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Be Supportive, Not Defensive - 10/7/25


[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  Read more

Some Customers LOVE Predictability - 9/30/25


I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how Read more

Find Your Special Sauce - 9/23/25


When I watch a football game and I see a great quarterback (somebody who may be considered a “Star”), he might be an excellent runner, have a big arm, be able to diagnose the defense and get his team into the right play.  But he’s likely not great at Read more

Gain Control of the Conversation - 9/16/25


The customer’s angry or upset or they have a complaint.  They’re very chatty or very wordy or they just want to talk to somebody.  You’re on a time crunch, and the customer obviously is not. There are times when you need to gain control of the conversation.  It’s important for Read more

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

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Create MAGIC with Your Customers – 8/13/24

Posted on August 13, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Years ago, we worked with the Orlando Magic in the NBA, and they needed more consistency in their customer service – they needed a standard of engagement with the fans and their account holders.  They were trying to identify the “Orlando Magic Way” – their desired customer experience with something catchy, something that really conveyed the feel they wanted to create in every customer touch point, every encounter.

We developed this standard for team members to use when navigating conversations with account holders: Create MAGIC with Customers.

  • Meet the Customer – Go to the customer, be welcoming, initiate the conversation
  • Actively Listen to Your Customer – Be inquisitive, ask questions, confirm their need or want
  • Get Engaged when Taking Action – Talk to the customer while you work on their behalf
  • Identify More Needs – Before wrapping up, ask what else they need
  • Close “Up!” – Always end with appreciation!

 
It’s about proactive engagement, listening, keeping the conversation going, being patient enough to inquire about other needs, and making a great LAST impression.

Create MAGIC with your customers.

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Running Late in the Rainstorm – 7/30/24

Posted on July 30, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The mom was a little panicked.  She had just left work and had run into an unexpected popup rainstorm, and traffic had come to a halt.  She was on her way to pick up her 4-year old at childcare.  The facility had a policy of charging a fee for every minute that parents are late for pick-up.

The mom didn’t really care much about the additional fee; she just felt bad that the staff would have to stay later than the 6:00 pm closing time, waiting on her arrival.

When the mom arrived, 20 minutes late, two staff came out to the car with her child.  One held a giant umbrella, and the other carried the child so that the little boy would not get wet.  The mother thanked the staff, and apologized for being so late.

One of the staff said:  “Don’t worry at all about when you arrived.  We’re just happy you got here safe.  And Freddie was a joy to be around.  He even drew this picture for you!”

The employee handed the mom the picture – a lovely crayon drawing of something bright and sunny.

“Freddie’s a joy to be around.  Thank you for the opportunity to care for him,” the employee said.

As the mom drove away, her stress levels dropped, her happy son was in the back seat, and the rain began to end.

What pleased the mom as much as anything about the experience was that the employees came out with a smile (despite the rain), thanked the mom (despite her late arrival), and helped the little boy to have a little joy throughout the wait in the noisy storm.

Sometimes our customers are in a position to thank us for the extra things that we do for them.  Even when we’re being thanked, along with accepting the appreciation graciously, it’s always good to provide a little thanks back to the customer.

It’s good to show that it’s not a burden to do the little extras for the customer.  It’s good to show that doing extras can be a joyful activity.

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Use AI to Improve Your Performance – 7/23/24

Posted on July 23, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers.

This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the information available to its clients.  The company thought they would need fewer call center staff, but what they realized was the additional information it provided clients created more in-depth and challenging questions from customers.  It turned out that the company needed roughly the same number of staff, but the staff had to be more knowledgeable.  What was expected of them was higher-level.  The basic questions were handled by customers on their own, so now they had deeper, more complex questions to be answered.

That story addressed the company view and how – in the end – the website impacted what was expected of employees, how their expertise had to improve.  The same thing will occur with AI.  Companies will use AI to do the basic things, the more monotonous things, the more time-consuming, lower-level activities.  Our tasks will require more expertise, more knowledge.

Free Up Your Time, Expand Your Knowledge

So, let’s be proactive, and let’s see how we individuals can use AI to actually free up some time for us to focus on the higher level, the more complex, and position us more as consultants with our clients.  Here are three ways each of us can tap into AI to better ourselves.

Create Your Own FAQ Responses

Identify 5-10 core questions that you’re asked, and use AI to give you a draft set of responses for those types of questions with the specific types of customers who pose them.  Then you can tweak the draft AI responses to meet your needs.  Save yourself time by creating your own FAQs.

Develop Draft Messages/Documents

If you have typical e-mails or documents that you send to clients – whether it’s a meeting follow-up, a request for information, or details you’re providing them about a process, use AI to start the template.  Emphasize to AI that you want it to be professional and courteous, succinct and clear.  Use AI to be more consistent in typical communications.

Train Yourself

Identify some aspects of your job where you are not yet proficient or you’re not at the expert level.  Use AI to identify a list of resources or a set of information you can review to enhance your skill set.  It might be about a particular situation, type of customer, type of technology.  Let AI get you started on personalizing a professional development plan so you can more quickly learn and excel.

Use AI to save yourself time and help you speed up your own performance improvement.

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