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From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

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

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Life as a Call Center Rep

Posted on April 27, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

It’s great; it stinks. That sums it up.

For someone who likes to talk with others, who enjoys answering questions, educating others, and solving problems, it’s a very rewarding job. For someone who likes a different challenge every minute, it can fulfill that desire.

But for many call center representatives, there is the difficulty in trying to meet the numbers – have a low handle time, get the post-call work done quickly, take short restroom breaks – it can be frustrating.

Like with any business, frustration often results from competing priorities. You are in a customer service role to serve. You are there to help others. You are there to help guide, to respond, to defuse, to educate. But at the same time, you are there to get the work done quickly. To address the need as fast as possible without involving anyone else if at all possible. You are there to interact with as many customers as you can in your limited time during the day.

According to a Chicago Sun-Times for the article on what life can be like as a call center customer service representative, “The reps at [her] call center were expected to field calls, take down information, check files, fill out forms, flag down faxes, write notes about each conversation and more, at times viewing four computer screens at once. Three seconds after they hung up, a new call would come in. A big call board would flash with multi-colored lights indicating whether new calls were being picked up in less than 30 seconds, and if they weren’t, there’d be trouble.”

For any organization wanting to succeed in employee retention, customer retention, operational excellence, and long-term growth, there needs to be a balance. There need to be measurements of and incentives for satisfaction, loyalty, retention, repeat purchases, and new business generated from current customers just like there are measurements and incentives relating to productivity, error rates, and throughput time.

Find a balance of what you measure and reward for the sake of your people, your customers, and your business success.

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/


Customer Service Complexity Increasing – Here’s One Reason Why

Posted on April 14, 2011 in Business Advice, Government 1 Comment

In the Environmental Ladder article “Smart Customer Service for a Smart Grid World,” the writer talks about how most call centers at utilities spend the majority of their customer interactions addressing basic questions about bills, transfers of service, payment plans, etc. But as the utilities’ technology advances such as in the use of the smart grid and real-time data and information shared by consumer and utility alike, things change.

With knowledge comes, power – right? Well the information provided to the consumer, and the choices that the information offers create questions from the educated consumer for the utility. If consumers are more educated on how to manage their power day-to-day, what their consumption is, how to modify power plans, then the more questions they can ask of the customer service representative. The consumer can request more changes; they can better challenge utility decisions.

You see, an educated customer can create work for the business. In the grand scheme of things, this is great. We want consumers educated, having more data upon which to evaluate a service or a supplier. But businesses must realize that more information means that the customer’s expectations will change, their demands will rise, their ability to compare competitive businesses increases.

So businesses need to ensure that their staff understand that the FAQs (frequently asked questions) of the past may no longer apply. And today’s questions may differ from tomorrow’s. Companies need to be more agile in understanding what customers are asking about over the past week and must have plans in place for quick training of staff or quick communications out to consumers to answer those ever-changing FAQs.

Increases in customer knowledge can create increases in complexity for the customer service staff.

Make sure your education and training of your customer service representatives is staying ahead of the education of your customers.

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/


Fearing the Feds…in Customer Service

Posted on March 30, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Let’s keep the government off our backs! That’s the upshot of the article in CIO.com that addressed the mantra of Australian private sector industries struggling to deliver good customer service.

One of the telecommunications executives has heard rumblings from government leaders which suggest that the government is considering mandating that telecoms and ISPs start delivering a certain level or type of customer service. His solution is to get the private sector companies to work together toward improving customer service and reducing complaints – before the government forces them to do so.

Think about your business – imagine if your bank, your hospital, your shop, your university were to get federally mandated guidelines that addressed how or at what level you must deliver customer service.

A nightmare?

Yes, but it’s already happening. Hospitals, for example, will begin to have reimbursement from the Federal Government adjusted based on patient satisfaction scores in the U.S. including the patient’s assessment of their customer service.

The problem with a government mandate is that the business loses control over priorities or actions; the business gains an administrative burden; the business now has an 800-pound gorilla helping to manage it – the Federal Government.

Companies wouldn’t have to worry so much about government intervention if they took the time to measure the link between customer satisfaction, loyalty, word-of-mouth, repeat business, etc. and organizational profits. They wouldn’t be concerned with governmental edicts if they knew what percentage of this year’s revenue came from last year’s customers. They wouldn’t fear the repercussions of the government if they put a dollar value on the cost of the repercussions of their own upset or angry customers.

Put a dollar figure on the value of your customer. Let that number – not the government – be your incentive to improve customer service.

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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