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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

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

Affirming the Customer with Empathy - 4/14/26


We’ve spoken and written about empathy for the 20+ years of these customer service tips, noting empathy as the most important quality any individual can have if they want to be great at customer service.  We’ve shared that - in order to serve our customers most effectively – it’s Read more

The Power of Teaching While Helping - 4/7/26


If you’re trying to develop a relationship with the customer rather than just simply handling their transaction and moving on, you are taking a long-term view.  You realize that that individual is someone you want to keep with your business for months or years to come, so it’s a Read more

Bear with Me - 3/31/26


As a customer, you’ve probably called a company and heard the phrase “bear with me.”  At that point, you know there’s going to be some sort of delay.  The CSR is giving you a heads up that there’s going to be additional wait time.  Essentially, they are trying to Read more

Slowing Down the Fast Talker - 3/24/26


Jeffrey had always been told by his manager to figure out the issue quickly and wrap up the conversation as fast as possible.  So, Jeffrey was hyper-focused at finding that one key word that could identify the issue and help him to transition quickly to what might be some possible Read more

Don’t Bury the Lede - 3/17/26


Mary was working at the office, and she received an e-mail alert from the water company.  There was a water outage in her neighborhood.  It looked like it was going to be a couple hours to fix the issue. Sure enough, a few hours later around mid-afternoon, Mary received another Read more

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


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 Read more

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Address the Expectations that Were Set – 8/26/25

Posted on August 26, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Before the caller ever got to Marco – the customer service representative, the customer had been working with the company for months.  They had read the marketing brochures, had a conversation with a sales rep, reviewed the new customer information on the website, and read all the information e-mailed to them as they began using the services provided by Marco’s company.

All those communications, all that information set an expectation in the caller’s mind.  Now it was up to Marco to respond to the complaint, the comment, the momentary confusion of the customer.  That complaint, comment, confusion were the result of expectations set through all those communications, and expectations not met through the actual service delivered.

For Marco to best handle the situation, he had to know the content of the marketing collateral, the sales conversation, the website onboarding information, and the information e-mailed to new customers.

It’s hard enough dealing with somebody who’s angry or they’re upset, they’re confused or flummoxed, or they’re seeking clarification or confirmation of information. It’s doubly difficult if you don’t know what precipitated all of those emotions and questions.

Luckily, Marco was well-aware of the communications customers receive, and the company is good enough to provide information between the different divisions so everybody can stay aware of the freshest set of information that goes in front of customers.

While being great at customer service often requires us to be great in that Moment of Truth, sometimes the success of those conversations is based on what happens before that customer engagement.

It’s when individual staff like Marco take time during downtime (or they allocate a little bit of time every day) to make sure they understand what’s being communicated to customers and what kind of questions, concerns, complaints can be driven from that information, and how that information and the expectations it sets differ from reality.

To best meet customer expectations, study the information and communication tools that create customer expectations.

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When Technology Fails the Customer – 8/19/25

Posted on August 19, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Technology is a wonderful thing…until it isn’t.  The website is down, the mobile app won’t work, the system keeps kicking them out of their account, or they received a spoofing phone call supposedly from your department.

If you’ve ever been manning the phones or managing the department inbox, you know that when your company has a technical issue, there’s an escalation in customer contacts.  And usually they’re reaching out to you because they’re confused, concerned, or there’s some heightened sense of consternation.

So how do you respond?

Reassure: Let them know that their accounts are safe, that no data has been compromised, that it’s not a technology issue on their end.  Address their specific concern immediately.

Rectify: Share what the organization is doing to address the technical issues or to deal with that bad actor that is spoofing your phone number.

Respect: Ramp up your messaging that acknowledges their time is important, that appreciates their reaching out to you to share this information.  Reference their name in a professional manner throughout the conversation.

Reiterate: Close the engagement by restating your appreciation of their bringing this to your attention, and reassure them once again that their information is safe.

When addressing a corporate technology fail, Reassure, Rectify, Respect, and Reiterate.

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The Misunderstood Physician – 8/12/25

Posted on August 12, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research – he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the low ratings were often because his schedule was booked, and people cannot see him immediately.  Sometimes it was a complaint that the scheduling person was not pleasant or the patient was on hold a long time trying to get the appointment set up.  None of these low ratings was directly because of the doctor.

But there was one low rating where somebody commented that the physician was rude.  When his staff followed up for clarification on the comment, the patient noted that the physician didn’t spend enough time with them and didn’t ask enough questions.

Now, I had been cared for by this physician long enough to never dream of calling him rude.  He’s very personable, very efficient, and very knowledgeable.  But there was something about that encounter with that other patient that gave the perception of the physician being rude.

Defining Rudeness

Different people perceive rudeness in different ways.  In this case, rudeness was – in the mind of the customer – defined as the lack of time spent by the physician.  For others, if you interrupt them, they feel you’re rude.  For some, if you’re looking at your phone or iPad or computer while they’re in front of you, they think you’re rude.  If the employee states only what can’t be done in response to a request, some view that as rude, even if it’s the truth.  For some customers, 1-word answers from employees seem rude.  And for others, a harsh tone – where the employee only seems to emphasize the negative words – seems rude.

Overcoming the Perception

For all we know, the employees in these situations are all very kind.  Unfortunately, that particular customer engaged with them at that particular moment is perceiving them as rude.  So how do we overcome that perception?

From a time perspective, yes, be quick, efficient, and productive, but also be patient with the customer and their questions.  Don’t interrupt the other person, but instead let them share.  Ensure you’re focusing more on the customer than on the device in front of you, and if you have to be looking at that device, let them know what you’re doing on their behalf while tapping the keys.

Complement the true statement of what CAN’T be done with the helpful statement of what CAN be done.  Go beyond the 1-word answer (particularly if it’s a negative word) with a couple additional words to add some softness, kindness, empathy.  And with the tone, have a pleasant tone, have some variability in your voice, and place more emphasis on the positive words.

Intentionally overcome any perception of rudeness.

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