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Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

Tell Them Why You’re Giving Thanks - 12/3/24


Thank you! Merci! Danke! Doumo! Gracias! It seems like every language has a translation of Thank You.  Even though I only fluently speak English and speak Spanish, un poco, I – and probably most of you – have heard some or all of the translations of "Thank You” noted above.  Read more

Refine Your Decision-making Process - 11/26/24


Every day, you make decisions of what to do and what not to do.  And in the world of customer service, often the affected parties are our customers, our co-workers, and our company.  Here are a few quotes to consider when you’re thinking about evaluating and refining your decision-making Read more

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

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Be an Everybody Business

Posted on June 18, 2010 in Business Advice, Carolinas, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Pizza…Yum! I was getting a takeout order at Hawthorne’s Pizza in Charlotte, NC, for the first time. As I walked in, the hostesses greeted me with a smile, asked how they could help, and showed me to the counter where I could pick up my order. As I approached the counter, two staff walking by made eye contact, smiled and said hello. I was greeted by an employee at the counter who asked how he could help – he smiled, confirmed my order, noted he’d get my order together and get right back to me. As I stood for a few seconds, I noticed that ALL the employees were moving, working, processing orders, taking food out to the tables…and smiling.

They were having pleasant conversations with each other and operating efficiently at the same time. Another employee walked up to me and asked if I had been helped. When the individual who was getting my order came back, he took the credit card, engaged me in light discussion, and closed the conversation with a smile and appreciation.

As I turned to walk away, another employee walked past me, made eye contact, smiled and said hello, and as I walked out of the restaurant, the hostesses smiled again, thanking me for coming in, and holding the door open for me.

I was in the restaurant less than 5 minutes, but one thing was obvious. This was an “Everybody Business.” Everybody smiled. Everybody worked efficiently. Everybody engaged me. Everybody seemed to be having fun with what they were doing and/or with each other.

When you experience an Everybody Business, you have to realize that this is not by accident. It’s by design. To have everybody operating in the same positive manner – naturally, smiling, engaging customers – that happens only because management wants it to happen. They hire staff with that attitude, train them on how to interact, and model those behaviors themselves.

They don’t leave it to chance that you’ll get good service with Employee “A”, but you could get bad service from Employee “B”. They don’t want that risk. They want to be an Everybody Business so that every customer has the same great experience.

Be an Everybody Business.

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


Renew with Research

Posted on June 2, 2010 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

I was recently involved in a discussion about key strategies for renewing season ticket holders for a professional sports franchise. The basic question was "What best practices are there on renewing 90%+?"

That was a great question to ask. It was great for 2 reasons; first, why reinvent the wheel if there are methods that have worked in the past? Consider utilizing best practices first before developing your additional solutions. The second reason why it was a great question is because it involves an aggressive goal. To hit 90% plus in renewals is tough but achievable – remember, you’re often going to have 5%-7% of your season ticket holders (STHs) move away annually, so your retainable level is maybe 93-95%. Adding in those that have been hammered by the economy, and your retainable target is even lower.

We’ve worked with several pro sports teams, and most of our work has been in increasing retention and growing business with existing STHs. Much of what an organization with this retention goal needs to do focuses on having ongoing touch points throughout the year, leading up to the annual renewal period. When you think of those touches, however, think strategically – there should a purpose to each, whether that purpose is gathering intelligence, providing something of value, addressing a retention driver, or making an offer. Many of those touches should be pre-planned on day 1 and executed throughout the year.

There’s no silver bullet because each season ticket holder (each client) has their own motivator. The key is finding that motivator through research. Don’t view retention like you do marketing. Retention and renewals are done one at a time at a certain point (usually annually), not en masse. The good news is that you have about 9 months every year prior to the renewal cycle to ask and determine their retention driver. It’s a lot easier to address the retention driver if you’ve identified it.

Don’t spend tons of time coming up with the perfect benefit or gimmick or perk; find out what your clients base the renewal decision on first.

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


She’ll Take Your Order

Posted on May 25, 2010 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

There’s nothing like the feeling of comfort I get from a warm greeting at a business establishment. A feeling of "you are my most important customer" and "I cannot wait to serve you" brings a tear to the eye of a customer service consultant. But that’s not the only thing that can bring a tear to my eye.

Walking into a fast food restaurant, I stood back from the cashiers to determine what I wanted. After deciding, I walked to the counter and the two cashiers, both of which were available. This is how the conversation started:

Cashier #1: "Can I help…oh, she’ll take your order."

Cashier #2: "No, she’ll take your order."

Cashier #1: "No, she’ll take your order."

Cashier #2: "No…well, okay. What would you like?"

This dialogue would have been very flattering had they substituted "I" for "she," but the conversation made it obvious that, even though neither was doing anything, they’d prefer continuing to do nothing rather than help me buy their product.

Sometimes we complain about how many companies and many employees are more task-focused than customer-focused. But this company was more focused on inaction than action. While we desperately hope this experience is a rarity in your business, there are things to learn from the interaction that can help any business succeed.

First, hire people with not only the attitude of wanting to help others but also the energy to act on those impulses. Next, come up with a mantra that promotes productivity. One restaurant tells its staff to remember during slow times that "if you’re leaning (against the wall) you should be cleaning." Finally, create a proactive work environment. The more reactive a culture is, the more likely they are to be passive when there’s not a fire to fight. Proactive cultures promote the seeking of action and progress.

Work to create an atmosphere of "I’ll take your order."

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


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