customer experience

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How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

When They Might Walk Out the Door…Permanently- 7/21/26


Have you ever had one of those conversations with the customer where they literally tell you they’re about to stop doing business with your company?  This is it.  They may bring up a competitor or found another way to get their need met, or they are just leaving. When we Read more

Transparency in Customer Service- 7/14/26


We’ve worked with a lot of clients in the local government sector, and many of these clients have Customer Service Standards and/or corporate values that include Transparency. Think about an old-fashioned transparency sheet, that malleable see-through page you put on an overhead projector.  You can see everything on one side Read more

See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26


That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next. But in the life Read more

Gaining the Benefits of the Greeter- 6/30/26


Most likely, we’ve all entered some establishment – a retail store, restaurant, or service center - when there is a greeter at the door.  The most famous greeter position is probably the Walmart greeter.  I often thought that my father-in-law would have been a fantastic Walmart greeter, because he Read more

Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

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Connect – The Power of Working Together – 7/11/23

Posted on July 11, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Herman Melville, the American writer/novelist, once said:  We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us.

One great characteristic of those working in customer service is the fact that we are living and working for others as much or more than for ourselves.  Melville talks about having connections with those others.  A good way for us to look at connecting with others is to see it both from an external connection as well as an internal connection.  

Externally, we could be talking about our customers, the parents of the children we serve, our clients, our season ticket holders, residents in our community.  How do we build relationships with them?

It helps to have common goals so that we know that we are working together towards something.  It helps to build trust – doing what we say we will do – and loyalty.  It helps to be solution-oriented when building relationships, so we can see positive outcomes from our actions together.

Internally, we could think about connecting in terms of collaboration – finding ways to work well with our co-workers and colleagues.  We do this by proactively sharing information – looking at information we have available and asking ourselves:  Who else would benefit from this information or knowledge?  We do it by providing ideas to our co-workers. We do it by offering our support in their efforts or the organization’s efforts to move toward goals.

There is power in connecting in customer service.  With those we serve outside the organization, the power comes through relationship-building, and it results in the building of mutual trust and loyalty as well as better outcomes.

Within an organization, the power comes in a greater sharing of knowledge, freer offering of ideas, and greater acknowledgement when we received those ideas.  It comes in more frequent and more expeditious achievement of organizational goals.

And all along the way, these positive outcomes, this loyalty, this trust, and the sharing of information results in a better place to work, a more cohesive culture, a more positive experience, and a more productive work life.

Intentionally connect with others to tap into the power of working together.

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Help Me Help You – 7/4/23

Posted on July 4, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

With all due respect to the movie Jerry Maguire, this tip is not about the life of agents for professional athletes.  It’s about customer service and what it really means to help.

We’ve seen employees wear badges that say “Ask me. I am happy to help!” or “May I help you?” or “How can we help you today?”

But what are we signing up for when we ask these questions or make these statements?  Although the badge conveys our willingness to help and solicits questions from customers, what are we offering to do?

We are offering to provide information, to share our knowledge, to understand their unique needs and guide them toward the right solution.  These actions require a desire to take action on the customer’s behalf, a willingness on our part to continually learn about our role, our services, our organization, and the ability to ask the right questions, matching the need with a solution.

We are offering to overcome obstacles or eliminate roadblocks.  We are there to help them move to a next step or get through their day in a positive way.  We are there to find pathways to Yes rather than roadblocks of No’s.  These actions require a desire to address problems, to think through processes from the customer’s perspective, and to be pleasant in our engagement with others.

Being helpful may seem like a simple concept, but to truly help others, we need to have the desires, the willingness, the knowledge, and the ability to have a positive influence on those that we come in contact with each day.

Make sure that you’re equipped to truly help the customer today.

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Fight Fret with Reassurance – 6/27/23

Posted on June 27, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I bought tickets for this weekend’s event, but they’re not showing up on my app.  I was told we could request a refund, but I don’t see a way to do that online.  I need this fixed by tomorrow.  The information on my bill is wrong, and it says it’s due next week.

The customer is confused or anxious or upset.  There’s an urgency, or there’s a misunderstanding.  The emotions are not positive, and the answer may not be immediately clear.

We need to seek details.  We need to determine alternatives.  But we also need…to reassure.

To reassure is to calm down.  It is to build confidence.  It is to alleviate fears.

If the customer is calm, if they have confidence in a resolution, if they have faith in you instead of fears in the situation, the conversation can end more quickly.  The odds of them wanting to talk to your manager diminish.  The likelihood they’ll question what you say or answer-shop decreases.

So, reassure.  Let them know that you can help, how you can help, how you’ve helped others.  Talk in ways that convey your understanding of them and their situation, your understanding of solutions, next steps, and timelines.  Use the phrases like “we will help you,” and avoid phrases like “I think we can address this.”  Convey your experience, resources, and tools.

The facts and the details of the issue and solution are important to address when the customer is worried.  But it helps to provide reassurance, as well.  It helps to speak with authority and to use words that convey more certainty of actions rather than uncertainty of next steps.  Convey your confidence to build their confidence.  

When the customer frets, provide reassurance.

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