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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

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

Energy v. Apathy - 4/22/25


I asked a couple friends who are much more scientifically-oriented the question: What is energy?  I didn’t mean E=MC2.  I meant physiologically, what is energy? They described a lot of things that sounded really good, yet far too advanced for my non-medical mind. Part of the reason why energy is of Read more

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Don’t Let Local Politicians Drive Customer Service

Posted on February 2, 2012 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

You know it must be bad when local politicians want to draft a resolution that requires that government employees deliver good customer service.

A Maine City Councilor is looking to improve customer service at City Hall by crafting a document that requires that customers “are treated with the utmost courtesy and that all such transactions are handled in a respectful and professional manner.” He’s heard of residents and local business owners not getting prompt, effective service in response to inquiries and in the permitting processes.

While most municipalities have local developers, design professionals, and those who work in the trades who have concerns with permitting and inspection processes, it’s a sad day when politicians feel the need to take up the mantle of customer service champion. Maybe this Councilor truly feels customer service is a major concern, or maybe he is pushing this for some other reason, but the point is that there are ways to improve customer service – and this isn’t at the top of the list.

We’ve worked with local government – in permitting/inspections areas, in particular – for years, and much of what they’ve done to continuously improve customer service focuses on 3 areas:

· Continually Engage the Customer – Have local committees made up of the building community that offer you input into your plans, share feedback on service, and provide support on your initiatives. Augment this with ongoing (at least bi-annual) surveys of the broader constituency.

· Ensure Staff Have the Skills and Mindset They Need – Develop customer service standards – a bare minimum expectation in terms of how staff will engage customers. Provide training on the skills, principles, and philosophies of great customer service. Most permitting/inspections staff are hired because of technical skills, so they need training to ensure they also have great communication and service skills.

· Have a Process Improvement Orientation – So much of what drives satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with permitting and inspection services relates to processes. How quickly can a permit be issued? How easy is it to submit plans for review? How often to inspectors show up at the scheduled time onsite? Ensure your processes and technology are standardized, efficient, and easy to navigate.

Take the need to improve out of the hands of the politicians. Talk to the customer. Train the staff. Continuously improve your processes and systems.

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

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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


2 of 3 Customers Switched Providers – Did Yours?

Posted on February 1, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

A recent Accenture consulting research study noted that 2 out of 3 consumers worldwide “switched providers in at least one industry in the past year due to poor customer service.” In addition, “Forty-four percent of consumers said their expectations today are higher than they were just a year ago.”

Boiling these two key points down to a quick conclusion, you could say that today’s customers expect more, and they are highly likely to leave if you don’t meet those expectations.

So what do you know about TODAY’S customers? Don’t just think in terms of surveys you conducted on customers 2 years ago or market research conducted 4 years ago or focus groups you did 18 months ago. What do you know about the customers you have TODAY?

Older information from past customers about previous experiences in a different time can lead to faulty decisions for tomorrow.

Any organization that wants to continue to learn, to improve, to grow, to succeed has to – at the same time – continually communicate with and learn about their customers. What do they expect out of their experience? Why are they a customer? Why would they leave? What competitors are they considering or already patronizing? What makes them loyal to you, or what WOULD make them loyal to you?

Ensure you have an ongoing customer research strategy that provides you with the fresh intelligence you need to retain and grow with TODAY’S customer.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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

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


Service or a Perk – Pick 1

Posted on January 25, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

“Service, Price, or Quality – Pick any 2.”

A sign with that statement used to hang in my dry cleaners years ago – luckily, it was a joke. They’re pretty good at all 3!

But that statement hasn’t died; a recent article in Moneywise essentially had a revised version of the statement – “Service or a Perk – Pick 1.”

The article references a survey with the following finding: “Almost half (49%) of consumers would change banks because of bad customer service – more than twice the number (22%) of people who would change providers because of rewards and incentives.” Now you may be thinking of an incentive from a bank being a stereotypical “toaster,” but different organizations have different definitions of incentive, reward, or perk.

We work with lots of organizations that focus on perks, particularly professional sports organizations. And many of them are constantly looking to expand their offering of benefits to season ticket holders (STHs) to impact renewals for the next season. But instead of assuming perks drive retention, we often survey (or tell our clients to survey) STHs and ask them directly – how much impact does “X” have on your likelihood to renew?

Now “X” could be “Direction of the Team” or “My Relationship with My Account Representative” or “Perk A” or “Benefit B.”

But don’t make assumptions; ask the customers what drives their retention and renewals, and then act on that information. Remember, Perks/Benefits can cost a LOT of money, so don’t spend it unless you have to do so.

So when you’re determining what perks and benefits to provide, first ask your customers if those items really drive retention.

Listen to our Pro Sports episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/2011/10/11/stepping-up-service-3-customer-service-in-professional-sport.html

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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