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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

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

Energy v. Apathy - 4/22/25


I asked a couple friends who are much more scientifically-oriented the question: What is energy?  I didn’t mean E=MC2.  I meant physiologically, what is energy? They described a lot of things that sounded really good, yet far too advanced for my non-medical mind. Part of the reason why energy is of Read more

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

Posted on June 24, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 the upcoming Friday.

When the make-up day arrived, Seth and Sarah entered the aquatics center, walked up to the receptionist, and asked if Sarah could use one of her make-up classes that day.  The receptionist, Roberta, asked if they had called or e-mailed in advance to confirm Sarah could drop-in for a class, and Seth responded “No.  Was I supposed to?”

While Seth had remembered the fact that make-up classes were offered, he didn’t remember (and didn’t check) the policy that stated parents had to contact the aquatics center first to reserve a spot.  Seth messed up; he was wrong.

Now, many employees may roll their eyes, say something under their breath, or simply say that they couldn’t help because Seth didn’t follow the policy.

Instead, Roberta reaffirmed the policy, said that “unfortunately I can’t guarantee we have an opening today,” but shared “I hope there is space available.  Let me check.”  Roberta smiled, was hopeful, but didn’t make any promises.  She didn’t criticize the customer.  She just educated the customer, empathized, and excused herself to go check with the instructor about availability.

Seth turned to Sarah, smiled and said “let’s cross our fingers!”

A couple minutes later, Roberta returned and was excited to tell Seth and Sarah “Yes!  We have a spot for you today!”

Sometimes the customer is wrong.  But that doesn’t mean our attitude needs to go negative.  Sometimes we can correct the customer, and do it so professionally that the customer is understanding and hopeful, not frustrated and angry.

Don’t let a customer error create your own customer service error.

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Negate the Nervousness – 5/6/25

Posted on May 6, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in the process, and he didn’t know if he’d get a loan.  If the loan was approved, he was uncertain of the amount of funding he’d receive, the interest rate, by when/how he’d have to pay it back.

Then he met Marguerite.  She was the banker, and she didn’t know the customer, didn’t know the needs, didn’t know whether she could address the needs.  But Marguerite had her act together.  What she DID know was her approach to engaging a customer that walked through the doors.  She knew her paperwork, her policies, her procedures.

Marguerite understood – that despite dealing with data, facts, figures, money – she was also dealing with a human being.  She was also dealing with his emotions, and she could see the emotions – a mixture of anxiety and hope – written on his face.  She was also dealing with the understanding that – handled effectively – she could be starting a business relationship between the customer and the bank that could last a lifetime.

We’ve Been There, Done That – But the Customer Hasn’t

With new customers, there’s often apprehension.  There’s a fear of the unknown.  There’s uncertainty.  And if we can change the uncertainty to certainty, then we can convey hope, we can build rapport, we can help grow the customer’s confidence.

Marguerite could not convey certainty about the outcome, but she could convey certainty about the process.  She could describe the steps, note what had worked in the past with other clients, and share an attitude of interest, concern, and responsiveness.

Negate the nervousness.  Build customer confidence by creating some certainty.

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Energy v. Apathy – 4/22/25

Posted on April 22, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I asked a couple friends who are much more scientifically-oriented the question: What is energy?  I didn’t mean E=MC2.  I meant physiologically, what is energy?

They described a lot of things that sounded really good, yet far too advanced for my non-medical mind.

Part of the reason why energy is of interest is…well…I always wish I had a little bit more.  But as it relates to customer service, energy is of interest to discuss because it’s generally a good thing.  Especially as an employee interacting with a customer, energy can convey interest.  Energy can convey action.  Energy can convey the willingness to do what is needed.

Apathy is the last thing you want to present to a customer.  It conveys that you don’t care, you’re focused on something else, that they don’t really matter.

So how do you convey more energy than apathy?

People who convey energy typically are doing some customer engagement with their eyes, with their body language.  There is a focus on the other person; you’re looking at the information they’re handing to you; you’re only briefly looking at the computer to access something for the customer before shifting your focus back to the customer.  Energy is having inflection in the voice instead of the verbal flat line.  It is nodding and giving the thumbs up v. being motionless, and having a blank stare.

When you’re in front of the customer, think about conveying a little bit of energy, a little bit of positivity. Because lack of that physical engagement – lack of movement – often suggests a lack of caring.  It suggests apathy.

Show the customer that you are engaged and that you care.  Convey energy over apathy.

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