co-worker | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 20

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

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

Energy v. Apathy - 4/22/25


I asked a couple friends who are much more scientifically-oriented the question: What is energy?  I didn’t mean E=MC2.  I meant physiologically, what is energy? They described a lot of things that sounded really good, yet far too advanced for my non-medical mind. Part of the reason why energy is of Read more

Prep Enough to Personalize - 4/15/25


Everybody loves Howie.  He is an account rep for the local air conditioning and heating company.  When I say Everybody loves Howie, I’m definitely talking about the customers.  His co-workers love him too, but customers are especially fond of him.  They seem to really enjoy their conversations with him, Read more

Get Your Customers to Brag, Not Bolt - 4/8/25


Here are two customer retention concepts that we discuss with some sports clients: BIRG and CORF.  BIRG is Basking In Reflected Glory.  CORF is Cutting Off Reflected Failure. You want BIRG.  You want the customers feeling so good about your organization that they want to be a part of your Read more

Narrow Your Focus to Seek Excellence - 4/1/25


You’ve probably heard companies use phrases such as: “We want to go from being good to great.”  Maybe they’ve said: “We strive for perfection, and although we’ll never reach perfection, maybe we can achieve excellence along the way.” These organizations find some kind of a catch phrase or slogan, but Read more

Dealing with the Treasure Hunter – 1/10/17

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


The customer is asking you question after question after question. They’re engaged and pleasant, but they’re turning what’s normally a 30 second quick talk into a 3-minute conversation.

It’s easy to get impatient with these customers because they’re taking up more of your time than normal. It’s easy to get frustrated because they’re firing question after question at you, and you have TONS of other work to do, so many other customers to serve.

What’s going on?

You’re dealing with the Process Customer. They want details. They want realistic expectations. They want the treasure map to their desired pot of gold.

To deal with these customers most effectively, consider them to be like a Treasure Hunter. They want the map. They want the clues. They want to know the potential pitfalls to avoid and the clearest path to take. It’s all about getting to the treasure, and they don’t want you to tell them just the next step. They want the map – with all its clues and paths and steps detailed.

Handle them this way. Tell them your understanding of their goal. Note the next steps, who will do what and by when. Give them a (process) map or a checklist of ALL the steps. Then confirm they understand the plan before you wrap up the conversation.

With these Treasure Hunters, you also have to be conscientious about telling them when steps have been accomplished, when action has occurred, when roadblocks have been encountered and overcome – in other words, be proactive with status updates.

So why are we handling these Treasure Hunters in this manner? Because the more you build their expectations with clarity and the more you build their comfort, then the more you’ll build their confidence.

And the more clear, comfortable, and confident they are, the less they’ll be contacting you and your co-workers repeatedly for updates, with questions, and with concerns.

When encountering a Process Customer, treat them like a Treasure Hunter.

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Be a Good Teammate – 1/3/17

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For few people in customer service, the customer experience always and solely is dependent on just them. More typical is for employees to rely on I.T. to keep the systems up and running. Staff rely on co-workers to offer suggestions and strategies to help inform decision-making. Oftentimes, staff have to work together to resolve issues or to deliver on a customer need.

In short, we’re teammates, and we need to be good or great teammates. The better we work together, the more efficient is the organization, the more harmonious are our internal relationships, and – oh by the way – the more satisfied are our customers.

But what does it mean to be a good teammate?

One strong definition to consider is this: A good teammate makes others around them better.

And how is that done? Think about football players trying to motivate each other to make a comeback; think about community members working together to build a home for those in need; think about nurses, doctors, and aides working in a hospital to care for a patient.

Good teammates have a sense of the psyche of their co-workers. Who needs encouragement? Who needs a gentle boot to the fanny (figuratively speaking, of course)? Who needs to be more self-aware? Who needs to be asked for their input?

Good teammates enable the success of others. Reply quickly to requests for help. Give clear, specific, documented communications. Do your part of the job by the deadline, and communicate it’s done.

Good teammates don’t intentionally put co-workers in a bad spot. Share information that may help the other. Don’t aggravate a customer that might complain to one of your co-workers. Do things right the first time with customers so co-workers don’t have to clean up your mess.

For 2017, think about how to be a good teammate.

Make others around you better.

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Give Thanks Freely and Frequently – 11/22/16

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Thank you for being a Tip Subscriber! For the past 17+ years, we’ve provided over 850 Customer Service Tips of the Week, and you’ve shared them with co-workers and others. With this being Thanksgiving Week in the U.S., it’s appropriate to thank you – my Tip “customers.”

And isn’t it almost always an appropriate time to thank your customers? Think on this simple question: When is it appropriate to convey your appreciation for the other person – for their business, their loyalty, their good attitude, their interest, their referral, and their compliments to us when we do something good?

With co-workers, when is it appropriate to convey that you value the other person – for their support on issues, for picking up the slack for you, for making your life easier by keeping your customer happy, and for bringing positivity into the workplace?

It’s important to thank in almost every interaction and on each day because it’s the right thing to do. But it’s important to thank because of what it does for the other person, too.

It fills them up with good about themselves. It encourages them to view you as a source of appreciation and positivity. It helps them to feel valued. It makes them want to do more good, to take more of the right kind of action for you and for others.

Don’t underestimate the power of Thanks. Give it freely and frequently, and you’ll see it returned to you.

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