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Narrow Your Focus to Seek Excellence - 4/1/25


You’ve probably heard companies use phrases such as: “We want to go from being good to great.”  Maybe they’ve said: “We strive for perfection, and although we’ll never reach perfection, maybe we can achieve excellence along the way.” These organizations find some kind of a catch phrase or slogan, but Read more

Avoid the Unfriendly Ghost - 3/25/25


Last week we talked about the qualities of “PERKI Customer Service,” essentially what attitudes and actions are characteristics of those who provide great customer service.  This week, let’s take the opposite approach.  What are some of the mistakes that people make?  Maybe these are mistakes of omission or commission; Read more

PERKI Customer Service - 3/18/25


After having worked on hundreds of projects over the years with thousands of thousands of individuals, some things become pretty clear. There are certain traits held by people who are great in customer service.  Look at this list, and do a self-assessment.  Which apply to you? Positive and Patient Do you Read more

It Helps to Downshift - 3/11/25


One of the first tips I heard when I was learning how to drive related to what to do when the brakes fail - downshift.  Shifting into a lower gear can slow down a moving vehicle.  I would explain this in technical terms to you, but considering I’m not Read more

Patience is… - 3/4/25


Patience is a…pain in the neck.  Why is it so hard to be patient?  Those of us who work in customer service know that we constantly have to show patience with our customers.  We’re ready to move to the next step or the solution because we’ve heard this issue Read more

Everybody Doesn’t - 2/25/25


Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he Read more

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

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Customer Waits Without the Hate

Posted on July 27, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

We’ve been saying it for years, and now more studies are beginning to confirm it. While customer wait times can be a cause for frustration and anger, organizations can positively impact the customer’s emotions, even if they don’t shorten the wait.

Take a hospital Emergency Room, for instance – one of the most vivid examples of the aggravation that is long waits. You fell off a ladder or were shot with a BB gun; you have a 103 degree temperature or a pain in your side. There are MANY reasons why you could be in an E.R. without a life threatening condition. Be prepared to wait…and wait…and wait.

In an article titled “ER wait times rise; proper communication soothes dissatisfaction” (http://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23342&division=cvb&division=cvb), a 2009 study noted that E.R. wait times nationally continue to increase, now standing at 4 hours 7 minutes. That makes that 20 minutes of telephone hold time for your cable company not seem so bad now, doesn’t it? Well maybe it still does.

One interesting fact about the study was that patients who waited 3-4 hours had similar patient satisfaction levels as those waiting less than one hour. How could this be? Well according to the study authors, “frequent, proactive communication improves both the quality of patient care and the manner in which patients perceive their care." The communication helps the patient “understand the processes within the emergency department environment and shows them that staff has not forgotten them.”

Remember, satisfaction in any business is a measure of perception (as much or more than a measure of reality). How can you positively impact your customer’s perception of you and your business? When it comes to wait times, we have a key answer – it’s frequent and proactive communication.

Convey you care by keeping in touch with your customer.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


The Sports Agent…Ethics and Customer Service

Posted on July 23, 2010 in Business Advice, Sports, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

The sports agent was moving into his new downtown office and was especially excited about the day. A friend of his had arranged for the agent to meet with a professional football player who was disgruntled with his current agent. The player wanted to meet the agent at his new office even though the agent was still in the process of moving. Not wanting to miss out on this opportunity, the agent told his friend to have the player meet him at the office in the morning.

The agent was sitting in his high-backed leather chair when he heard someone walking toward his door. “That’s him!,” thought the agent. So he picked up his phone, swung it around so he couldn’t see the door and began talking loud enough for anyone to hear.

“That’s right,” said the agent, “give my client a $2 million signing bonus or he tests the free agent market. We’re serious.”

After pausing for a few seconds, the agent said “then it’s a deal…$2 million. My client will be very happy.”

The agent turned his chair around and hung up the phone, but he didn’t see anybody in his office. He called to the lobby, “is somebody there?”

“Yes, sir,” replied the person in the lobby, “I’m here to install your phone.”

The sports agent wanted so badly to make a good first impression, that he crossed that ethical line. If that prospective client had been standing next to the phone technician, he would have turned around and walked away.

Now most salespeople have strong ethics. But the key point is that the entry point into your organization for a first-time customer sets the expectations for the company’s retention efforts. In your customer service role, you need to be VERY aware of the processes and people that acquire the customers for your business. What expectations do these individuals set? What image do they portray? What information do they gather that’s useful to your retention efforts?

Understand what the sales staff do and how it impacts your retention efforts.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


Govern Strategically for Great Customer Service

Posted on July 13, 2010 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

When working with a government agency recently, we were planning to customize customer service training content for them. During the course of the training development interviews we conducted, it became clear that customer service training had never been done before at the agency. Customer service skills were not addressed in the organization’s hiring processes. Customer service was not part of the organization’s reward system, and customer service only briefly appeared on the staff performance evaluations.

Yet, management sincerely stated that customer service was important. It was important that customers were treated with respect, that the residents felt they were important, that upset customers got their issues addressed professionally, and that staff could appropriately address each customer based on that unique customer’s characteristics and needs.

So why was there the disconnect between management wanting to have great customer service and their doing what needed to be done to get great customer service?

Assuming the sincerity of the management team, the answer had to lie in the organization’s leaders not really knowing HOW to get great customer service. In the past, most businesses assumed that employees were generally nice, respectful, caring, and communicative people. Customer service is just common sense, and everybody knows how to deliver customer service, right? Those particularly assumptions were wrong then, and they’re REALLY wrong now.

For organizations to go from wanting great customer service to delivering great customer service, they need to understand strategically how to do so. It’s about the culture, the hiring, the training, the rewards, the accountability, the processes, the organization’s goals, the management team’s support and modeling of great customer service behaviors, and much more.

If you ever feel a disconnect between what your management says they want in customer service and what the organization actually delivers, have them take a step back, and start with a strategy.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


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