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When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

Tell Them Why You’re Giving Thanks - 12/3/24


Thank you! Merci! Danke! Doumo! Gracias! It seems like every language has a translation of Thank You.  Even though I only fluently speak English and speak Spanish, un poco, I – and probably most of you – have heard some or all of the translations of "Thank You” noted above.  Read more

Refine Your Decision-making Process - 11/26/24


Every day, you make decisions of what to do and what not to do.  And in the world of customer service, often the affected parties are our customers, our co-workers, and our company.  Here are a few quotes to consider when you’re thinking about evaluating and refining your decision-making Read more

Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/19/24


In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW. Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively Read more

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Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service – 11/19/24

Posted on November 19, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In last week’s tip, we shared 5 Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service.  This week, let’s address what “taking action” looks like on those key principles.  If last week was about what to do and WHY, this week is about the HOW.

Engage with Interest: To engage with interest, proactively start the conversation.  Take that monkey off the customer’s back to initiate the engagement.  Immediately be self-aware of your body language, like you’re looking in a mirror, and you’re checking yourself if you’re putting off any negative vibes.  Think about your tone of voice, ensuring that it has a bit of energy, has a positive flow.

Seek to Understand their Uniqueness: Be inquisitive, ask questions, understand them and their situation more specifically.  Clarify your understanding of anything that’s unclear, and make a confirming statement back to ensure you are stating your understanding of what they’ve just shared.

Figure Out How to Help: Identify solutions, identify alternatives when what they suggest just cannot happen, for whatever reason.  The more uniquely you understand their situation, the more you can put yourself in the position of being the solution provider.  Figure out how to help.

Take Action: Do what was promised, or if your co-worker needed to take the next step, make sure they did as was asked in a timely manner.

Convey that You Followed Through: Tell the customer what you did, or share what action was taken by your co-worker on behalf of the customer.  If appropriate and available, let the customer know the outcome.  If you’re making all these efforts to support the customer, ensure that they know that you followed through.

Turn Guiding Principles into a Great Experience.  Put principles into action.

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Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service – 11/12/24

Posted on November 12, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to customer…or minute to minute.

So, handling a customer situation well is as much about knowing what to do and WHY, as it is knowing HOW to do it.  Therefore, here are 5 Guiding Principles for delivering consistently solid customer service:

Engage with Interest

We need to show that we’re focused on the other person. That they are important. That they are not a number.  Show them that they are a priority.

Seek to Understand their Uniqueness

We don’t want them to perceive that we’re viewing them as anything other than a unique individual.  We must be inquisitive enough to understand what’s unique about them, what’s unique about their situation.  Our desire to understand helps us to convey empathy.

Figure Out How to Help

In most cases customers want us to help them resolve an issue, get a need met, get a question answered, address a certain goal.  Try to determine how to help them get to that next step, get to that solution.

Take Action

It’s not enough to engage somebody; we need to also take action on their behalf, or help them to take the needed action.

Convey that You Followed Through

If you and the customer discussed the next step, and you took action on their behalf, make sure they know you took that action.  If possible, make sure they know the outcome.  For many customers, there’s doubt in their mind until you confirm that you followed through.

These principles are about interest, information, solution, action, and follow-through.

Focus on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service: Engage with interest, Seek to understand their uniqueness, Figure out how to help, Take action, and Convey that you followed through.

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From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience – 11/5/24

Posted on November 5, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well.

A customer had ordered a register book off the company website.  A register book is essentially a small but classy hardcover notebook with blank lines.  When some people rent their homes for short visits, they might have visitors leave a little note about their experiences in a register book.

But this particular customer ordered the register as a sign-in book for a relative’s funeral service.  The customer ordered the book, and the tracking details for the shipment were provided the next day.  The customer noticed that the book would be delivered to his home next week – the day before the service – and the service was going to be at a church out of town.

He Found a Backup

The customer didn’t want to risk not having the register, so he went to a local store and found one that could be a backup.  It turns out the family liked the backup better, and they went with that one instead of the one that was delivered from Phyllis’ company.

After the service, the customer e-mailed Phyllis’ company, and she was the one checking the inbox.  Phyllis read the customer’s request for a description of the return process, so she replied back with an e-mail about the process, and Phyllis professionally asked why the book was being returned.

WOW!

When the customer noted it was going to be used for a funeral, Phyllis replied back and told the customer that she had fully refunded the item.  She said that the customer could keep it for any future need or for a donation to a local charity.  The customer was floored – very grateful for and touched by Phyllis’ actions.

Phyllis was empowered to do what was right for the customer, even if that meant giving an unsolicited refund due to special circumstances.  She showed heart, the customer showed appreciation, and that positive story will be told over and over and over again.

When a customer has an issue or a return or a concern, ask enough questions to understand the story, and there are times that what you learn can lead to a great customer experience.

Your willingness to ask a simple question can enable you to provide exceptional service.

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