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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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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/


A First – Let’s Review an Analyst’s Blog…Really!

Posted on April 21, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Assuming the title didn’t make you fall asleep, I wanted to welcome you to an unusual blog post – we’re going to analyze an analyst’s blog posting!

In an analyst’s earnings preview for ProLogis (a provider of distribution facilities), Zacks Equity Research projects ProLogis’ estimate for year-over-year earnings growth, revenues, etc.

What caught my eye was this statement – “Customer retention in both the direct owned and investment management portfolios during the quarter was over 87% during the reported quarter.”

It was one small mention of “customer retention,” but this is a BIG WIN folks!

When companies and analysts are actively sharing and analyzing customer retention as part of their earnings reports and using customer retention as a key barometer of business performance, that’s GREAT news!

That means businesses are seeing the link – customer retention and the bottom line. That means companies will look to drive that retention number higher. That means (we hope) they’ll invest in the people, processes, technology, and programs that help to make the customer more loyal.

That means that some large corporations truly get the financial reason to care for the customer. Now what they do with that understanding is still a question. But if they understand the cause and effect relationship between retention and earnings, let’s hope they will also understand the cause and effect relationship between customer service and retention.

Can you prove that cause and effect relationship between customer service and retention in your business? If so, share that proof with your leaders, and help to make them more aware of how you can improve your bottom line by improving your 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/


Create a Custom Retention Toolkit

Posted on April 20, 2011 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

In the article Marketing starts with customer service, the author promotes the concept of identifying the 20% of your customers that drive the majority of your business. Then market to them and provide them with stellar service. The idea is to have a targeted marketing approach for your top existing customers just as you would to a target demographic (using more typical marketing parlance).

Later in the article, the different marketing strategies are referred to as retention tools…hmmm…interesting.

It’s interesting because many of us think about customer service as responding to requests, as resolving issues, as anticipating customer needs. But from a retention standpoint, what collateral (or to use the author’s term), what tools do employees at your company have available to them to keep and grow business with existing customers?

Remember from our other blog posts that retention is different from marketing in that retention needs to be more personalized – more 1-to-1 based on the customer’s true renewal drivers. But once you know those drivers for your key client types, you may find consistencies such that a high percentage of customers will stick with you for a few key reasons.

In pro sports, the teams often offer many benefits to customers, but we’ve surveyed enough season ticket holders (STHs) to know that those benefits are rarely the reason why the STH renews are not. So don’t come up with a laundry list of benefits; again, be targeted.

If the retention driver is “being in the know” with your company’s latest product offerings or events or initiatives, possibly have an “Insider” newsletter that only the best customers receive before the general public – it could include a personalized letter from the CEO. If the driver is quick turnaround on special orders, ensure you have a fast-track process for urgent orders available to key customers. If the driver is the relationship with the organization’s people, make sure the employees share their names, ask about the customer, give unsolicited tips on the use of the products or meeting other customer needs.

Identify reasons why your key customer types would stay or go, and then create your own retention toolkit.

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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