confidence | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 11

View Quality through the Customer’s Eyes - 10/14/25


Geri had been dealing with backups in the downstairs plumbing system of her house on and off for the past year.  The most recent company that she called in to unclog the pipes stated that they could send a camera down the pipes and tell her exactly where the Read more

Be Supportive, Not Defensive - 10/7/25


[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  Read more

Some Customers LOVE Predictability - 9/30/25


I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how Read more

Find Your Special Sauce - 9/23/25


When I watch a football game and I see a great quarterback (somebody who may be considered a “Star”), he might be an excellent runner, have a big arm, be able to diagnose the defense and get his team into the right play.  But he’s likely not great at Read more

Gain Control of the Conversation - 9/16/25


The customer’s angry or upset or they have a complaint.  They’re very chatty or very wordy or they just want to talk to somebody.  You’re on a time crunch, and the customer obviously is not. There are times when you need to gain control of the conversation.  It’s important for Read more

Complement with a Compliment - 9/9/25


We perform many tasks for our customers every day, and when we’re done with a step in the process, oftentimes we will tell the customer what’s been done.  But if we want to create more of a WOW experience, if we want to make the customer feel a little Read more

When Patience Begets Patience - 9/2/25


Jennifer, the server, walked toward the couple in the restaurant.  The customers had been seated for a minute or two, and they noticed the server was walking briskly toward their table.  Jennifer recognized the couple she was about to serve, because they had been in the previous week. Since the Read more

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


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 Read more

When Technology Fails the Customer - 8/19/25


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 Read more

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


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 Read more

Train Customers to LOVE Your Experience – 11/8/16

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


What are the components of your customer’s experience?

Let’s say your business sells boots.

How do they find out about your business and how to contact you? How do they know what boots you offer and what needs they address? How do they get a boot to test out or purchase? How do they determine if their preferred size and color are in stock? How much does the boot cost? How do they get it, and who will deliver it? How do they find out the delivery status?

These are the questions to answer, but we’re not designing the customer journey as much as we’re using these questions to ask you one more question.

How do we get customers educated enough on how to do business with you so that they absolutely LOVE your experience?

When businesses view the experience through the customer’s eyes, they can identify potential customer loss points due to frustration with a process, customer lack of knowledge, or customer lack of awareness. When you identify those potential loss points, then put yourself in the position of a teacher or a professor – one who can educate and train others:

  • Create simple infographics or diagrams that explain a process to customers.
  • Ensure that your process documents and your people clearly state what will happen next so the customer’s knowledgeable about what to expect and when.
  • Use webinars, training, and other education-based vehicles to train customers on how things work. Incorporate signage directing customers to next locations and next steps.
  • Give customers documents at the end of one step that clearly articulate what they need to do next or what will happen next and when.

Never assume that your customers are knowledgeable about your people, processes, and products. Make sure they’re knowledgeable enough to be comfortable and confident in doing business with you.

Train Customers to LOVE Your Experience.

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Less Ego, Better Customer Service – 8/2/16

Posted on in Customer Service Tip of the Week 1 Comment


Tonya was a relatively new radiology tech at the hospital. She had been out of training and into her routine for months, and she was very confident. She could get a clear scan (“pretty” is what she calls them), a picture easy for the physician to read.

But this situation was different She couldn’t get clear pictures with the ultrasound, and it was starting to take some time. She kept searching for the right angle, and it just wasn’t working. So Tonya turned to the patient, smiled, and said “I’m going to get another tech to help so we can get this wrapped up for you.”

She left the exam room and came back about a minute later with a co-worker – her supervisor. The supervisor introduced herself to the patient, continued with the scan, and offered advice to Tonya on how to more quickly get the desired scan.

Shortly, the patient left, Tonya had learned some new tips, and the staff were on to the next patient.

Tonya could have kept working on her own, as her ego could have kept her from asking for help. Instead, she had a sense for how the process was going and how it was going to continue. She had a sense of the patient’s patience, but she also didn’t want to abuse that patience with an excessive procedure.

She knew that the best customer experience would involve a quicker completion, so she took the steps needed on the patient’s behalf.

Don’t let ego get in the way of good customer service. Ask for help.

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Fill ‘er Up! – 6/14/16 TOW

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I’ve found myself watching the local and national news much less the last few years. Virtually all their news was negative or graphic or something that engendered every possible feeling that was NOT positive.

I had had enough of the negativity.

Today, I still get my news, but it’s when I want it through the source I want it, and it’s more balanced than you’ll ever see in the nightly news. I get that balance because I choose to fill myself up with knowledge and positivity.

It’s not to say that you should ignore the negative; what I am saying is that – if you fill yourself up with negatives – it’s incredibly difficult to consistently exhibit mindsets and behaviors that are positive.

As a customer service professional, positivity and knowledge are important. The customer prefers those traits, our co-workers would rather work with individuals oozing those traits, and we are generally happier, more confident, more pleasant, and more effective when we have those traits.

So look at what you review online – do you learn and feel better for having engaged with that information source? Make those external sources that which fills you up internally with positives.

Note what people you surround yourself with that provide knowledge/wisdom and positivity. Ensure that those that you interact with – as much as you can control – are individuals that bring you something that you can grow with, learn from, and enjoy.

Are the videos you watch, the messages you read, the conversations you have, and the dialogue you witness filled with negativity, anger, rudeness, divisiveness, or self-centeredness? Find interactions that make you laugh, inform your future decisions, and help you do your job and build your relationships more effectively.

You can’t control everything, but where you have control, fill yourself with knowledge, wisdom, and positivity.

Fill ‘er Up – with good!

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