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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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Connect – The Power of Working Together – 7/11/23

Posted on July 11, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Herman Melville, the American writer/novelist, once said:  We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us.

One great characteristic of those working in customer service is the fact that we are living and working for others as much or more than for ourselves.  Melville talks about having connections with those others.  A good way for us to look at connecting with others is to see it both from an external connection as well as an internal connection.  

Externally, we could be talking about our customers, the parents of the children we serve, our clients, our season ticket holders, residents in our community.  How do we build relationships with them?

It helps to have common goals so that we know that we are working together towards something.  It helps to build trust – doing what we say we will do – and loyalty.  It helps to be solution-oriented when building relationships, so we can see positive outcomes from our actions together.

Internally, we could think about connecting in terms of collaboration – finding ways to work well with our co-workers and colleagues.  We do this by proactively sharing information – looking at information we have available and asking ourselves:  Who else would benefit from this information or knowledge?  We do it by providing ideas to our co-workers. We do it by offering our support in their efforts or the organization’s efforts to move toward goals.

There is power in connecting in customer service.  With those we serve outside the organization, the power comes through relationship-building, and it results in the building of mutual trust and loyalty as well as better outcomes.

Within an organization, the power comes in a greater sharing of knowledge, freer offering of ideas, and greater acknowledgement when we received those ideas.  It comes in more frequent and more expeditious achievement of organizational goals.

And all along the way, these positive outcomes, this loyalty, this trust, and the sharing of information results in a better place to work, a more cohesive culture, a more positive experience, and a more productive work life.

Intentionally connect with others to tap into the power of working together.

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From Team-up to Partner – 4/21/20

Posted on April 21, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The phrase used to be “Team-up.”  Company A and Company B are going to Team-up to address this big consumer need.

Now the term is “Partner.”  Organization A and Organization B are going to partner together to seek a resolution to this community issue.

Both of these phrases essentially deal with different organizations working together with a common goal.  But even within the same organization, the ultimate organizational success usually requires people from different areas or with different functions to “Team-up.”

So, what do you do when you’re asked to Team-up with someone else at your own company?

To Team-up effectively, here are 3 quick suggestions:

  • Help Others – When you see a co-worker with a need (figuring out some video conferencing app, understanding how to interpret a policy, or dealing with a difficult customer situation), stop what you’re doing and offer to help. Don’t simply bypass someone in need.
  • Know Your Role – Understand how your job, your skills and expertise, and your experience fit in the greater organization. Know how your actions and decisions affect others; often, what you say or the work you produce (your “Output”) is the Input for a co-worker.
  • Collaborate with Others – Be willing to meet with and work together in formulating plans, dealing with issues, and delivering services. Support what’s best for the whole group, even if it may not be your first choice.  Encourage your co-workers and give them positive reinforcement.

Before you Team-up with others, take a moment to truly understand what is expected of you. Seek opportunities to help, understand how you affect others, and work with others as a good teammate toward a collective goal.

Team-up.

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6 Ways to Provide Something Extra – 4/14/20

Posted on April 14, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Winnie and Wayne ordered take-out last week, and when they brought their food home, they put the bag on the kitchen table and started unloading.  As they were pulling out the boxes, they noted two little handwritten notes. Each was a Thank You Note written by a different employee – one for each customer.

True story. Simple gesture. Special to the recipient, especially considering how exceptionally tough times are in the restaurant industry.

Sometimes when we are hurting, the best thing to do is to give a little extra to somebody else.  Sometimes when having customers knocking on your door every day is no longer a given, we need to do a little something extra.

Here are some “something extras” that we can consider doing for customers in the days where we’re currently living:

  1. Send that handwritten Thank You Note to a customer.
  2. Call or e-mail someone in an informal and personalized way just to check on them.
  3. If you find something that is helping you mentally, physically, spiritually, share that with others that you think may be open to that type of example.
  4. If you are waiting on something for the customer to do to complete a transaction or to get a process moving, either do it for them and let them know, or give them a quick call or text as a reminder to help them keep things moving.
  5. In e-mails and calls, don’t just share the facts, ask how they’re doing and convey that you hope they stay safe.
  6. In a “Stay-at-Home” world, find ways to virtually provide/receive information so they don’t have to make a trip.

I’m heartened by how much people are rallying around each other and, in many ways, being more collaborative and less conflict-oriented.  Many of these behaviors are simply reflective of a more caring culture.

Find some ways to give something extra.

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