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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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The 3rd Time Better be the Charm

Posted on March 3, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

A friend recently relayed this customer service story to me, and food stories are always a special treat! Enjoy!…or at least, Learn…

Twice this weekend I noticed that servers, in their desire to speed up the delivery process (I can only assume) were actually stepping over my words while I was ordering. I’m not a particularly slow orderer, and I haven’t noticed this much before, but it was odd.

Once was at a local sandwich shop. I was ordering the pick two so you have to pick a sandwich, a side, and a soup. I was giving my choices, but before I even got them out of my mouth, the cashier is prompting me for the next thing that I have to decide. I said “and I’d like…” (getting ready to say “a medium drink”), and she interrupted me in mid-sentence to ask if I wanted a drink. I can almost see this occurring if there was a long line behind me, but there was no one else in line. It probably would have even been okay if she was cheery and bubbly or perhaps apologetic, but this young lady was none of those things – not a smile to be found.

The other experience was at a fast food restaurant the next day. I gave my order for the combo; she says “what?” in a terse voice, so then I began to restate my order, and before I could finish restating it, she interrupted by saying “Drink?” I was in the process of telling her that; oh, and, again, there was nobody behind me in line.

These may be perceived as “little things,” but is interrupting others good customer relations? Is being rude good customer service? Is not listening good for repeat business? Is it a good thing to be so task-oriented that you don’t focus on the person for whom you’re doing the task?

Hopefully the 3rd restaurant encounter for my friend will be better, and based on the tone of the story, it probably will be at a different place.

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/


Do Banks Really Care About You?

Posted on March 2, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Does your bank care about you? If so, how do you know? How do they treat you differently/better than they treat prospective customers – those they don’t already have locked in to a few accounts?

Results of a recent Ernst & Young survey in Canada suggest that “although banking confidence varies between nations, the “battle” to win new customers is likely to focus on improving customer service.” One of the key quotes from an E&Y exec is “Thirty-four percent of respondents say they receive occasional or absolutely no personalized attention from their banks, making them easy targets for competitive offers … Banks looking to grow and retain their retail customers will need to make big improvements in these two key areas.”

The conclusion about ‘winning new customers’ would have been better stated to ‘keep current customers.’ If 34% get no personal attention, then banks communicate with you no better than they communicate with “Dear Occupant” or “Dear Small Business Owner.” You are generic to them. So this study is clearly a wake-up call to banks, credit unions, and any other business that wants to retain you as a customer.

They need to communicate with you and treat you as an individual, as a person.

CSS consulted for a credit card company once that would send out literally millions of marketing pieces at a time; that may have been a way to attract new customers, but the decision by a customer to become a new customer of a business is often very different than the decision to stay with a business.

Compare how your company treats “suspects” and “prospects” versus current customers, and make sure that you convey that you care about each current customer as an individual, as a person.

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/


Calling All Customers – Scream About Service!

Posted on February 17, 2011 in World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

When people find out that I’m a customer service speaker, researcher, and consultant, they immediately think that they have license to vent and complain to me…and I love every minute of it!

If people didn’t complain when something goes wrong, it would mean one thing – they’re apathetic. And nothing is worse than apathy. Care about SOMETHING!

The reason I love the daily/hourly challenge of helping organizations improve customer service is because – at its core – customer service is about caring for people. There’s an inherent greater good in what you do in business if what you do helps to improve how other people are treated.

So bad customer service should not be ignored. From the customer’s perspective, companies should be put on notice that “you better change or I’ll leave.” From the company’s perspective, bad customer service should be addressed and improved by management and staff.

Now when you receive poor customer service, don’t be apathetic – take action. There are many places to complain on the web, but better yet – complain to the company first, give them a chance to save you, and then leave if they don’t. Communicate your irritation and anger.

Studies have shown that only 1 in 26 of us will bring a concern directly to a company when we feel there’s an issue, so imagine how much more seriously that businesses would take us if they heard about all 26 issues! For some companies, it would be an avalanche of complaints and concerns.

On the flip side, if someone does something well, compliment them. Tell them that you – as a customer – care about customer service, and you thought that they did a GREAT job.

Make your voices heard loud – don’t be apathetic. Don’t always wait for someone to ask you for your opinion. Give it to them; be respectful, but give it to them.

You’ll be surprised how good you feel and how much your opinion is appreciated. And if your opinion isn’t appreciated, have the guts to say “good bye.”

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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