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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

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research - he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the Read more

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

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Take a Measure from Government

Posted on September 1, 2010 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

When we work with our government clients, whether it’s an economic development division trying to retain local businesses, a property assessment division trying to efficiently serve its customer base, a City/County manager’s office trying to best manage such a large organization, we’ve found a consistent need – measurement.

When government is trying to measure over such a broad organization, they typically create an organization-wide balanced scorecard system. This metrics system will have the typical measures of Revenue, Cost, Quality, and Customer Service. But it will also have some more outcomes-oriented customer measures such as the percentage of residents on welfare and more capacity-oriented customer measures such as the percentage of residents living within “X” miles of a public park.

Let’s translate those last two measures to a typical business. Outcomes. An outcome is some end-benefit from what your service or product provides. It’s not the product itself. For a hospital, it’s the quality of life after discharge, not just how good the care was in the hospital. For a fine restaurant, it’s the enjoyment of the evening, not just the quality of the food. For an automobile dealership, it’s the feeling when driving or knowing you own a particular brand, not just the gas mileage. These outcomes often relate to the feelings your customers have as a result of their engagement with your company. They should be measured to make sure your services had a positive ongoing impact.

The other example metric dealt with Access. How close you live to a park can determine your ease of access and likelihood to use it. Similarly, what percentage of the population lives near a grocery store, what percentage of season ticket holders receive a sports team’s newsletter, and what percentage of long-term customers have online access all help to determine the customer’s access to the company. A greater access leads to a greater chance to develop relationships and retain the customer.

Learn from these atypical measures from government to know how well you impact your customers and to ensure you have adequate access to them.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


New Season, New Season Ticket Holders

Posted on August 25, 2010 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Many of our clients have the greatest chance of LOSING customers if they are new customers. That’s especially true with our sports clients.

When a new season ticket holder (STH) arrives, they are excited, have expectations, have written the big check for the first time, and want a great experience.

With all of their expectations, all that emotion, and all those expenditures comes all that risk.

Part of how you keep these new clients is obviously to meet and exceed the expectations, provide more value than the expense, and feed that emotion positively.

But realistically, the other part of keeping those clients is to educate them on expectations you CAN meet, about their role in having a great experience, and about all you do that they don’t yet realize is available.

With new clients, be their educator.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


The Sports Agent…Ethics and Customer Service

Posted on July 23, 2010 in Business Advice, Sports, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

The sports agent was moving into his new downtown office and was especially excited about the day. A friend of his had arranged for the agent to meet with a professional football player who was disgruntled with his current agent. The player wanted to meet the agent at his new office even though the agent was still in the process of moving. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, the agent told his friend to have the player meet him at the office in the morning.

The agent was sitting in his high-backed leather chair when he heard someone walking toward his door. “That’s him!,” thought the agent. So he picked up his phone, swung it around so he couldn’t see the door and began talking loud enough for anyone to hear.

“That’s right,” said the agent, “give my client a $2 million signing bonus or he tests the free agent market. We’re serious.”

After pausing for a few seconds, the agent said “then it’s a deal…$2 million. My client will be very happy.”

The agent turned his chair around and hung up the phone, but he didn’t see anybody in his office. He called to the lobby, “is somebody there?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the person in the lobby, “I’m here to install your phone.”

The sports agent wanted so badly to make a good first impression, that he crossed that ethical line. If that prospective client had been standing next to the phone technician, he would have turned around and walked away.

Now most salespeople have strong ethics. But the key point is that the entry point into your organization for a first-time customer sets the expectations for the company’s retention efforts. In your customer service role, you need to be VERY aware of the processes and people that acquire the customers for your business. What expectations do these individuals set? What image do they portray? What information do they gather that’s useful to your retention efforts?

Understand what the sales staff do and how it impacts your retention efforts.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


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