up” another employee in front of the customer such as “Jennifer has been a nurse for 8 years on this unit, and she’s cared for and helped many get through a similar situation to yours.”  That statement builds credibility, which adds to patient trust.

When you’re trying to build the patient’s trust, every “Moment of Truth” can be a moment of trust-building:

  • Focus on the patient, making positive eye contact and repeating back what they told you to convey you’re listening and that you understand.
  • Take immediate action whenever possible to ensure they see you acting on commitments.
  • Tell the patient and their family what you have done so it confirms in their mind your  trustworthiness.
  • Respect and maintain the confidentiality of what they say and their personal information.

If Trust can drive down complaints and drive up satisfaction (as well as strengthen patient compliance), use these key customer service skills to improve the patient experience.

Would you like to learn about how CSS helps Healthcare organizations succeed?  Visit http://cssamerica.com/healthcare


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