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Be Amazing - 4/23/24


Watching Michael Jordan steal a pass and then dunk a basketball is amazing.  Taking a rocket to the moon is amazing.  The taste of my mom’s homemade beef soup is amazing. We all have our personal examples of what is amazing.  Usually, it’s something that we cannot comprehend, that we Read more

Talk About Yourself to Build Customer Confidence - 4/16/24


When you’re dealing with somebody who is anxious or nervous about a situation, a customer who feels like they don’t have much control, an individual who is unsure and uncertain, it’s important to put the customer at ease.  It’s important to build their comfort level.  It’s important to help Read more

The Proven Value in What You Do - 4/9/24


Forbes wrote an article last year based on a compilation of the results of research on customer service and the customer experience; it was titled:  100 Customer Experience Stats For 2023. In reading the article, you’ll note that many of these key research findings are about you – the value Read more

A Tale of Two Texts - 4/2/24


Having to get allergy shots once a week is never fun, and for Janet, it became an even bigger frustration. She had the shots typically scheduled on Tuesday around 10:30 in the morning, figuring she would avoid the morning rush as well as the lunch rush by going mid-morning.  However, Read more

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

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

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Of Donuts and Delivering a Great Experience – 2/2/16 TOW

Posted on February 2, 2016 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Are you a Dunkin’ Donuts or Krispy Kreme raving fan? Take the poll in this Tip of the Week, and let us know!

Why are we discussing donuts? It’s because it’s rare to find someone who likes both brands equally. It’s because when you order donuts from one of their stores, you have decisions to make. Do you want sprinkles? How about chocolate or cinnamon? Good old fashioned glazed? Jelly? Maple? Hot and now?

There are many choices, and where there are so many choices, some customers want varieties and others want the same thing every time. To deliver the right donut, the employee can’t assume what the customer prefers.

In customer service, it’s easy to hear a key word or phrase coming from the customer and assume we know what they want; it’s easy to incorrectly read something into an e-mail or letter from a customer.

So when the customer has many choices in service delivery, how do you make sure you deliver the right experience in the right manner? Consider these 3 points in your dealings with customers.

#1 – Educate – Let them know the options. This gives the customer the best possibility of getting what they want the way they want it, because they know what service they can receive, when, and how. This also enables you to proactively set expectations with the customer about the experience.

#2 – Ask – Identify their true issues, needs, goals, and preferences in the service experience by asking specific questions – the what, why, when, and how of the need itself, as well as how they’d prefer it addressed.

#3 – Confirm – Before moving forward, restate your understanding of what they just conveyed. Remember, you want them to have a great experience, so convey you listened and you care by confirming (and then doing) the right thing.

To provide a great experience, truly know the customer’s choices prior to delivering the service.

Educate, Ask, and Confirm.

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Stop the (Negative) Chatter – 1/12/16 TOW

Posted on January 12, 2016 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


A friend recently shared her negative customer experience with me. While waiting in line at a grocery store, employees complained loudly between the checkout registers about their frustrations with how slow the system was at the time. Not only were they upset with the registers, but they were sharing it with every customer within earshot.

At the same time, ironically enough, her husband was waiting in an interminable line at his physician clinic. The check-in line was moving at snail’s pace, and when he finally made it to the front, he understood the reason for the delay – the new computer system was down, and they were working off manual schedules, documenting all clinical and billing information on hardcopy. Behind the frustrated registration clerk were her co-workers loudly proclaiming their anger with the computer system, the IT people who are charged with keeping the system running, the people who decided to install this system, and any other employee they could think of blaming.

These technology issues were obviously frustrating for the employees, and anyone who’s seen the BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) or just sat while the computer’s hourglass rotates on the screen FOREVER understands the frustration.

But the point here is that the technology experiences were not good for the customer either. Negativity loudly spewed out of the employees in front of the customers, and the whole atmosphere suffered the collateral damage. Instead of the employee issues engendering empathy from customers, the employees complaining made these two customers not want to return.

Here’s a question to consider: What customer wants to spend their money to be in an environment of negativity?

The next time some internal issue happens, try to keep the negative chatter to a minimum when in front of the customer.

Don’t let your frustration be the reason the customer never returns.

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A Discreet Twist on Confidentiality – 1/5/16 TOW

Posted on January 5, 2016 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


HIPAA. If you’re in healthcare, you know what that means – HIPAA is all about information privacy. If you’re a parent with a child going to college, you’re probably familiar with the laws protecting your child from having to share their school information with…you!

If you’re in a financial-oriented or retail (or most other) type of business, I’m sure your company is concerned with keeping social security numbers and credit card numbers confidential.

Confidentiality and privacy are embedded in many big corporate initiatives, policies, and laws. But let’s take a twist on confidentiality that’s not simply a governmental or organizational requirement – instead, it’s a component of great customer service.

When thinking about how to best provide service to your clients, consider the term “discreet.” Being discreet with client information means keeping the information and their concerns private unless absolutely necessary. It means respecting them and the details of their situation. It means not sharing the client’s details with others for the sake of sharing; it means appropriately using and sharing the information only for the benefit of the customer.

View “discreet” as holding difficult conversations with customers in a more private room. It means not repeating personal information like their cell phone number, hotel room number, or e-mail address loudly for other customers to hear. Discreet requires that we’re aware of our surroundings and aware of the responsibility we have to be professional and respectful of client-specific information, issues, emotions, and needs.

What does “discreet” mean to someone in your business, and how does that present itself differently when talking with the customer on the phone or face-to-face? In your business, when should you be discreet in sharing one client’s information with other clients or with co-workers?

Take a twist on confidentiality. Be discreet with the customer and their information to provide the best customer experience.

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