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When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

Allow Yourself to Solve a Couple Puzzles Every Day - 6/2/26


Frank had never been a dog owner before, and when he first got Bosco at the shelter, Frank didn't really know what he was doing.  He would try to be a good parent - feed the dog, play with it, take it on walks - but he was doing Read more

Improve with a Purpose - 5/26/26


If you’re reading these customer service tips, you likely want to get better.  You want an idea, a technique, a reinforcement, or a question that helps you improve. But why improve? At some point you may waver on the commitment to improve, because it can take effort, introspection, time, and change.  Read more

Reciprocate the Thanks - 5/19/26


Jasmine had a great experience with the company, and the company sent her a link to provide an online evaluation following the visit.  So, she clicked the link, gave a rating, and made a comment about her experience. The company monitored their online reviews, saw the positive response, and replied Read more

Don’t Skip the Recap - 5/12/26


The playoff hockey game goes on for almost 3 hours.  There’s non-stop action, with plenty of penalties and takeaways and hits against the boards…and a few goals, as well. You didn’t get to watch the whole game because you had other plans, but you wanted to know what happened.  So, Read more

Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist - 5/5/26


In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix Read more

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

Affirming the Customer with Empathy - 4/14/26


We’ve spoken and written about empathy for the 20+ years of these customer service tips, noting empathy as the most important quality any individual can have if they want to be great at customer service.  We’ve shared that - in order to serve our customers most effectively – it’s Read more

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Rude Salespeople and Phone “Heck”…a Bad Combination

Posted on June 8, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service 1 Comment

What is your customer service pet peeve? Is it phone trees with no end? Is it providing the same information three times to the same company prior to completing a purchase or making an application? Maybe it’s the contrast of the great attention you receive when the company tries to get you as a customer followed by the inability to get support once you’ve actually signed that contract for service.

Based on a recent Consumer Reports study, the two biggies are “not being able to get a person on the phone, followed by rude salespeople.”

But the most interesting statistic in the study noted how 64% of Americans have walked out of the store because of poor customer service. Great customer service is not a nice-to-have. Customer service is not a “cost center.”

Customer service is a bottom-line impacting part of any smart business. We believe that customers form their opinions about three aspects of any business, the attitudes of the employees, the processes that they experience in working with the business, and the product or service itself. Attitude and Process are customer service. Attitude and Process drive satisfaction of many customers. And this study shows that poor Attitudes and Processes can cause 64% of customers to leave.

What are your employees’ attitudes like? Are they caring, concerned, positive, and proactive?

What are your processes like? Are they simple, self-evident, efficient, and effective?

Don’t drive your customers away. Make sure your Attitudes and Processes convey to the customer that they are an important asset to your business.

xxx

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/


India Wants Immediacy in Customer Service

Posted on June 1, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Immediacy. That’s what it’s about. Immediacy.

In the just published Customer service goes social in India article, a survey showed that consumers in India are using Social Media to complain directly to companies (not just about, but to companies). Their rate of interaction (44%) directly with companies is much higher than in the UK and US.

Why? Immediacy. The long wait times to get a company representative on the phone is so aggravating that consumers prefer to go to Social Media. The ease with which complaints can be voiced via Facebook and Twitter, the speed of sending the message (literally and figuratively), and the speed of expected response are much faster via Social Media.

So customers want speed. They want to be able to vent. They want to be able to interact with a business, a person. They want resolution…fast.

With customer expectations changing, speeding up, what are you doing to speed up your organization’s response rate? Do you measure speed of answer (not just on the phone) via your website, via e-mail, via Social Media, in your storefront?

You should. Your customers have an internal clock, and it’s always ticking.

Understand customer expectations. Measure performance. Improve…continuously. Do it with…immediacy.

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/


Where Scripting Does (and Doesn’t) Work to Improve Survey Scores

Posted on June 1, 2011 in Business Advice, Healthcare, Sports Please leave a comment

I don’t promote scripting, because too many companies take it literally in that they force their employees – without the least bit of sincerity – to make the same statements over and over and over again to the customer.

“Did I deliver great service today?"

“I hope I provided excellent customer service.”

Customers can sense sincerity and insincerity, communications they trust and mistrust.

So when we hear that some companies have their customer service reps and other staff use those statements because “Great” and “Excellent” are ratings on the surveys, I cringe.

Don’t rig the surveys just to have them say what you want them to say in terms of “Excellent” or “Great.” Customers can usually smell that a mile away, and just as importantly, you may not be getting a true indication of your customer’s satisfaction.

Now when it IS beneficial to have a little bit of scripting and training and education with staff that relates to surveys is when the terminology you use to describe the attribute they’re evaluating is not obvious. Maybe you ask on the surveys about “discharge instructions,” but when you talk to the patient in the hospital, you never referenced the phrase “discharge instructions.” In these cases, either refer to “discharge instructions” using that term when they’re in the hospital so the patient knows what you’re talking about on the survey, or use a more simple term or phrase on the survey like “Did they explain how to care for yourself when you go home?”.

When you’re conducting a survey and you’re asking the season ticket holder for the pro sports team to evaluate their account representative, make sure they know about whom you’re talking. Have the representatives refer to themselves as “your account representative” or “your personal representative with the team” when talking to the season ticket holder.

Make sure that the terms you use on surveys are terms customers are familiar with from having dealt with your organization. If you want great performance, you have to make it clear with your employees what great performance looks like, and to evaluate that performance, use terms on the surveys that you commonly use with 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/


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