co-worker | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 12

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

A Representative Success! – 12/11/18

Posted on in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


I was in a meeting recently with a client, and it was interesting to chat with one of their best customer service representatives. This is an employee who works with the same business clients every month, and when she described what she does, best practices started flowing.

She knows her customers so well that when she sees their phone number pop up as they call her, she immediately knows who it is that’s calling. She immediately recalls: Jane is a cat person; Bob’s been having a hard time lately. She then starts the conversations by asking about their kids or their family or their work or their pets.

She thinks of these nuggets and utilizes them for those she cares about – her customers.

There are thousands of individual products and hundreds of pieces of equipment and parts that her company sells and services. But she is exceptionally knowledgeable about the details such that she not only knows what the product is, but she also knows which clients might be interested in which products based on which promotions.

She is fortunate to be in a company where the culture is more about relationship-building and development than it is about quick handle times on the call. That positive cultural focus enables her to be patient with the customers in-the-moment as well as to think long-term about how she handles the call today and the impact that will have on her relationship and sales moving into the future.

She communicates frequently and freely with her regional sales managers, and they have a clear understanding of when and why one would communicate with a particular client versus the other.

The skills and attributes of this individual are the skills and attributes of somebody who truly cares about her customers and cares about her job as well. These are attributes that focus on long-term thinking, and the result is long-term success.

Learn from this representative’s best practices!

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No Matter How You Say It, Say Thanks! – 11/20/18

Posted on in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Gracias. Grazie. Gratias tibi. Obrigado. Tack. Merci. Danke. Thank You.

No matter how you say it, say it. Say Thank You. You can say Thank You in many different languages (shout out to Google Translate for what’s written above!). You can say it with your eyes, your gestures, your smile, and with a nod of the head.

You can say it in a written note or an email or a text. You can convey it face-to-face or on the phone. You can “like” a social media posting or send a little gift card of appreciation. You can say it in front of a group of co-workers or quietly convey it to the employee in the next cube.

You can do it at the start of the conversation or at the end of the conversation. You can do it each step of the way without having to wait until that process is done.

You can say it in a meeting or in front of someone’s boss.

One-on-one you can use the words thanks, appreciate, and value. In front of others you can use the words credit, acknowledge, recognize, salute, pay tribute, and even hail!

In America, it’s Thanksgiving week. So, let’s use that holiday as a good reason to be especially appreciative of co-workers and customers alike.

No matter how you say it, say it. Say Thanks!

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Be the Culture – 10/16/18

Posted on in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


As a customer service consultant, I am often in situations with clients where we’re trying to figure out how to deliver a better experience to the customer. It might be an effort undertaken to retain more clients and grow the top line. It may be an effort to streamline operations to serve the customer more efficiently or consistently. It may be an effort to improve quality.

But underpinning any kind of a process redesign or strategy initiative has to be an understanding that the employees are what make those redesigns or initiatives work. The employees are the ones who are implementing those designs. Employees are the ones who are delivering the service or resolving the issue.

So, how the organization sets expectations with staff, trains staff, rewards and holds staff accountable, and models behaviors to staff – in the end – drives staff performance. While many staff are self-motivated, in any organization, employees who are there for any length of time are going to be impacted by that organization’s culture.

And when I say the organization, I’m not talking purely about leadership. How employees treat each other, how they engage with one another, how they do or do not work as a team, how they show appreciation, how responsive and respectful they are to each other has a huge impact on the attitudes and actions of those co-workers.

To deliver a great customer experience, realize that that delivery is happening through you and your co-workers. Make sure you’re creating the kind of culture for those you work with that you hope the organization is creating for everyone.

Be the culture that you desire for your organization.

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