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Be Amazing - 4/23/24


Watching Michael Jordan steal a pass and then dunk a basketball is amazing.  Taking a rocket to the moon is amazing.  The taste of my mom’s homemade beef soup is amazing. We all have our personal examples of what is amazing.  Usually, it’s something that we cannot comprehend, that we Read more

Talk About Yourself to Build Customer Confidence - 4/16/24


When you’re dealing with somebody who is anxious or nervous about a situation, a customer who feels like they don’t have much control, an individual who is unsure and uncertain, it’s important to put the customer at ease.  It’s important to build their comfort level.  It’s important to help Read more

The Proven Value in What You Do - 4/9/24


Forbes wrote an article last year based on a compilation of the results of research on customer service and the customer experience; it was titled:  100 Customer Experience Stats For 2023. In reading the article, you’ll note that many of these key research findings are about you – the value Read more

A Tale of Two Texts - 4/2/24


Having to get allergy shots once a week is never fun, and for Janet, it became an even bigger frustration. She had the shots typically scheduled on Tuesday around 10:30 in the morning, figuring she would avoid the morning rush as well as the lunch rush by going mid-morning.  However, Read more

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

The Miracle of an Apology - 3/19/24


Unfortunate but true story… The manager basically lost his mind.  He terminated his employee on the spot.  She had told the customer that there was going to be a delay in the shipment.  The employee called up the customer ahead of time to let the customer know what was about Read more

It’s Not About the 5-Minute Wait - 3/12/24


Robert went into his supervisor’s office to update her on a situation at the payment desk.  Robert said that a customer was about fourth or fifth in line, waiting to be served, and the customer was complaining loudly about the wait.  He was there to make a property tax Read more

Lessons from the Greats - 3/5/24


I was recently facilitating a workshop on the customer experience, and I made the point that it’s usually beneficial to look at your personal life for great experiences; identify what really resonates with you in a positive way in order to uncover ideas to improve your own customer service. So, Read more

The Empathy Roadmap - 2/27/24


For some people, empathy comes naturally.  There’s an innate desire to learn about the other person and to sincerely convey that sense of interest and caring.  But for many of us, sometimes it helps to have a communication plan.  It helps to know what to do in order to Read more

“You’re the Boss” - 2/20/24


Terrence is excellent at what he does.  From a technical standpoint, he knows how to keep the facility clean.  He’s the lead custodian, and he knows that keeping things straight does not necessarily mean keeping things sanitary.  He knows what chemicals to use and not to use, how to Read more

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Be There ALWAYS for the Customer – 8/29/23

Posted on August 29, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In healthcare, the patient experience mantras often include the phrase Always, such as: We have an always culture.  This gets at frequency of action.  Instead of service excellence being a most-of-the-time occurrence, some-of-the-time occurrence, an occasional or rare occurrence, the idea in an Always Culture is that the organization is highly consistent in its attitudes, behaviors, and actions toward and for the customer.

Therefore, this focus on Always is essentially a focus on consistency.  Organizations that talk about Always are typically addressing specific behaviors or actions that are documented, expected, trained, and rewarded.

As an example from one of our clients, they try to always be Caring.  This means they always treat others with dignity; they are always courteous; they are always trying to be helpful.

They’re always Committed to the organization, viewing their facility and their work as something to take pride in, something to care for so that the professional image is exhibited in their locations and in all they do.

They try to always convey Teamwork, where they respect and appreciate the contributions of co-workers.  And they understand their co-workers to be the organization’s greatest asset.

Finally, they always strive to operate with Integrity – this means maintaining confidentiality. They’re always honest, they strive to be ethical in their decision-making. They are accountable for their actions and their inactions.

So, what is something that you should work on, and by “work on” we mean: What is one important aspect of customer service where you could be more consistent?  With what aspects of your attitudes and actions can you get to Always?

See where your customer service lacks consistency, and strive for Always.

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A Way to Serve with Empathy – 11/2/21

Posted on November 2, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We first wrote a Tip of the Week on empathy back in 2008. It was the most important customer service skill then, and it’s the most important customer service skill now.  And as we’ve noted in society, empathy is becoming a word that is used more often in more aspects of life.  The word is important, but the application of that word in customer service is even more important in what you and I do every day.

We’ve often said that somebody who is great in customer service is great at asking questions.  But an incredibly important skill to have and utilize in order to ask the right questions in the right manner is the ability to be empathetic.

To meet a need right the first time, you have to know the need.  To resolve a problem – permanently – you have to be able to get to the root cause.  To develop a relationship with someone, you have to get to know them individually.  To retain business, you have to know why they’d stay, and why they’d leave.  To improve a process, you have to understand the process.  And to grow relationships with your clients, you have to get to know their goals and aspirations.

To know a need, to get to the root cause, to know someone individually, to know why the customer would leave you, to understand a process, and to know your customer’s goals and aspirations, you usually have to ask:  “What are you hoping to accomplish?”  “Why did that happen?”  “What brought you here today?”  “Why did you choose us?”  “Can you tell me what step happens next?”  “Where would you like to be a year from now?”

Being empathetic means you care enough to understand the customer and what’s unique about them and their situation.  Being empathetic means you care enough to ask a question in order to get the answer.  Being empathetic means that you’re asking the questions in such a way as to get a response from somebody who believes you care enough to be inquisitive, and you will act on their response.

If you want to build your customer service skill set, show your empathy by being inquisitive.  Show your empathy by asking questions in a manner that conveys you care.

Share your empathy by showing your curiosity about the other person.

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Channel Your Inner Aristotle – 10/26/21

Posted on October 26, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Aristotle once said: We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

This is a very interesting statement.  We need to break it down to fully understand and appreciate it.

We are what we repeatedly do.

Let’s focus on the word repeatedly.  None of us is defined by any individual action, or at least we should not be defined by that one instance or those few occurrences.  How we define ourselves and how we can summarize who we are is by the repetition of what we do. Theoretically what we do is a reflection of who we are, especially if what we do happens over and over and over again.  Maybe these are repeated mistakes or errors, repeated inactivity or inaction.  Maybe they are repeated acts of quality, selflessness, support for others – our co-workers and customers.

Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle takes the positive approach to evaluating our repetitious actions.  He talks about defining excellence in terms of the good that we do over and over again.

He then uses the word habit.  That excellence is not one action.  Excellence is something repeatedly done.  Excellence is a habit.

So, what does this all mean as it relates to customer service?  It talks about the importance of forming habits.  It’s the importance of consistency, the importance of avoiding becoming the on/off switch.

If we want to build trust with our co-workers, we need to consistently do what we say we will do.  We need to consistently respond to their requests or reframe the follow-up time.  We need to consistently meet the deadlines and provide quality work, or let them know if they should expect the slight delay.

With our customers, excellence is not necessarily that one phenomenal moment of truth.  Conversely, excellence is not necessarily hindered by that one mistake you made, that one omission you had, that one error you produced.

Excellence is defined by the consistency of doing the good job.  The consistency of treating people with respect.  The consistent quality and responsiveness and effort to do what’s right on behalf of and for the customer.

Don’t be overly critical of yourself for the one mistake or the one omission.  You can still move toward excellence by forming consistent habits of great customer service.

Channel your inner Aristotle.

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