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Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

When They Might Walk Out the Door…Permanently- 7/21/26


Have you ever had one of those conversations with the customer where they literally tell you they’re about to stop doing business with your company?  This is it.  They may bring up a competitor or found another way to get their need met, or they are just leaving. When we Read more

Transparency in Customer Service- 7/14/26


We’ve worked with a lot of clients in the local government sector, and many of these clients have Customer Service Standards and/or corporate values that include Transparency. Think about an old-fashioned transparency sheet, that malleable see-through page you put on an overhead projector.  You can see everything on one side Read more

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Is Patient Satisfaction More Important Than Clinical Care?

Posted on January 18, 2011 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

In the Healthcare Leaders Media article titled “Editor’s Note: Patient Satisfaction on the Rise,” a New England Journal of Medicine article is referenced since it noted that patients feel that the non-clinical experience is “twice as important as the hospital’s clinical reputation.” In other words, patients feel that the level of clinical care is less important than the other aspects of the experience such as customer service, communications, timeliness, processes, etc.

While I wasn’t surprised at the findings (we’ve discussed it on this blog previously), what is surprising is that the author seemed to say that this fact is actually a concern. He stated that healthcare organizations need to essentially educate the patients on healthcare quality so that they understand the greater importance of and distinctions of quality clinical care in comparison to the non-clinical experience.

Let’s look at this a different way. Let’s say that customers prefer Google over your search engine because it’s faster and easier than yours. But you feel that your search engine has prettier colors on the home page. So your approach is to educate Google customers that they need to view the colors on the home page as more important than the speed or ease of use of a search engine.

Huh?

Companies that want to retain customers will be metaphorically banging their heads against the walls if they strive to change what the customer feels is most important. The customer decides what they care about, what they feel is most important.

It’s then up to you and me to be as great as possible at delivering what the customer feels is important.

So is patient satisfaction more important than clinical care? The answer: Whatever the customer feels is most important is most important.

Don’t tell the customer what they care about isn’t that important. That’s an EASY way to lose a customer.

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/


“I Don’t Have Customers”

Posted on January 14, 2011 in World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

The meeting was going well, with a great deal of interaction between the 150+ people in attendance. Everyone was engaged and interested in learning and improving. The focus of the presentation was the results of a recent Mystery Shopping project that assessed various aspects of the organization’s performance from the customer’s perspective. The evaluation provided insight into the company’s web design, its financial processes, its sales and service functions, and its telephone systems among many other aspects of performance.

When the floor was opened to questions, one of the attendees said the following: “Listen. I make products. Why are we talking about this? I don’t have any customers.”

A loud gasp rippled through the audience. An argument ensued over whether that attendee had customers, who paid for the products, and how important service really is to this company. That conversation was a wake-up call to the organization.

We shouldn’t take for granted that everyone understands customer service is important. Based on this story, are we really sure that everyone believes that they even have customers?! When we’re trying to promote customer service within our organization, or get additional funding to retain more customers, or request resources to be more responsive in our service delivery, we’re often met with the answer “No.” We make assumptions as to why we hear “No,” and our assumptions often suggest that “we’re not getting our respect” or others “are pets of the executives.”

But in reality, we need to take on the responsibility to truly find out WHY in order to figure out HOW to overcome these obstacles. Start with the basics – who do the executives consider to be their customers? Is it important to the decision-makers to keep customers? What do the decision-makers consider to be the reasons why customers leave? Do those executives feel that people stay with a business for the same reason they start with a business?

That last question alone is a major red flag to any organization. It implies that advertising and marketing brought this customer in, so advertising and marketing are what will keep this customer as well.

Before you wonder why service isn’t “King” at your organization, start with the basics.

Ask those in-charge “Who’s Your Customer?”

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/


Relieve Your Customer’s Pain

Posted on January 13, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Disrupt yourself. Let me explain…

In the January 2011 issue of Entrepreneur magazine, David Croslin, a former HP chief technologist and current market trends consultant in Colorado, tells companies to “Be Disruptive” in their strive toward innovation. Essentially, he suggests ignoring the status quo of thinking product first or “beat the competitor” first, and instead focus on the customer first.

Referencing the mobile phone industry, Croslin stated that “They kept trying to top each other with features that most people never used” until the iPhone hit. The iPhone was more simplistic but was designed with the customer in mind. Croslin recommends fixing the “pain points” in your customer’s life.

So what does this have to do with customer service? Everything. It talks about how leaders in innovation need to focus on the customer when designing a product just like customer service representatives need to focus on the customer when responding to issues. It means that business should be all about the customer from start to finish. It means that if you’re selling, you’re selling to a customer. If you’re serving, you’re serving a customer. If you’re developing, you’re developing for a customer.

At some point, stop focusing inwardly on your own organization, stop focusing on the product, stop focusing on the competitor. Look outside your product and your competitor, and look to your customer.

Let the customer guide you. Find their pain, and find ways to relieve the pain.

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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