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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

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

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Everyone is a Customer Service Representative

Posted on October 22, 2009 in Business Advice, Healthcare 1 Comment

This wish applies to any business, but let’s focus this wish on the healthcare providers of the world.

If I could wish one thing for any hospital that would improve its patient satisfaction, it would be this. I would wish that every person — food service worker, physician, nurse, administrator, CNA, physical therapist, unit manager, unit secretary, human resources manager, business office clerk, environmental services employee, volunteer — view themselves as a customer service representative.

Every individual noted above has their technical or clinical or financial or other professional responsibility. But, in healthcare, as with other service industries, part of that technical or clinical or financial or other professional responsibility involves communicating with others. It involves face-to-face communications, it involves telephone conferences, it involves e-mails being sent. Part of that responsibility includes communications with co-workers or communications with vendors or patients or family members or physicians or other guests.

That communication conveys something. It conveys that you care about the individual as a person, or you don’t. It conveys that you are focused on the person more than the task, or you’re not. It conveys that you’re responsive and “other focused,” or it conveys that you’re slow to respond and “me focused.”  It conveys that you understand the “care” part of healthcare as opposed to the technical or clinical or financial aspect of the task being the only thing of importance.

Imagine a hospital where every person you walked by, every person you spoke with on the phone, every person you communicated with via an e-mail treated you like you were special. Whether you are a co-worker or the visitor or the patient, you felt special.  You felt like these people wanted to help you, and caring for your health or your other needs were simply the methods that they used to care for you as a person.

Imagine having this culture where all hospital personnel truly understood how they themselves were customer service representatives. If you can imagine this, it is easy to imagine patient satisfaction scores going through the roof.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service?  See more information at:  http://www.cssamerica.com/


What David and Goliath Can Learn From Each Other

Posted on September 14, 2009 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Customer service may be a universal term, but it does not have universal definition. Oftentimes that difference in the definition is based on the size of the businesses.  So let’s look at what the Davids and Goliaths of the business world can learn from each other.

Most small businesses are about client relationships. Relationship building is vitally important to small businesses because they don’t have large budgets for advertising and marketing; so when they get a customer, they must whatever they can to develop relationships with and keep those customers.

Next, small businesses typically have personnel who are easy to get a hold of. If you have a question or you need something, you’re typically no more than a couple conversations away from talking to the company president. When you call in, you’re often talking to somebody who has a vast knowledge of the entire operations as well.

Finally, small businesses work extremely hard to quickly resolve issues – to keep that customer.  Keep in mind that customers – based on many national studies – have a much higher likelihood of repurchase if issues are resolved and resolved quickly.

Large businesses need to do likewise. They need to focus on relationship building, not just transaction closing.  They need to make it easy for customers to get an answer to a question.  And they need to have dedicated resources who can jump on issues when they arise.

But small businesses can also learn from large businesses.

For example, large organizations who are great at customer service have strategies on how to manage customer data, track information on customer utilization of products and services, and retain and grow with those clients.

Large organizations also measure a great deal.  They want to know how the customers feel, so they do customer satisfaction surveys. They want to understand what the customer experience is like, so many do mystery shopping. They measure issue resolution rates and helpdesk inquiries.

Many large businesses also focus heavily on alignment.  They have accountabilities in place for when staff fall short of expectations as well as incentives so that employees will have some reason to exhibit the behaviors with customers that will actually achieve the organizational goals.

Small businesses need to do likewise. They need customer retention and growth strategies.  They need to track customer satisfaction, issues, and other factors so they can make data-driven decisions to continuously improve their customer service.  And they need accountability and incentive pieces in place to align behaviors of staff with organizational goals.

To improve customer service performance, sometimes it helps to look at the nimbleness and personalized characteristics of the small business as well as the structure and data-driven orientation of the large business.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service?  See more information at:  http://www.cssamerica.com/


With Customer Service in the Education Industry, Perception is Reality

Posted on August 28, 2009 in Business Advice, Education Please leave a comment

Our company has conducted literally thousands of mystery shops in the Education industry, everything from an elementary school to a four year university. And one thing we have noticed consistently is that when it comes to customer service in Education, perception is reality.

When you don’t respond to e-mails in Education, they perceive you’re non-responsive. When customers or parents or students are forced to wait long periods of time without having the wait acknowledged, they perceive that they are not important to you. When the customer has to complete the same information on multiple forms, they feel you’re inefficient. When they leave you a voice mail, and you don’t respond two or three days later, they feel like you don’t care.

Maybe you are organized, maybe you do care, maybe you are responsive, maybe you are organized.  But from the customer’s perspective, you’re not.  And if the customer – whether that be a student or parent or family member or even an internal customer or co-worker – perceives something, then to them it is a reality. And when those people are making decisions about whether to recommend you or not, they are making the decision based on their perception.

When they’re making a decision about whether to talk bad about your organization or you personally in front of others or whether to talk positively, they are making that decision based on their perceptions. When they are recommending you to others or recommending that others go elsewhere and avoid your educational institution, they are basing their recommendation on their perceptions of your organization.  And if they are deciding to attend your school or go elsewhere, if they are deciding to pay tuition or just delay some payments for a while, they are basing these decisions on how they feel about, how they perceive your organization.

For educational institutions, if you want to improve what others perceive about you, you need to be measuring it and taking it seriously.  Because in the decisions people make, it doesn’t matter what you do or what you intended to do as much as it matters what they perceive about you and your organization.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service?  See more information at:  http://www.cssamerica.com/


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