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Build Goodwill with Co-workers and Customers - 11/10/26


All relationships are different.  We want to have good relationships with co-workers, after all – those are the people we spend the most time with each week.  We want to have good relationships with customers since they’re the ones that provide the revenue and inflows that allow us to Read more

How to Avoid “Groundhog Day” - 11/3/26


It’s Groundhog Day, where you’re living the same day over and over and over again. You have heard basically the same complaint from 4 different customers in the past week.  The bill is incorrect or confusing, and you’re having to spend a ton of time explaining things to the customer. You’ve Read more

Beware of Scary Telephone Customer Service - 10/27/26


As we near the Halloween holiday in the United States, it seems appropriate to discuss examples of scary customer service, particularly on the telephone.  Here are a few common issues that frustrate and annoy customers.  These are experiences to avoid delivering, and alternatives to adopt: The customer calls, describes their Read more

The Art of the Successful Script - 10/20/26


You’re the customer.  You go to the store, and they ask if you have a loyalty card.  You call the doctor’s office, and they ask for your birth date.   You walk up to the counter, and they ask if you found everything you were looking for. These are all valid Read more

The Key Building Block for Your Customer Relationship - 10/13/26


An automotive manufacturer gets supplies for their vehicles from all over the world.  They have arrangements, service level agreements, expectations for timing and quality of all the parts.  And when they gather all these supplies, they assemble the cars.  They test the cars.  Then they take pictures of those Read more

Be Flexible to Fill the Gaps - 10/6/26


The non-profit has the expected challenges.  There are only 3 people in the organization, yet, they have the same responsibilities of a larger company.  They have to do finance, sales, marketing; they deliver their services to the community, and they need to keep a pulse on what’s going on Read more

Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

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

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Ask: What is your goal? – 6/14/22

Posted on June 14, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Through these Tips, we’ve shared our technique about how to meet the customer’s need right the first time.  It’s a conversation – a give and take with the customer where you hone in on what their true need or concern is, seeking more clarity to more quickly get to the right solution.

But sometimes we start by wanting to offer our solution, thinking that’ll move the conversation along.  Sometimes we’ve heard some customer statements so many times in the past that we make assumptions that this customer’s situation is the same.  Sometimes we just ask close-ended questions, and we miss certain key details because we don’t ask the question in a way that uncovers those little nuances.

In other words, we are human, and sometimes we don’t handle the conversation as effectively as we should.  We have the best intentions, but the conversation doesn’t have the best outcomes.

So, when you’re thinking about uncovering the customer’s need, try to start more broadly, asking key questions before you narrow down to the specifics of the situation.

What’s important to you?  What is your goal?  What are those issues or concerns that you need resolved the most?  What are those one or two priorities for the future?  How are you hoping things will be different 6 months from now than they are today?

By asking these broader questions, it not only gives us some information, but it also helps us to frame our follow-up questions.  Because we understand what is top-of-mind for them, we can tailor our questions to get more details so that we can help them achieve their goals.

In addition, if we understand their goals, we can continually relate our solution back to how it will help them achieve their goals.  In other words, it’s easier to get them to buy-in to our solution because we’ve tailored it to address their priorities

To meet the needs right the first time, use broad-based questions to give them an opportunity to share, then align what you suggest to what they said.

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Make it Sincerely Yours – 6/7/22

Posted on June 6, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I’d like to hear more.  I’m sorry about the situation.  Resolving your issue is important to me.  We appreciate your business.  Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

These phrases are generally well-received depending on the situation.  But we want to make sure when we’re speaking to others that we avoid speaking like we’re just reading a script.  Oftentimes, the best word to describe how you should deliver this message is to deliver it Sincerely.

Now, what does sincerely really mean?  How can we be sincere, say something sincerely, and come across with sincerity?

Sincerity conveys that you are speaking the truth.  It suggests that that issue is important to you, that you are truly sorry, that you really do appreciate the customer’s business.

To sincerely convey a message is to impart to the other person that what you’re saying comes from the heart.   It conveys that what you’re saying is genuine – the words and emotions you’re conveying are real.

So it’s about speaking the truth…from the heart.

And sincerity avoids falsehoods, feigned concerns, condescension, or the impression that you are saying one thing but mean something else.

Go beyond the words with a customer, include a sense that you truly believe what you say, and convey you care for the other person and their situation – Make it Sincere.

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What’s the Good Word? – 9/21/21

Posted on September 21, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Each one of us talks to co-workers and customers every day.  And when you’re speaking with someone, there are always good ways to respond to questions or issues.  But there are also better ways to respond.  Since you’re receiving weekly customer service tips, I know you are all about continuous improvement!!

So, here are four quick examples of how to go beyond saying words that simply fit the conversation, and – instead – find better ways and better phrases to improve the customer experience.

Because CSS conducts research for our clients, oftentimes we’ll get e-mails from their customers that include complaints, and we need to respond to the customer on behalf of the client even though we have no ability or authority to investigate or resolve the issue.

  • Our response is OK if we say: I will send your e-mail to our client.
  • But this is Better: I will immediately forward your concerns and comments to my contact at our client, and I’ll ask that they respond to you directly.

 
I’m sure you often get requests or receive questions seeking status updates on issues or services.

  • Your response is OK if you say: I will check on that.
  • But this is Better: I’m going to investigate that right now for you.

 
Sometimes the customer isn’t being clear – they’re not giving you enough information to take action.  Maybe they have a different dialect from you or the speed with which they are talking makes what they’re saying unclear.

  • Your response is OK if you say: I don’t understand what you’re saying.
  • But this is Better: Help me understand a little more about the specifics of the situation.

 
I’m sure you’ve gotten many questions over the years about topics for which you did not immediately know the answer.

  • Your response is OK if you say: I’ll see what I can find out.
  • But this is Better: That’s a really interesting question. I had not thought of it like that before. I’ll be happy to research that for you.

 
Think about instances where you’re dealing with similar situations, and find ways to go beyond the OK response to something that’s better.

Be intentional about finding better phrases to better the customer experience.

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