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Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/19/24


In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW. Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively Read more

Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/12/24


It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to Read more

From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience - 11/5/24


Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well. A customer had ordered a register book off the company Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

Delight Your Customers - 10/22/24


Buddy the Bug Man was different.  His company was new, and the only reason why Janet tried him out was that the service she had used for years just wasn’t working.  Whether it was mosquitoes in the yard, ants in the kitchen, or cockroaches flying through on their way Read more

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

Notice the Little Changes - 9/24/24


“My, how times have changed.” Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, one of the biggest reasons why an organization’s customer service deteriorates is that times have changed…customers have changed…and the company has not… If we think about customer service delivery today v. decades ago, changes in technology alone Read more

Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy. It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry. When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a Read more

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Construct Great Customer Service

Posted on August 24, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

You wouldn’t normally look for customer service articles in a construction magazine, but that’s exactly what we found in ConstructionWeekOnline.com. The article talks about two companies which are revamping their customer service training – for technical staff. This is training targeting engineers, automotive/trucking fleet service technicians, and other staff working on automobiles.

The companies realize that technical training on a trade only addresses part of the employee’s job. If the employee has to interact with customers, they need to have training on how to effectively communicate and serve as well.

This training is done for two reasons according to execs – raise standards and improve customer retention.

So this is an automotive/trucking company investing in training for engineers and mechanics to improve communications, satisfaction, performance, and customer retention. So it’s being done for the dollars, which is absolutely fine.

Training on customer service techniques should not be done out of some feeling of altruism. It should be done because it impacts the customer’s opinions, buying patterns, and referral patterns. In other words, it impacts a company’s bottom line.

The next time you think about how to improve the bottom line, ask yourself “How can I make ALL my staff more effective in front of the customer?”

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Beat Your Competitor with Customer Service

Posted on August 9, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Why does the Apple iPad have such a huge share of the tablet market? Why does Google dominate search? Why does Disney dominate discussion of the great family vacation locations?

There’s something they do so much better than others. They beat the competition continuously because they have some competitive advantage. Maybe they’re an innovator, maybe they’re fast, or maybe their customer experience cannot be matched.

Yes, customer service and the overall customer experience can be your differentiator.

To be a differentiator, your customer has to have a perceptibly better experience with you than at your competitors. They have to believe that the knowledge of your staff, the attitudes of employees, the speed of service, the ease of navigating your facility or your website far outshines your competitors.

Maybe your organization anticipates customer needs better than others, and you proactively make suggestions. It could be that you reach out to customers when they’re not onsite with you, and when you do so you’re not just pushing something to sell, but you’re offering some advice or something else of value. You’re developing a relationship.

One key to differentiating is to know how you stack up against your competitors. So be a customer. Shop your competitors. Gauge their employees’ knowledge and attitudes, their speed, their ease of navigation, whether they’re purely reactive or they’re proactive as well.

Know where you stand versus competitors, and then ramp up your customer service to beat your competitor.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Easy v. WOW!

Posted on August 4, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

What do Nike, Bank of America, and Earthlink have in common?

They were all part of a research study recently conducted by the Corporate Executive Board. One of the core focus areas of the study was the link between customer service and loyalty. Although much of the study addressed the call center experience, the key findings were meaty enough for any organization to learn something.

There were 3 key findings I want to highlight:

· Exceeding customer expectations had a moderate impact on loyalty.

· Satisfaction does not predict loyalty.

· Reducing effort has the greatest impact on loyalty.

Again, this is a call center-focused survey, but the key point to glean is that the effort that the customer has to go through to work with your organization (to get their question answered, to get an issue resolved, to go through a process) has a significant impact on their loyalty.

This gets at process. This gets at looking at process from the customer’s perspective. This gets at having an organization that tries to make it easy on the customer to do business with you.

This says that in many cases, “Easy” is more important than “Wow!”

So ask yourself, how easy is it for your customers to do business with you? How easy is it for them to get a question answered, an issue resolved, or to go through a process of yours?

To impact loyalty, make it easy on the customer.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


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