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Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

Boost Customer Happiness - 7/9/24


There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make Read more

Brainstorm to Better Yourself - 7/2/24


I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping Read more

The Power of the Pause - 6/25/24


When I’m facilitating a meeting, and it feels like it’s going off-track or the discussion is going a little longer than it should, I may say something like “let me pause the conversation so that…” or “let’s pause just for a minute and consider…” I don’t like the word STOP. Read more

Handle Interruptions Heroically - 6/18/24


In the middle of a project, Jimbo, the customer service team member, had to stop what he was doing because he received an e-mail from a customer complaining about their experience at a recent event. Later that day, Jimbo was asked by his boss to put everything on hold for Read more

From Employees to Teammates: The Shift - 6/11/24


Be a great teammate. Be a good team player. We’re all part of the team. We’re no longer employees, we’re team members! The phrase “Team” is used in describing co-workers so much more than it was used years ago.  Then, we would be talking about employees, talking about staff, talking Read more

Nurture New Relationships - 6/4/24


Freddie was a new business owner in town.  He was launching a franchise, had acquired some funding from a local bank, and was in search of staff who cared about customer service. All the while, he was in the process of renovating a storefront for his business, so he was Read more

There’s Positivity in Patience - 5/28/24


The employee at the financial services firm was working with a new client on a relatively simple loan.  The documentation was about as clear as it could get to the employee, but the customer had lots of questions.  The employee calmly, clearly, and specifically answered each question.  The meeting Read more

The Goal – A Great Experience - 5/21/24


The following is a narrative of a great experience (people, process, service, facility) at a minor league sporting event – key points that could apply to any business are in bold… Mark and I pulled into the parking lot, excited about the game.  The Slapshots had been on a roll Read more

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Make Deposits with Your Customer – 10/24/23

Posted on October 24, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Carrie has a 50+ hour a week job, and – financially – she does better than many.  She’s in the media, but she doesn’t like everything to be public.  Carrie’s a real person with real issues and real needs and real gifts, as well.

One day, her best friend, the person that knows her best as well, asked Carrie a simple question: Why do you give so much to other people?

You see, Carrie has paid people’s rent when they were in a tough position.  She has paid others’ medical expenses and taken care of other life necessities.  And typically the only person that knew what she did was the person she was helping.  Sometimes she helped others anonymously, so even that person did not know.

Her best friend knew of Carrie’s giving because she pieced it all together, story by story, understanding how all the people helped somehow had some deep or tangential relationship to Carrie.  So, the friend asked Carrie the question, and Carrie gave the answer.

Carrie said: I always like to put in deposits because it’s the right thing to do, and I’m able to do it.  But also, I know, someday I’m going to have to make some withdrawals, and it’s probably going to be easier to make some withdrawals if I’ve built up a bank account of goodwill.

That’s a long story to make a short point about customer service.

When we do the bare minimum for the customer, we are providing a product or service. We are giving them the commodity they’re purchasing.  But when we do a little bit more – when we give them a little bit more time, when we show them a little bit more patience, when we reach out to them just to check in even when it’s not really necessary – We are making deposits.

And every business at some point in time is going to mess up, where our action or inaction will be a withdrawal from the account we have with that customer.  So, let’s give a little extra at every opportunity, and maybe when we make a mistake, the customer will be fine with us making that withdrawal.

Keep making deposits with your customer.

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How to Rise to the Occasion – 8/8/23

Posted on August 8, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Mr. Magorium – played by Dustin Hoffman – tells his protégé that “Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it.”

He’s conveying a big picture life lesson – don’t let fear and apprehension keep you from living.

Rising to the occasion is also something we need to do in serving others.  Maybe it’s not as dramatic an occasion as living life to your fullest, overcoming the fears and the apprehension.  But it’s still important.  Rising to the occasion in a customer service encounter suggests that there is an occasion where the basics, the routine response, the status quo won’t suffice.

Maybe the situation doesn’t warrant the muted response, or the customer doesn’t respond to our typical approach, so we have to RISE!

How to Rise

So, how do you rise to the occasion in customer service?  It’s about ratcheting up the quality of your performance.

Can you respond more quickly, respond with more urgency on the customer’s behalf?  Take action now.  Make them a priority now.

Can you take ownership of a situation and shepherd it forward until it’s complete?  Don’t look for the handoff to others, look for the next step you can take together with them, the document you can work on together, the process you can complete together, the final step you can identify and act on together.

Can you meet their specific need with a specific solution?  Identify their issue, need, or goal.  Then put on your consulting hat and outline a specific solution to address that need.

Rising to the occasion is about the now, taking action together, and tailoring your solution to their situation.

When you are in an occasion of serving the customer, and they need expedited or extra support, tailored support, a final conclusion – Rise to the Occasion!

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Redefine “Access” to Treat Customers Special – 11/29/22

Posted on November 29, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

One of our clients puts on major events throughout the country.  When we conduct post-event surveys, many of the attendees rave about the access they had to certain entertainers, locations in the venue, parking lots, or even information.  Others decry the fact that they lacked that access.

This does pose an interesting question:  If we want to treat our customers special – even if we’re not in the entertainment industry – what kind of special access can we provide to customers?

In some ways, “Special” is in the eye of the beholder, but allow yourself the opportunity to think on the following questions for those customers where something a little special, something above and beyond, makes them walk away feeling a little special.  Let’s redefine “Access.”

People: In what cases can you grant a customer access to a particular co-worker or department within your organization that is not commonly promoted as a point of contact in communications or the company website?  Maybe it’s access to a leader, an expert, a not highly-publicized telephone line or department.

Resources: When can you provide access to resources that are not commonly available?  It could be some internal documents, some How To’s, an online portal or an app, information you can e-mail, or key lessons learned from other similar clients.

Locations: Where can you provide physical access to a certain location at your facility, special parking or entrances, or certain special locations?  The information or the product or service is the same, but how they get there may be unique, where it’s located might be special.

Experiences: What are the types of experiences you can grant access to for this individual?  You could invite them to a webinar or a town hall meeting.  They could attend some special entertainment or presentation.  Think about even small gatherings you have for those community, civic, or charity events that might be promoted to the general public but not directly communicated to the customers.

Granted, access is tough to offer to customers, at times, but if we take a step back and redefine what could be considered a “Special Access Opportunity,” we might be able to grant access to our customers in new ways.

Redefine “Access” to Treat Customers Special.

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