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Avoid These Techniques - 10/21/25


We had a Customer Service Tip of the Week recently that addressed gaining control of the conversation.  One of the key points was that the focus should be on gaining control of conversations in various circumstances, but trying to avoid making it your goal to gain control of the Read more

View Quality through the Customer’s Eyes - 10/14/25


Geri had been dealing with backups in the downstairs plumbing system of her house on and off for the past year.  The most recent company that she called in to unclog the pipes stated that they could send a camera down the pipes and tell her exactly where the Read more

Be Supportive, Not Defensive - 10/7/25


[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  Read more

Some Customers LOVE Predictability - 9/30/25


I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how Read more

Find Your Special Sauce - 9/23/25


When I watch a football game and I see a great quarterback (somebody who may be considered a “Star”), he might be an excellent runner, have a big arm, be able to diagnose the defense and get his team into the right play.  But he’s likely not great at Read more

Gain Control of the Conversation - 9/16/25


The customer’s angry or upset or they have a complaint.  They’re very chatty or very wordy or they just want to talk to somebody.  You’re on a time crunch, and the customer obviously is not. There are times when you need to gain control of the conversation.  It’s important for Read more

Complement with a Compliment - 9/9/25


We perform many tasks for our customers every day, and when we’re done with a step in the process, oftentimes we will tell the customer what’s been done.  But if we want to create more of a WOW experience, if we want to make the customer feel a little Read more

When Patience Begets Patience - 9/2/25


Jennifer, the server, walked toward the couple in the restaurant.  The customers had been seated for a minute or two, and they noticed the server was walking briskly toward their table.  Jennifer recognized the couple she was about to serve, because they had been in the previous week. Since the Read more

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

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View Quality through the Customer’s Eyes – 10/14/25

Posted on October 14, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Geri had been dealing with backups in the downstairs plumbing system of her house on and off for the past year.  The most recent company that she called in to unclog the pipes stated that they could send a camera down the pipes and tell her exactly where the issue was located.  So, she scheduled an appointment.

When the technician came to her house, he ran a camera down the pipes.  He told Geri that – according to the equipment – he thought he saw a crack in the pipe 77 feet from the house. The technician paced off 77 feet and ended up in the middle of Geri’s driveway. The tech said:  This is where I think the roots are getting into the pipe and causing the backup.  Since it’s in the middle of your driveway, we’ll need to bring out some equipment and dig up the concrete to get below the driveway and replace the pipe.

Geri was disappointed that the issue was under her driveway.  She asked a simple question that all customers would probably ask in this situation: Are you sure this is where it is?

The tech proudly replied: I have a 95% accuracy rate for knowing where the issue is located.

At that point, Geri remembered that the tech said he thought he saw a crack.  He said I think the roots are getting into the pipe.  And then she thought 95% accuracy means 5% inaccuracy – a 5% chance he could be digging out her driveway, and the issue isn’t really there.

A Second Opinion

It turns out that the issue was not where the tech thought it was.  A second company came out and found the issue about 25 feet from the house about a foot below the surface of her lawn.  This resulted in a less costly solution, and it was a matter of digging a hole and replacing a piece of the pipe rather than digging up the driveway and having to repour part of the concrete.

Quality means different things to different people, so we need to define quality through the customer’s eyes.  And oftentimes that customer is not focused on the percentage of times that things go right; rather they’re concerned with the possibility that he or she is part of the percentage of times when things go wrong.

View quality through the customer’s eyes.  It makes you more empathetic, and it helps you convey a solution that better meets the customer’s needs.

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Be Supportive, Not Defensive – 10/7/25

Posted on October 7, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  We wouldn’t have half the problems that we do if it wasn’t for Bob.

We have probably all worked with a Bob.  He’s that co-worker who causes of fires that we find ourselves fighting.  Maybe he’s the salesperson that made expectations that operations or customer service know cannot be delivered.  Maybe he’s somebody with the best intentions but communicates them in a way that creates issues for others.  But we don’t want to throw Bob under the proverbial bus.

On the other hand, Bob may be an outstanding employee!  Maybe the customer is totally in the wrong, so it’s understandable that we could be defensive because Bob is unjustly being chastised by the customer in their conversation with you.

Whether the customer complaint is justified or not, that co-worker is as much a part of the organization as you are, so how can we be supportive without being defensive?

Avoiding Defensiveness

One way to address this is to keep in mind that defensiveness is often exhibited through our emotions.  To avoid being defensive, keep the emotions down, keep the tone a little more calm and steady, be intentional about your body language, trying not to raise the temperature with the customer.

Being Supportive

Don’t feel like you have to argue on your co-worker’s behalf in order to be supportive.  Sometimes the best thing to do is to convey what you know and don’t know, note your experience or lack thereof in the situation or with your co-worker, and transition the conversation away from your co-worker and back toward the issue and possible resolution.  Talking to the customer:

I wasn’t in that conversation, so I can’t speak specifically to what Bob said, but I’m sorry you had to deal with it, and I want to help you find a resolution.

I’ve known Bob for years, and I’ll definitely talk with him since that’s not the experiences his customers typically have, and I’m very sorry about what happened in your case.  Let’s discuss how we can resolve this for you.

That’s not how we typically do things around here, so I’m very sorry about the situation.  I’ll definitely share your concerns internally after our call, and right now I want to make sure we can get this situation addressed immediately.

Don’t agree with the customer that Bob was at fault; stay composed; let them know if the situation isn’t typical, and move toward a resolution.

Be Supportive, Not Defensive.

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Some Customers LOVE Predictability – 9/30/25

Posted on September 30, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how long some process would take.  These were builders and developers, these were representatives of organizations that were performing renovations and repairs.

While the total process time was one part of the timeliness equation, one of my learnings from these focus groups was that the other part of the timeliness equation was predictability.

These focus group participants evaluated the customer experience by having an understanding of what that experience was going to be, the milestone dates or timelines associated, and those expectations being met.

The Customer’s Need for Predictability

The customers needed predictability because it enabled them to plan their next steps and timeframes.  It enabled them to understand how the tasks they’re working on fit into the bigger picture schedules.  It helped them to communicate with their stakeholders about timelines and responsibilities.

This also applies to healthcare.  If somebody is having an outpatient procedure, knowing the length of the procedure, how long they’ll be held after the procedure, how much notification lead-time they’ll get before they get discharged – that knowledge helps the patient to understand when to make that call for transportation to take them home.

This applies to pro sports.  We do TONS of surveys for pro sporting events, and sometimes fans reach out to us directly – not about the survey but asking when they’re going to get their tickets for the next event.  They were not told what to expect or didn’t remember, and now they’re antsy because the expectations aren’t known, because the predictability isn’t there.

What this Means for You

When considering how to improve your customer experience, focus on how to improve the predictability of what you do.  Oftentimes there is a predictable nature to what the process steps might be, who’s going to follow-up with the customer, and when it’s going to occur.  But unless that is communicated to the customer, and unless that is delivered as designed, the customer won’t know what to expect.  The lack of predictability can create additional touch points for you and additional anxiety for the customer.

Create more predictability for a better customer experience.

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