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See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26


That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next. But in the life Read more

Gaining the Benefits of the Greeter- 6/30/26


Most likely, we’ve all entered some establishment – a retail store, restaurant, or service center - when there is a greeter at the door.  The most famous greeter position is probably the Walmart greeter.  I often thought that my father-in-law would have been a fantastic Walmart greeter, because he Read more

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

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When to Avoid the Escalation – 6/16/26

Posted on June 16, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 escalate.

Is it that you don’t have the authority or responsibility to make the policy or process exception that the customer requests – or that’s needed to address the issue?

On this particular topic, you may not have the experience or skills needed to identify and implement a resolution.  The customer could demand to talk to the supervisor, and their behavior could be teetering on abuse.

Is the situation too important not to escalate?  Maybe it’s that ultimate keep or lose the customer situation, and the risk is too great not to escalate.

Issues with Escalation

Now, if these are some of the top reasons to escalate the customer contact, it also becomes more clear when to avoid it.  Remember that escalations take more of the company’s time because two employees (you and your boss) are now involved.  Since a handoff is taking place, the customer may have to repeat themselves, so that takes more of the customer’s time and can frustrate them even more.  In the end, your supervisor may get frustrated about being brought into communications that they feel you should be able to address without them.

When to Avoid Escalation

If you have the authority and responsibility to address the issue, if you have dealt with a similar situation before or have the resources handy to guide you through the service recovery process, try to address instead of escalate.  If they’re being aggressive, first use your training to defuse the situation, lower the emotional temperature, and gain some control.  If you feel there’s risk of customer loss but you’re not certain, ask clarifying questions to gauge their concern levels instead of assuming this 1-time issue will be a long-term loss.

Then, if you can’t avoid it, bring in the supervisor, equipping them with the information you’ve gathered so they can more quickly help to resolve.

When dealing with the complaining customer, seek to avoid the escalation.

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

Posted on June 2, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 this without any experience or any puppy parent education.

When Frank would walk Bosco, the pup would stop frequently to sniff, and it was slowing down the walk, so Frank tried to keep the dog moving along so they could get in a good, brisk walk.

One day Frank was talking to a friend who had had dogs for many years, and Frank was asking for her advice on how to keep Bosco walking instead of slowing down and sniffing so much.  Instead of giving an answer to the question, the friend educated Frank on the situation.  When the dog is sniffing, it’s like it’s solving a puzzle.  The dog is investigating and evaluating and using its senses to understand things better.

When they sniff (or solve the puzzle), they are getting acclimated to their environment, they are slowing down, they are lowering their heart rate, and becoming less stressed.

Lessons for Customer Service

So, what does this have to do with customer service?  I often find myself trying to get everything done.  Plowing through the work, just grinding through it.  It’s reviewing e-mails, responding to client inquiries, dealing with complaints on behalf of my clients, or working on projects.

And some days you might find yourself running through your tasks just like I do.

But just like Frank’s pup, if I take time occasionally during the day to slow down, investigate a key situation with a customer or a client, dive in a little bit deeper, then I will typically find myself thinking a little bit more.  Understanding the issue a little bit better.  Coming to a solution that’s going to be more well-thought out, more clear in my communications, and which will require less rework.

If I allow myself to slow down a couple times during the day, I focus more clearly, my solutions are better, the heart rate slows down, and stress is lessened.

Allow yourself to solve a couple puzzles every day.

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

Posted on May 5, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 the problem.

Similarly, you can use these same steps to confirm that the solution you’ve identified is fully thought through and has the best chance of working:

Who needs to be involved in the solution? Is it something the customer has a part in, are there co-workers involved, and what do you need to do to shepherd this forward? Is there anyone else to bring in the loop?

What are the specific steps that need to be undertaken? What does that mental flow chart of activities look like, and is anything missing?

When do those steps need to occur, and is there any sequence where one activity has to happen before another? We want dependent tasks to be done on a timely basis, but we also want activities to run concurrently whenever possible so we can complete the work as quickly as possible.

Where do the activities need to occur? Is it in a particular location, on a certain web page, via a mobile app?

Why are we doing this? Will this resolve the root cause of the problem so we’re not going to be dealing with this again anytime soon?

How do we ensure that the solution worked? What’s the follow-up process? Are we going to call the customer in a week or two? Are they going to fill out a form to confirm the problem was fixed?

Think through all the potential moving pieces and timelines associated with the solution to ensure there are not any gaps that could cause the ticket to stay open, cause the issue to stay unresolved, or cause the problem to rear its ugly head again.

Use the 6 Step Checklist when you’re finalizing a solution.

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