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Familying with Customers - 10/28/25


In our transactional society, it’s hard to think about customers in the long-term.  But if we want to be as successful as we can as an individual or as a business, we need to view customers through a relationship lens. What do we need to know about them to Read more

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

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The New Burger Experience – 7/16/24

Posted on July 16, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 good – expectations were high!

Wanting to do takeout, he hopped on the restaurant’s website at dinnertime, but there was no order online button. He did find a phone number, so he called; the system said they would send him a text with a link to the ordering page. He immediately received the link, immediately clicked it, and immediately realized the link was broken. He clicked over and over again, and it was broken over and over again.

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, the restaurant was only open for about 2 weeks, so he assumed they might not have gotten all of their technology together, or maybe they were overwhelmed by people wanting to check out the restaurant. So, Floyd decided to drive and order in-person. He packed his patience just in case the place was bombarded with customers wanting to check out the new restaurant.

When he arrived, Floyd’s assumptions were confirmed.  The line was at least 30 people long, with 10 standing outside.  As his place in line finally got inside the front door, he noticed that the kiosks that were set up within the restaurant for ordering were offline. Everyone went to the same sole cashier to order.

Employees Shine!

But then Floyd noticed some other things, as well. Staff were constantly engaging the people in line. They were bringing the food to the patrons and calling them by name. They were periodically giving an overview about the unique qualities of the restaurant and the unique ingredients used in the recipes. It was highly engaging and made the time go by fast. Despite all the activity and stress on the workers, they were making the restaurant shine.

In the end, there was a 45-minute wait from when he first got in line to when he finally got his food. Floyd tasted the burger, and it was OK. He tasted the fries, and they were OK. He tasted the shake, and it was fantabulous!

The next day, Floyd, burger-lover that he is, reflected on his experience. The place was basically brand new, so their technology was down. The lines were excessively long – all that was understandable. The food was adequate, so this is probably not going to be a place he frequents. But it was interesting that despite all of the glitter of this being a famous chef’s restaurant and all of the hype about the quality of the ingredients, the best thing about the experience was the people he encountered – the energy and positivity of the employees despite slow processes, bad technology, and a product that was middle of the road.

Sometimes you are serving customers, and you’re not always serving them top quality products or merchandise. Sometimes you’re dealing with processes or technologies that bog you down or bogged the customers down. So sometimes, the best part of the experience, is you.

Even if the rest of the experience is not memorable in a good way, do your best to make sure that the memories of you are positive.

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Boost Customer Happiness – 7/9/24

Posted on July 9, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 it from scratch.  Sometimes it’s a success – it looks and tastes just like the original – and sometimes it’s not just like the original…it’s even better!

In customer service, it’s difficult to “make someone else happy,” so let’s consider this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup approach.  Let’s reverse engineer customer happiness.

Think about times and situations where you see a happy customer.  What is happening in that moment?

When I see happy customers, I can usually tell customers are happy because they’re smiling or laughing.  When they’re smiling, they’re often talking to an employee who’s also smiling.  They’re engaging with an employee or others around them about some light topic.  It’s a conversation, not about issues or politics; it’s a conversation about a pet, the greeting card they’re buying, something interesting about the building, or something funny going on around them.

The customer had a need, and the employee showed them the exact right product to meet the exact right need.  The customer smiles.  There was an unexpected coupon or a special discount.  The customer’s eyes light up.

So, those happy customers are often a reflection of happy employees.  The happy customers are engaged in conversations.  The topics are lighter and less serious.  They are aware of their surroundings and notice the interesting aspects, or the employees are pointing out those sites or situations for the customers.  The customers have some unexpected positive, or the employee helps them to find the perfect answer to their question, the perfect solution to their issue.

While it’s tough to make other people happy, to create a little more happiness in your customers, just watch some happy customers.  See what’s making them smile or laugh or convey a little joy.

Then do a little reverse engineering to boost customer happiness.

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Nurture New Relationships – 6/4/24

Posted on June 4, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 dealing with the local municipality a lot on plans and inspections.  But to Freddie, the process was shockingly easy.  Well, maybe the process wasn’t easy, but going through the process was easy.

For the most part, submitting plans through the web portal, getting comments on plans and getting inspections scheduled and conducted was typical. Getting results of the inspections and correcting issues – these were all fairly standard processes – sometimes cumbersome, sometimes clunky or not self-evident.

The Secret Weapon

But Freddie had a secret weapon; the municipality in this community had a navigator position.  This was essentially a governmental point person to help business owners and developers work through all the different processes that they had to deal with for remodels, renovations, new development, etc.  No matter what area of the city or county that Freddie was dealing with, the navigator helped him through the process.

The navigator not only met with Freddie upfront when he first submitted his plans, but the navigator conducted what was akin to an onboarding session like you would do for a new employee.  The navigator set up bi-weekly calls with Freddie to ensure he was on track, and would have as-needed communications to help through issues.

See Him as an Individual

The navigator learned about Freddie as well as learning about his project.  The navigator would send Freddie information in advance of when he needed it to help him to prep for the next step and make sure he kept things on time and on budget.

The navigator’s name was Helen.  And while this seemingly fairy tale experience did not end with the main characters getting married, it did end with Helen having started and nurtured a relationship on behalf of the municipality with the new business owner.

Think about the new customers you have and how they and their needs are so different than those of your existing customers.  Intentionally map out a process and approach to help them navigate any pitfalls.  Dedicate resources to onboard these clients, nurture relationships, and grow your business by helping them to grow their success with a great customer experience.

Nurture New Relationships.

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