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Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

Allow Yourself to Solve a Couple Puzzles Every Day - 6/2/26


Frank had never been a dog owner before, and when he first got Bosco at the shelter, Frank didn't really know what he was doing.  He would try to be a good parent - feed the dog, play with it, take it on walks - but he was doing Read more

Improve with a Purpose - 5/26/26


If you’re reading these customer service tips, you likely want to get better.  You want an idea, a technique, a reinforcement, or a question that helps you improve. But why improve? At some point you may waver on the commitment to improve, because it can take effort, introspection, time, and change.  Read more

Reciprocate the Thanks - 5/19/26


Jasmine had a great experience with the company, and the company sent her a link to provide an online evaluation following the visit.  So, she clicked the link, gave a rating, and made a comment about her experience. The company monitored their online reviews, saw the positive response, and replied Read more

Don’t Skip the Recap - 5/12/26


The playoff hockey game goes on for almost 3 hours.  There’s non-stop action, with plenty of penalties and takeaways and hits against the boards…and a few goals, as well. You didn’t get to watch the whole game because you had other plans, but you wanted to know what happened.  So, Read more

Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist - 5/5/26


In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix Read more

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

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Retention-Driving Data (Know Your Numbers…and Your Customers)

Posted on September 26, 2013 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Here’s a quick article on using data analytics for client retention (Analytics Boost Customer Retention for Ohio Mutual). Although I like the article because of its obvious retention-focus, some of the key nuggets relate to the metrics that Ohio Mutual utilizes including:

  • Retention/renewal rates (historically 87%)
  • Profitability of the renewal business (15%-20% higher than the profitability of new customers)
  • Identifying premium increase opportunities (upwards of $175 annually for some clients).

Does your organization have similar metrics? If not, just take a minute to think of how your strategies and decisions would be different if you knew retention rates, profitability of renewal v. new customers, and specific dollar increase opportunities with existing clients.

If you can’t afford a SAS solution, we’ve worked with many organizations on analyzing retention rates, at-risk profiling, retention and growth strategies, client exit interviews, etc. without using some high-end system. It’s not about the system. It’s about you, your customer, and the methodology to uncover retention opportunities and act on them.

Know your numbers to better target and achieve retention and growth with current customers.

For more information, check out: http://cssamerica.com/cssstrategy.htm


Don’t Zip to the Wrong Customer Service Solution

Posted on August 20, 2013 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Instead of renting or buying a car, why not share it? That’s the premise of Zipcar – an organization using a “Blue Ocean” strategy to build a business.

And like every business, the customer’s experience is not all about the product; the employee attitudes and process impact overall perceptions and loyalty (and $$). So an Adweek article like Zipcar’s Customer Service Gets Horrible Reviews is the last thing a growing business needs.

However, what’s most interesting about the article is what some business experts suggest that Zipcar should do to improve the experience. In response to complaints about “dirty cars, rude reps, unreturned emails, last-minute changes,” advice is given such as “how about a lighthearted phone app where customers report the quality of the car they are picking up or returning.” So customers would report the cars are dirty? We already know there are dirty cars…

How about this advice – “Customers could be alerted that Zipcar is rating them internally and that bad ratings could result in fines or having their Zipcar membership revoked.” So we penalize the customers for bad ratings? So we want to artificially increase ratings?

These bits of advice are classic of people jumping from symptom to solution (create an app and punish customers?) without giving consideration for the root cause. Zipcar needs to ask why are cars dirty, why are reps rude, why are e-mails not being returned, and why are changes done last minute? Find the root cause, and the solution becomes much more clear. The solutions will probably deal with employee hiring/training/motivation/accountability, process improvements, better tracking of documents/vehicles (and yes, customers).

When you have an issue, “There’s an app for that” is rarely the best answer.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


Internal Customer Service Defined

Posted on May 8, 2013 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

He laughed at me. I didn’t take it personally since it was just a natural reaction to something I said.

A few years back, I was in a meeting with a group of small business owners who were designing a method of evaluating different companies to win a community customer service award. As we were building the criteria, I talked about the need to include questions about “Internal Customers.”

One of the business owners asked what that meant, and I stated that it addresses co-workers – the idea is that we need to treat co-workers as customers. He laughed and said “that’s the craziest thing I ever heard!”

Maybe the concept was odd to him because he didn’t treat his staff with courtesy, respect, and responsiveness. Or maybe he just didn’t fully grasp my definition of “internal customer.”

The easiest way to think of who is your internal customer is to think of who in your company relies on you. What co-worker, supervisor, direct report, or other personnel rely on you to get their job done? Who relies on you to provide them information, technology, decisions, or answers that allow them to help their customer? Which co-workers do you impact by what you do, how responsive you are, and how you interact with them?

These are the people – the co-workers – that need the same level of respect, quick turnaround, positive attitudes, attentiveness, issue resolution, and general courtesy as your external customer.

Get comfortable with the idea of “Internal Customers.” Who relies on you?

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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


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