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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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A First – Let’s Review an Analyst’s Blog…Really!

Posted on April 21, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Assuming the title didn’t make you fall asleep, I wanted to welcome you to an unusual blog post – we’re going to analyze an analyst’s blog posting!

In an analyst’s earnings preview for ProLogis (a provider of distribution facilities), Zacks Equity Research projects ProLogis’ estimate for year-over-year earnings growth, revenues, etc.

What caught my eye was this statement – “Customer retention in both the direct owned and investment management portfolios during the quarter was over 87% during the reported quarter.”

It was one small mention of “customer retention,” but this is a BIG WIN folks!

When companies and analysts are actively sharing and analyzing customer retention as part of their earnings reports and using customer retention as a key barometer of business performance, that’s GREAT news!

That means businesses are seeing the link – customer retention and the bottom line. That means companies will look to drive that retention number higher. That means (we hope) they’ll invest in the people, processes, technology, and programs that help to make the customer more loyal.

That means that some large corporations truly get the financial reason to care for the customer. Now what they do with that understanding is still a question. But if they understand the cause and effect relationship between retention and earnings, let’s hope they will also understand the cause and effect relationship between customer service and retention.

Can you prove that cause and effect relationship between customer service and retention in your business? If so, share that proof with your leaders, and help to make them more aware of how you can improve your bottom line by improving your customer service.

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 Custom Retention Toolkit

Posted on April 20, 2011 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

In the article Marketing starts with customer service, the author promotes the concept of identifying the 20% of your customers that drive the majority of your business. Then market to them and provide them with stellar service. The idea is to have a targeted marketing approach for your top existing customers just as you would to a target demographic (using more typical marketing parlance).

Later in the article, the different marketing strategies are referred to as retention tools…hmmm…interesting.

It’s interesting because many of us think about customer service as responding to requests, as resolving issues, as anticipating customer needs. But from a retention standpoint, what collateral (or to use the author’s term), what tools do employees at your company have available to them to keep and grow business with existing customers?

Remember from our other blog posts that retention is different from marketing in that retention needs to be more personalized – more 1-to-1 based on the customer’s true renewal drivers. But once you know those drivers for your key client types, you may find consistencies such that a high percentage of customers will stick with you for a few key reasons.

In pro sports, the teams often offer many benefits to customers, but we’ve surveyed enough season ticket holders (STHs) to know that those benefits are rarely the reason why the STH renews are not. So don’t come up with a laundry list of benefits; again, be targeted.

If the retention driver is “being in the know” with your company’s latest product offerings or events or initiatives, possibly have an “Insider” newsletter that only the best customers receive before the general public – it could include a personalized letter from the CEO. If the driver is quick turnaround on special orders, ensure you have a fast-track process for urgent orders available to key customers. If the driver is the relationship with the organization’s people, make sure the employees share their names, ask about the customer, give unsolicited tips on the use of the products or meeting other customer needs.

Identify reasons why your key customer types would stay or go, and then create your own retention toolkit.

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/


Follow the Lead of Others in Retention and Growth

Posted on April 18, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Here are a few recent key paragraphs in business articles:

“My three focuses are employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and economic success.”

“Hallmarks of the quarter included significant loan and deposit growth, evidence of the success that sales and customer retention initiatives are having.”

“Financial services executives searching for creative and inexpensive customer retention programs…”

Clients can “benefit from…increased revenue through improved customer retention.”

The product “enables managers to improve customer retention and profitability.”

The theme? The tie between customer retention and financial performance. Some of these organizations are creating structures to support customer retention like a “Retention Team” that identifies high-priority at-risk clients and works to retain them. Other organizations are launching incentives with staff and customers alike that promote retention. Still other organizations are implementing what CSS calls a “Customer Relationship Development” strategy to learn customer retention drivers and retain/grow the customer base.

What all these organizations know is that there needs to be a focus and structure around customer retention. When you ask most organizations what they do to retain customers, they point to having a good experience during the sale or having a call center to handle complaints, but both of these are reactive and transactional.

What is your organization doing that is more proactive and relationship-oriented? Do you have a criteria for identifying at-risk clients or customer types? Do you have a proactive method of communicating with customers even when a transaction is not occurring? Is that method personalized and direct? And what is the organization doing to create the supporting staffing structures and incentive plans that promote an organizational alignment tying Mission, Vision, and Financial Performance to Customer Retention efforts?

Challenge your organization and its leadership to make the changes necessary to succeed in retention and growth.

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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