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Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/19/24


In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW. Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively Read more

Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/12/24


It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to Read more

From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience - 11/5/24


Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well. A customer had ordered a register book off the company Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

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

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Structured for Service?

Posted on July 7, 2011 in Business Advice, Government, Healthcare, Sports Please leave a comment

Yet another company is caring about customer service, and this one is an Australian telco – Telstra. The organization is trying to get rid of its reputation for horrible customer service by – in part – creating a combined structure for its sales and service areas. According to a Wall Street Journal article, Telstra wants to “improve service, win customers, simplify processes and build new growth businesses.”

In short, it’s restructuring for the money. Who knows today if it will work for tomorrow, but the attempt has some key points that need to be addressed.

First, your organizational structure has a HUGE impact on customer service. We see this all the time with hospitals and pro sports teams alike. Two different departments talk to the same customer (i.e., patient or season ticket holder) at two different times. Does one department know what the customer just communicated to another department? Think “shift change” on a hospital unit or a handoff of a new sale to a season ticket account representative on a sports team. Is the organization structured for responsiveness and seamless communication?

The article also talks about how structures impact processes. If you’ve ever tried to get a permit to renovate a building or to add a deck to your home, you know about which I’m referring. How many different places do you have to go, people do you have to interact with, information sources you have to research to get the “okay” to do the work? The structure of most local governments emphasizes the efficiency of the siloed department above the efficiency of the overall process from the customer’s perspective.

To improve customer service, look at your structures and processes. Where do they hinder Service Excellence?

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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


Create a Training Reinforcement Program

Posted on July 6, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

You just implemented the top customer service training program that the organization has ever undertaken. The session ratings were sky high. The employee feedback was positive. Everyone is energized.

Now what?

In so many organizations, when customer service training hasn’t been done for a while and customer complaints start to rise, management’s answer is often “let’s put everyone through training.” That might be a fine answer. But that would be an incomplete answer.

If we focus purely on part of what training is supposed to do – improve staff service skills, get everyone on the same page in terms of expectations of behavior and focus, and create some motivation – then a solid customer service training program can be considered a success for the short-term. But if you look at what training is supposed to generate in terms of long-term results, there needs to be something more.

As staff and managers move further and further away from the training date, the need to keep the momentum going gets greater and greater.

To make the skills stick, the common focus continue, and the motivation move forward, the organization needs to create a training reinforcement plan. The plan should be focused on tapping into managers and supervisors to set the expectation that they will perform exercises or facilitate discussions with employees that reinforce the skills learned, discussing customer issues, and having staff learn best practices from each other.

There should be a standard frequency of at least monthly, an accountability if supervisors do not reinforce the skills, and a core set of exercises and facilitation guidelines from which supervisors can select and use in their staff meetings.

If you feel good about your customer service training, make sure you implement a reinforcement plan so that your customers will feel good that staff skills will continue to improve.

Make the successes of customer service training stick for the long-term.

Want to discuss how we help clients create a Training Reinforcement Program? Contact me directly via e-mail…

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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


One Company’s Path Toward Greater Customer Service…

Posted on June 28, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Chart the course. It’s easier to get to where you need to go if you have a path, a map, direction, a guide.

But when starting in the muck, achieving the vision is that much more difficult.

That’s where Charter Communications is/was according to a recent CED article. They hired an individual with success at a telecommunications company to come in and revamp their customer service. Here’s some of what John Birrer did and is doing for them:

· Helped them create/refine their metrics that measure customer satisfaction and retention.

· Emphasized the importance of teaching “soft skills” to front-line staff since they’re the ones engaging the customers.

· Has supervisors role play customer service situations with staff.

· Created ongoing employee and customer feedback systems focused on continually improving customer service.

· Training staff to build their product/process knowledge as well as those customer service skills.

· Involving partner companies in the customer service initiatives.

· Instituted follow-up calls with customers served in the past 48 hours.

And what have they found from these efforts? Improved customer satisfaction and reduced operating costs.

If you want to improve customer service, satisfaction, and loyalty, find an expert, address metrics/processes/people, and make sure your staff are empowered and enabled (through training and technology) to succeed.

Need an expert (FYI – you can e-mail me at edward.gagnon@cssamerica.com !)

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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


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