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Complement with a Compliment - 9/9/25


We perform many tasks for our customers every day, and when we’re done with a step in the process, oftentimes we will tell the customer what’s been done.  But if we want to create more of a WOW experience, if we want to make the customer feel a little Read more

When Patience Begets Patience - 9/2/25


Jennifer, the server, walked toward the couple in the restaurant.  The customers had been seated for a minute or two, and they noticed the server was walking briskly toward their table.  Jennifer recognized the couple she was about to serve, because they had been in the previous week. Since the Read more

Address the Expectations that Were Set - 8/26/25


Before the caller ever got to Marco – the customer service representative, the customer had been working with the company for months.  They had read the marketing brochures, had a conversation with a sales rep, reviewed the new customer information on the website, and read all the information e-mailed Read more

When Technology Fails the Customer - 8/19/25


Technology is a wonderful thing…until it isn’t.  The website is down, the mobile app won’t work, the system keeps kicking them out of their account, or they received a spoofing phone call supposedly from your department. If you’ve ever been manning the phones or managing the department inbox, you know Read more

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research - he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the Read more

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

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The New Burger Experience – 7/16/24

Posted on July 16, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be good – expectations were high!

Wanting to do takeout, he hopped on the restaurant’s website at dinnertime, but there was no order online button. He did find a phone number, so he called; the system said they would send him a text with a link to the ordering page. He immediately received the link, immediately clicked it, and immediately realized the link was broken. He clicked over and over again, and it was broken over and over again.

Hurry Up and Wait

Well, the restaurant was only open for about 2 weeks, so he assumed they might not have gotten all of their technology together, or maybe they were overwhelmed by people wanting to check out the restaurant. So, Floyd decided to drive and order in-person. He packed his patience just in case the place was bombarded with customers wanting to check out the new restaurant.

When he arrived, Floyd’s assumptions were confirmed.  The line was at least 30 people long, with 10 standing outside.  As his place in line finally got inside the front door, he noticed that the kiosks that were set up within the restaurant for ordering were offline. Everyone went to the same sole cashier to order.

Employees Shine!

But then Floyd noticed some other things, as well. Staff were constantly engaging the people in line. They were bringing the food to the patrons and calling them by name. They were periodically giving an overview about the unique qualities of the restaurant and the unique ingredients used in the recipes. It was highly engaging and made the time go by fast. Despite all the activity and stress on the workers, they were making the restaurant shine.

In the end, there was a 45-minute wait from when he first got in line to when he finally got his food. Floyd tasted the burger, and it was OK. He tasted the fries, and they were OK. He tasted the shake, and it was fantabulous!

The next day, Floyd, burger-lover that he is, reflected on his experience. The place was basically brand new, so their technology was down. The lines were excessively long – all that was understandable. The food was adequate, so this is probably not going to be a place he frequents. But it was interesting that despite all of the glitter of this being a famous chef’s restaurant and all of the hype about the quality of the ingredients, the best thing about the experience was the people he encountered – the energy and positivity of the employees despite slow processes, bad technology, and a product that was middle of the road.

Sometimes you are serving customers, and you’re not always serving them top quality products or merchandise. Sometimes you’re dealing with processes or technologies that bog you down or bogged the customers down. So sometimes, the best part of the experience, is you.

Even if the rest of the experience is not memorable in a good way, do your best to make sure that the memories of you are positive.

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Boost Customer Happiness – 7/9/24

Posted on July 9, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make it from scratch.  Sometimes it’s a success – it looks and tastes just like the original – and sometimes it’s not just like the original…it’s even better!

In customer service, it’s difficult to “make someone else happy,” so let’s consider this Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup approach.  Let’s reverse engineer customer happiness.

Think about times and situations where you see a happy customer.  What is happening in that moment?

When I see happy customers, I can usually tell customers are happy because they’re smiling or laughing.  When they’re smiling, they’re often talking to an employee who’s also smiling.  They’re engaging with an employee or others around them about some light topic.  It’s a conversation, not about issues or politics; it’s a conversation about a pet, the greeting card they’re buying, something interesting about the building, or something funny going on around them.

The customer had a need, and the employee showed them the exact right product to meet the exact right need.  The customer smiles.  There was an unexpected coupon or a special discount.  The customer’s eyes light up.

So, those happy customers are often a reflection of happy employees.  The happy customers are engaged in conversations.  The topics are lighter and less serious.  They are aware of their surroundings and notice the interesting aspects, or the employees are pointing out those sites or situations for the customers.  The customers have some unexpected positive, or the employee helps them to find the perfect answer to their question, the perfect solution to their issue.

While it’s tough to make other people happy, to create a little more happiness in your customers, just watch some happy customers.  See what’s making them smile or laugh or convey a little joy.

Then do a little reverse engineering to boost customer happiness.

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Brainstorm to Better Yourself – 7/2/24

Posted on July 2, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping off point for deeper/better ideas from participants.

Brainstorming as an individual isn’t quite as easy an exercise, but it’s something that can create similar outcomes.  If you’re trying to identify ways that you can improve yourself and your role in customer service, it really helps to be asked the right questions.  So hopefully some of the following questions – and particularly your answers to these questions – will help you to find ways that you can be just a little bit better in the future than you are today:

If you had 2 free hours and could do anything possible to uncover ways to better your performance, what great customer service companies would you research?  What co-workers would you shadow?  What team members would you sit down with to just tap their brains for ideas and best practices?

How could you improve your communication skills?  Become a better listener?  Communicate more concisely and specifically?  Become more empathetic of the other person’s situation?

If you had available financial resources or funding, what training or webinars or books or workshops would you engage with to learn?

What are the 3 aspects of customer service where you are best?  What can you do to get better?

What are the 3 aspects of customer service where you have the least experience or you’re not quite as strong?  Who or what can you engage with to get better at those 3 specific topics?

Maybe these questions lead you to one or two ideas that you can take action on to improve.  Maybe these questions lead you to 8-10 different ideas.  Either way, answer these questions to identify opportunities to improve.

Take a few minutes to brainstorm by yourself to find ways to better yourself.

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