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See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26


That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next. But in the life Read more

Gaining the Benefits of the Greeter- 6/30/26


Most likely, we’ve all entered some establishment – a retail store, restaurant, or service center - when there is a greeter at the door.  The most famous greeter position is probably the Walmart greeter.  I often thought that my father-in-law would have been a fantastic Walmart greeter, because he Read more

Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

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

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Don’t Hurry…Be Quick – 9/17/24

Posted on September 17, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy.

It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry.

When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a great basketball coach and – apparently – a great person. With his UCLA Bruins college basketball teams, he had success that has never been rivaled – having won 10 NCAA tournament championships.  And that is not a typo – 10!

Wooden said that if you’re in a hurry, you make mistakes.  He doesn’t want mistakes.  He wants achievement.

In order to be quick, it helps tremendously to know what to do.  You can achieve more if you’re quick, efficient, with little wasted motion or effort.

I guess that a less creative way to say “Be quick, but don’t hurry” is to say: You can achieve more the more you know, and the fewer mistakes you make.

Never lose sight of the fact that hurrying through things can hurt the quality of your customer service.  Rushing conversations, speeding through forms and documents without reviewing, avoiding a QA check because “I’ve done this 1000 times,” or skipping a few process steps – these all can result in mistakes, in issues, in rework, in complaints.

And never forget that the more you invest in your knowledge of people, processes, systems, policies, and places, the better equipped you are to handle things right the first time, and usually with less help.

Look at your job through the eyes of a master teacher – Be quick, but don’t hurry.

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4 Actions for the Customer – 9/10/24

Posted on September 10, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

One way to look at the difference between proactive and reactive is that proactive is something that’s often done before it absolutely has to be done.  Maybe it’s something done that really doesn’t have to occur, but your professionalism takes over, and some action or communication that you know in your gut should be performed is performed.  Reactive is an after-the-fact action.  You’re in that tennis match, and somebody just hit a volley over the net, so now the ball’s in your court.

In customer service, oftentimes we have advanced knowledge of what could happen, or we know before the customer what did happen.  And the difference between proactive and reactive in this case is that we are initiating contact with the customer or on behalf of the customer when we’re being proactive.  When being reactive, we rarely act on that advanced knowledge, and therefore find ourselves reacting when the customer learns of the issue in some other way than hearing it from us.

With proactive communications, we’re more in control because we’re initiating the engagement.  With reactive communications, we’re often dealing with the emotions of somebody else and are unprepared emotionally or informationally.

Let’s assume that it’s usually better to be proactive than reactive; so, here are 4 actions to consider if you want to be more proactive:

Give the Update: Let the customer know if there’s going to be a delay, if things are on track, what next steps they need to consider.  Keep them in the loop without them having to ask for an update.

Follow-Up: After a purchase or a request is filled or an issue is resolved, touch base with the customer to ensure they got the need met and they’re satisfied with the result.

Suggest Something Beneficial: If you know the customer and their needs well, recommend a product or service that might be helpful to them.  Selling is not a bad word in customer service if what you’re suggesting benefits the customer.

Remind about Maintenance: If they need to update their account information, download a mobile app, do routine maintenance on a car, or fill out some paperwork, give them a friendly reminder so that they’re not in a situation where they miss a deadline or are dealing with something out-of-date.

To do something with tangible benefits for the customer, take these four actions.

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Reflect the Best of Your Customers – 8/27/24

Posted on August 27, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

When Alice walks into a business, whether it’s a restaurant or government building, whether it’s a Goodwill or a grocery store, she has a certain way about her.  She’s the customer, and it’s not unusual to hear her say to the employee:  Thanks for being here today!

It’s not unusual for Alice to keep the conversation going when the employee is ringing her up during a sale.  Alice will compliment a ring an employee is wearing or how helpful they were during their conversation.

Alice will talk to a customer service rep on the phone, and she’ll thank the employee for being patient with her questions.

If there was a role play during customer service training, and somebody was pretending to be a customer like Alice, the people watching the role play would likely say:  That customer is so nice!  Unfortunately, it’s just not realistic. Customers are not really like that.

Believe it or not, if we – the employees – were acting like Alice, customers would say the same thing about us:  Wow, that employee is so nice!  I wish all employees were like that.  I wish all employees had a good attitude, were appreciative of me coming in or giving them a call.  I wish all employees would continue to chat with me while they’re doing some activity.  I wish employees would be a bit more patient with me and ask me more questions.

Alice may be an unusually nice customer, but – for many customers – it would be unusual for them to engage an employee who is just as nice, just as appreciative.

One way to convey we care about customers is to reflect what we see in the best of our customers.  The best customer attitudes.  The best customer communication skills.

Reflect the best of your customers to deliver a great customer experience.

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