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Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

Boost Customer Happiness - 7/9/24


There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make Read more

Brainstorm to Better Yourself - 7/2/24


I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping Read more

The Power of the Pause - 6/25/24


When I’m facilitating a meeting, and it feels like it’s going off-track or the discussion is going a little longer than it should, I may say something like “let me pause the conversation so that…” or “let’s pause just for a minute and consider…” I don’t like the word STOP. Read more

Handle Interruptions Heroically - 6/18/24


In the middle of a project, Jimbo, the customer service team member, had to stop what he was doing because he received an e-mail from a customer complaining about their experience at a recent event. Later that day, Jimbo was asked by his boss to put everything on hold for Read more

From Employees to Teammates: The Shift - 6/11/24


Be a great teammate. Be a good team player. We’re all part of the team. We’re no longer employees, we’re team members! The phrase “Team” is used in describing co-workers so much more than it was used years ago.  Then, we would be talking about employees, talking about staff, talking Read more

Nurture New Relationships - 6/4/24


Freddie was a new business owner in town.  He was launching a franchise, had acquired some funding from a local bank, and was in search of staff who cared about customer service. All the while, he was in the process of renovating a storefront for his business, so he was Read more

There’s Positivity in Patience - 5/28/24


The employee at the financial services firm was working with a new client on a relatively simple loan.  The documentation was about as clear as it could get to the employee, but the customer had lots of questions.  The employee calmly, clearly, and specifically answered each question.  The meeting Read more

The Goal – A Great Experience - 5/21/24


The following is a narrative of a great experience (people, process, service, facility) at a minor league sporting event – key points that could apply to any business are in bold… Mark and I pulled into the parking lot, excited about the game.  The Slapshots had been on a roll Read more

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Don’t Let the CRM Tail Wag the Dog

Posted on February 8, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Lacking a strategy on how to retain customers, many businesses look at their cool new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and go down the wrong path.

You mean we can setup the system to e-mail the customers? Great! Our retention plan is to blast our customers with e-mail marketing messages!!

You mean we can pull in fields from the sales module and use those with our current customers? Great! Let’s figure out what fields those are so we can make sure we get that information…so that we can have that information…so that we can look at that information…and we can manage our customer relationships!

You mean there are standard surveys and dashboards that we can use? Great! We’ll use those survey questions and those dashboards to manage our customer relationships!

Now what’s wrong with all these scenarios? Hopefully you’ve guessed it. The company is devising a Touch Point Plan based on a computer system’s feature. The company is determining what intelligence to acquire based only on what the system gives them. The company is surveying and managing through standard reports from a system.

The system is creating, executing, and managing the strategy. The tail is wagging the dog.

Instead, companies should determine their own retention and growth plans with existing customers, and determine how to leverage the CRM system to help when needed. Companies should determine what intelligence to gather, how to gather, and – actually as the starting point – what they’re going to do with that intelligence. Companies should determine how they want to analyze it; then get the system to do what it needs to do for them.

Systems are generally built generically – for broad application.

Your business is built SPECIFICALLY – for your customers. Lead your systems; don’t let them lead you.

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

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/


In Pursuit of…a WOW Director

Posted on February 15, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

In yesterday’s article titled Assistly Redefines Customer Service With New Role, VP of Customer Wow, a CRM/Customer service software firm (Assistly) touts a newly created position – “VP of Customer Wow.”

Whether this position will do what it’s marketed to do remains to be seen, but we like several aspects of it.

First, this is a CXO level position, and we often talk about organizations who care about customer service needing to have structures that support that culture and management that models what’s expected of employees.

Second, the “Office of Customer Wow” is supposed to have broad-based authority across divisional silos, so that should help in their role as problem solver for their customers.

Third, the Office must spend about 20% of its time on “Random Acts of Kindness” for its clients – essentially proactive free work.

Look inside your own organization, and think about the culture you want to create. Do you have the structure, the leadership, the proactive customer touches that drive client retention and growth?

Look at your own organization to find your inner Customer Wow!

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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


Build a Retention Program

Posted on February 2, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

You have a marketing plan, a social media presence, and sales program. But do you have the same structures in place for retention?

In a recent Body Shop Biz article, the Toronto Area Dealer Association’s “Renewit program” is noted because it focuses on how the association is helping members to increase customer retention, sales, and profits. Among other features, the program directs the customer’s vehicle back to the dealership after a breakdown or wreck.

Now whether the program turns out to be as great as advertised is not yet known, but there is much to be learned from the program.

First, you have to have solid data on the customer and the product/service they purchased in order to communicate most effectively with them – make sure these details are acquired during the sale and effectively flow to your customer service systems.

Second, make it easy for the customer to contact you back if they have an issue. You’d rather resolve the issue and keep the relationship than have them go elsewhere today for support, since that might make them go elsewhere tomorrow for a product.

Third and more broadly, view your customer service functions as revenue-building entities that should have the goals, technology, people, and processes that focus on staying in touch with clients, meeting after-the-sale needs, and deepening relationships.

Build your own great customer service body shop.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

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


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