culture | Customer Service Solutions, Inc.

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

Customer Understanding Leads to Relationship Growth - 2/13/24


We’ve worked with educational organizations at all grade levels over the years.  One special and unique characteristic about the staff who work in these organizations is that there’s a clear intent to know about the students as individuals, to focus on them rather than purely focusing on what’s delivered Read more

Define Customer Service Success Differently - 2/6/24


When I’m watching television, listening to the radio, or listening to a podcast, it’s always interesting when the topic moves to the question:  How can you be a success?  The speakers often discuss the process of becoming a success with the assumption that people believe success is defined by Read more

Care Enough to Give Them a Heads Up - 1/30/24


Nothing bad at all might happen.  Every day in the office could seem like every other day.  Sights and sounds and smells might continue to be the same.  But we have a lot of construction going on around our offices, and the building manager knows the type of work Read more

Be Better than AI Customer Service - 1/23/24


There was a recent CBS Sunday Morning Show story called: How artificial intelligence is revamping customer call centers. The journalist described how artificial intelligence is being used in customer service, and he noted the millions of pieces of information that can be processed in a matter of seconds. There are clear Read more

Recognize the Situation, and Pivot - 1/16/24


The customer has a complaint, or they may have an important question about an order or their account.  You may be talking to them in an emergency room, in the lobby of the government building, on the phone, or in a video conversation.  And in many of these Moments Read more

Refresh, Rejuvenate, Refocus – 12/19/23

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

It’s that time of year.  We’re going 100 miles an hour, and holiday time is upon us.  We not only have all the work to do, but we somehow have less time to do it.  We somehow have other things that are of competing interest, and even though those extra To Do’s are often wonderful things, the fact is that we have more to do.  We often have more stress.  We are getting pulled in multiple directions, many of which are not of our own choosing.

Wouldn’t it be great in times like this to just be able to take a break?!  Wouldn’t it be great to just invest in ourselves a little bit?

This is a customer service tip, but as you all know, I highly value folks who are in customer service, and I realize that you spend so much of your days doing things for others, that it’s easy to forget to do things for yourself.

So, let’s all do a brief exercise and see if we can conjure up any ideas that can be good for you, to help you refresh, rejuvenate, refocus.

Just Imagine…

Imagine that you had $200 given to you, but you could only spend it on yourself.  What would you spend it on to refresh yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, intellectually?  What could help you to become a better co-worker, person, or a representative to your clients?  What would refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus you?

What if you found yourself with 2 free hours in your day?  Even just for one day.  But you had to spend those 2 hours only on yourself.  Would you rest?  Would you watch some old shows or movies?  Would you work out or go for a run?  Maybe you would read or do something that stimulates you more than an old episode of Three’s Company.  It’s totally up to you.  What would refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus you?

What if you were told you need to eliminate (or at least spend less time on) 2 tasks or activities that you do most weeks at work?  What are the 2 things you’d eliminate because they provide little value to the company, the co-worker, or the customer?  What tasks would you stop that would actually refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus you?

Invest a little money or time on yourself. Take a couple items off your To Do List. Be intentional to refresh, rejuvenate, and refocus.

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Frame the Ways to Get Back Your Customer – 3/7/23

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Every organization that gains customers is in a position to lose customers.  For the sports organization, it’s the lost account holder.  For the healthcare provider, it’s the member who enrolls with the competitor at the end of the year.  The retailer, the software provider, the financial services firm – lost customers occur, typically with clear financial repercussions.  Even with local government, it’s the customer moving elsewhere, the customer circumventing the system, the resident griping and complaining.  Maybe that loss is loss of support, but it is still a loss.

So, if you’re smart enough or lucky enough to get a chance to identify the reason for the loss, maybe there’s a chance you win them back.  Or at least there’s a good chance that you can put some improvement in place to mitigate similar losses in the future.

If you’re formulating a survey or talking with the customer, create some structure around how you ask about exit reasons.  Use this framework as a starting point:  Think about Product, People, Process, Policy, and the Place.  You’re trying to get a holistic view of the customer experience in those controllable categories of exit reasons.

For Product or Service, what about the product could have been improved?  What could have been done so it stood out a little more relative to the competition?

For People, think about the organization, the culture, how those communications flow and how those relationships are developed.  Ask the customer about the attitude, skills, knowledge of your team.  How do they communicate with the customer?  And did the company as a whole proactively communicate with the customer – trying to keep the relationship strong?

Regarding Process, how self-evident is the experience?  What are the wait times or lead times like for the customer?  Is everything as self-evident as possible?  Are the terminology and technology and paperwork simple enough and clear enough for any customer to understand and navigate?

Do the Policies restrict the customer experience or enhance it?  Are policies conveyed clearly, and are they in the best interests of the customer?

And what about the Place?  This could mean the physical facility or the environment that people experience online or with your apps.  Is it intuitive and clear and, again, easy to navigate?

There are many reasons why companies lose customers.  To win them back, organize your thoughts within this framework.

Consider the Product, the People, the Process, the Policy, and the Place.

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RELATE to Your Customers – 2/28/23

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One of the more interesting processes we go through with some clients is the development of Customer Service Standards.  One might think that the expectations that organizations have of their staff are pretty consistent when it comes to customer service and relationship-building.  However, the Standards are often unique because the organizations are unique.  Their Core Values are unique. Their purpose is unique.  And their customers are unique.

We helped one of our clients develop their expectations of staff, and the acronym RELATE lent itself nicely to the description of these expectations.  Here’s a quick summary:

  • Relate – Treat all courteously/fairly. Be inclusive, open to and appreciative of the diversity of the community and the customers. Be professional in representing the organization in appearance, interactions, and in showing respect for the privacy of others.
  • Educate – Understand the organization well enough to effectively serve others. Get to know the customers and their needs, educating them about the organization and their service experience.
  • Listen – Acknowledge others and those needs; be patient, communicate clearly, and listen so they feel valued and important, striving to address their need right the first time.
  • Act – Own the service experience, taking responsibility for being prompt/responsive to the needs and issues of others. Help others, and hold yourself accountable for your actions and on behalf of co-workers.
  • Team-up – Work with others in the organization to address collective goals and customer needs – guiding others to the right resource when needed. Understand your role, be involved and trustworthy, sharing information and ideas.
  • Enjoy – Be friendly and welcoming, proactively engaging others in a natural, enthusiastic, and attentive manner. Convey the energy, active nature, and positivity that we hope to see from our customers.

 
Relate, Educate, Listen, Act, Team-up, and Enjoy!  Where are you and your teammates strong in delivering these Standards, and where could you improve?

Do a little self-evaluation so you can better RELATE to your customers.

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