customer service | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 120

Home  /  With Customer Issues and Complaints, It’s All About Speed  /  customer service

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

•••••

With Customer Issues and Complaints, It’s All About Speed

Posted on March 17, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Fast…Do it fast…Make them feel like you’re moving at light speed…Make them feel like there’s continuous action…

When you’re dealing with a complaint or a customer issue, a key to retaining (and even increasing business with) that customer is speed.

Studies have shown that if you resolve an issue of a customer, they will tell 5 people about the great work you do. If you resolve issues quickly, you have an 82% chance of repurchase v. only 54% chance of repurchase if you resolve it slowly. So speed aids retention to the tune of 28%!! Speed.

It takes a lot for some customers to complain; so if they care enough to complain, convey you care, too, by acting to resolve that issue fast.

Tell them you want to help them. Tell them what you’re doing to address the need. Give them status updates along the way. Ensure your organization has communication and service delivery processes in place which are speed-oriented and geared toward service recovery situations.

Evaluate how you handle these situations. Look internally, and test externally with mystery shopping, but assess, and improve.

When it comes to Service Recovery, find a need for speed.

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/


What’s the Page?

Posted on March 16, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Who’s on the same page in your organization? Who’s not? Let’s start with this question.

What is “the page?”

Most organizations try to create a certain culture. “We’re an entrepreneurial organization!” or “We’re leading-edge innovators.” or “We’re all about quality.” or “We’re about empowering employees.”

All that’s well and good, but what’s the point? You’re entrepreneurial to do what? Your being innovative why? You’re about quality for what reason? You’re empowering employees to accomplish what?

You’re trying to create a certain culture or image or mindset or reputation, but don’t create those things for the sake of creating them. Start with defining the goal, the Vision, the purpose, the Mission – the “page.”

Maybe being entrepreneurial isn’t the best thing if you need operational excellence to compete. Maybe being leading-edge isn’t the best thing if your customers are risk-averse. Maybe quality being the top priority requires your cost per unit to rise above competitors. And maybe empowering employees isn’t the best thing if your company is poor at defining parameters for decision-making, holding others accountable, and rewarding risk.

I’m not saying these characteristics of culture aren’t important. I’m saying “don’t get the cart before the horse.”

Know who you want to become and where you want to go. Only then should you identify the culture you need to get there.

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/


Create B-U-Y I-N with Staff

Posted on March 10, 2011 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

When we provide customer service training for hospitals, we often suggest techniques to use in difficult situations with patients and family members, physicians and co-workers. Sometimes, we suggest certain phrases to use which tend to work well, but some of the training attendees don’t feel comfortable at first with the wording because it feels scripted.

So we work during the session so they’ll feel like it’s not a script; we work to get buy-in. When attempting to get buy-in from front-line staff on any initiative, use this acronym that we coined:

· B – Believe. You have to get them to believe the concept will work.

· U – Understand. People trust and are more accepting of change when they can understand how it works.

· Y – Yes! You have to get them to commit to it – “ask for the business” from your staff.

· I – Invest. If they participate in the development of a plan, investing their time, they’re more likely to buy-in to the result.

· N – Needs. People must understand the need or goal or issues it will address.

Create “B-U-Y I-N” for your customer service principles, programs, and changes.

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/


« Previous   1 2 ... 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 ... 153 154   Next »