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How to Avoid “Groundhog Day” - 11/3/26


It’s Groundhog Day, where you’re living the same day over and over and over again. You have heard basically the same complaint from 4 different customers in the past week.  The bill is incorrect or confusing, and you’re having to spend a ton of time explaining things to the customer. You’ve Read more

Beware of Scary Telephone Customer Service - 10/27/26


As we near the Halloween holiday in the United States, it seems appropriate to discuss examples of scary customer service, particularly on the telephone.  Here are a few common issues that frustrate and annoy customers.  These are experiences to avoid delivering, and alternatives to adopt: The customer calls, describes their Read more

The Art of the Successful Script - 10/20/26


You’re the customer.  You go to the store, and they ask if you have a loyalty card.  You call the doctor’s office, and they ask for your birth date.   You walk up to the counter, and they ask if you found everything you were looking for. These are all valid Read more

The Key Building Block for Your Customer Relationship - 10/13/26


An automotive manufacturer gets supplies for their vehicles from all over the world.  They have arrangements, service level agreements, expectations for timing and quality of all the parts.  And when they gather all these supplies, they assemble the cars.  They test the cars.  Then they take pictures of those Read more

Be Flexible to Fill the Gaps - 10/6/26


The non-profit has the expected challenges.  There are only 3 people in the organization, yet, they have the same responsibilities of a larger company.  They have to do finance, sales, marketing; they deliver their services to the community, and they need to keep a pulse on what’s going on Read more

Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

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Confirm the Real Issue Before You Start Solving – 3/10/26

Posted on March 10, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Have you ever gone “down the rabbit hole?”  It involves going deep into some topic, some discussion – with analysis that creates complexity as much as it resolves it.  And that dive into the rabbit hole often starts with a simple question.

Going down that rabbit hole takes time and energy.  In customer service, sometimes that extensive effort is needed, but sometimes it’s not.

Since effort is required to get at the answer, we want to avoid going down that rabbit hole whenever possible.  And if we need to dive in, let’s ensure we’re at least going down the right rabbit hole to help the customer.

They had a poor experience at your office, but what aspect of the experience turned them off?  Was it the people or the process or the layout or the temperature in the room?

They had issues with your website, but what were the types of issues that they encountered, and what device were they using to access the website?

They had a question about the status of their application, but are they concerned with: Estimated time to resolve, or whether their application was received, or who had it, or what stage it was in the process?

For each of these examples, we could make the assumption for what the issue was, at the office, with the website, with their application.  And we could go down a rabbit hole of investigation that didn’t address their core need.

Or…we could ask a few clarifying questions to make sure we knew exactly what they were seeking or curious about.  Then, we could confirm the real issue before we determined how to get them an answer.  We could know whether we really needed to go down a rabbit hole, and – if so – which one to jump into.

Before you start solving, confirm the real issue.

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When They Want the Supervisor – 1/27/26

Posted on January 27, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Maybe you did your best with the customer, or maybe the customer didn’t even give you a chance.  They want to talk to your supervisor.  They see you, notice your title does not have “supervisor” or “manager” or “director” or “President and CEO” in it, so they want to go up the ladder.

Different organizations have different protocols for handling these situations, and they often involve wanting you to handle this on your own – to do whatever you can to avoid the escalation.

But sometimes, despite your best efforts (or the customer just being obstinate), you have no choice.  Now let me throw in a wrinkle.  Your supervisor’s not available at that moment.  What do you do?

No Supervisor?  No Problem

First, explain the issue with the supervisor availability, offer some empathy with your not being able to give them the exact person they want to talk to at that moment.  But let them know you want to do the best you can to help them.

Second, if you haven’t done so already, clarify the rationale for the request.  What is their issue?  What is their goal?

Third, confirm your understanding of what they’ve shared.

Finally, share an alternative…or two!  Offer another party that they could speak with; offer to have the supervisor contact them back at a time when the customer is likely to be available.

Why Use this Process

This process helps you defuse the situation, which could get even worse once they realize the supervisor is not available.  You get the details you need to pass on to whomever is going to address this next.  You provide some empathy and understanding so that they know they’re being heard and that the information they’re giving you won’t have to be repeated to the person they talk to next. 

Then, by coming up with an alternative or two to consider, you’re actually putting the choice in their hands.  You’re giving them some control.  Yes, that can be risky, but you’re giving them control over a decision where you have provided options that you know are doable.

When they want the unavailable supervisor: Defuse, get details, empathize, and give them some control.

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Don’t Create the Second Complaint – 12/2/25

Posted on December 2, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Maria was upset.  Rightfully so.  The product delivery was delayed, she couldn’t get anybody on the phone, and nobody would reply to her e-mails.  So, she went down to the store, and she found a customer service representative.

After the initial greeting, the employee listened to Maria’s complaint.  While Maria told her story, the employee stood there…with a blank face.  There was some eye contact, but otherwise there was basically nothing.  No nodding.  No furrowing of the brow.  No outward signs of inward empathy.

Maria wasn’t getting any reaction, so she just kept talking, although she felt like she was talking to a brick wall.  Eventually Maria stopped, paused, and the employee asked to see her purchase receipt.

Maria’s frustration transitioned from the delayed product and the lack of responsiveness to the situation she was facing at this point – an employee who had not been trained on…how to engage someone who was upset…how to use her body language to convey a little empathy…how to note some understanding and communicate effectively.

Although Maria thought she went to the store solely to get some resolution to her issue, she soon realized what else she wanted.  She wanted to be heard.  She wanted to be understood.  She wanted somebody to convey that they cared.

When you’re dealing with a customer who is upset or frustrated, understand that – for most of them – it’s not just about the issue.  It’s about how they perceive your organization feels about them based on that negative experience.  The situation makes them think that the company doesn’t care, but how you engage them about the situation can convey that the company really does care.

Engage the person when you’re dealing with their issue.  Use your body language and expressions to show you care about them individually, even if the issue with their product or service may have given them the opposite impression.

Avoid giving them an additional reason to complain.

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