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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

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

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Tell Customers What’s Next – 5/20/25

Posted on May 20, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes are for the best, but they don’t reflect what’s on paper.

Customers don’t need to be experts on our processes.  But some of our customers are process people, and they want to know all the steps up front.  They want to know the timelines up front.  They want to know who to contact if something goes wrong along the way.

And even when you’re dealing with a customer who is not a process person, good customer service involves letting them know – at a minimum – what’s coming next.  Good customer service lets them know what their role is or who the parties are going to be in that next step.  Good customer service involves letting them know the timing of the next step.

To renew your account, I will e-mail you a completed version of this form on Monday to review and sign.  We’ll just need you to return it via e-mail within 7 calendar days.

Once you leave this registration desk, you’re going to take this card and walk down to the 3rd office on the right with the “Lab” sign above it.  One of our great techs will greet you, you’ll hand them the card, and they’ll take good care of you.

You will sign in at this kiosk, and then once it says that “You Are Registered,” you can have a seat in one of the orange chairs in front of the tax window.  One of our friendly staff will come out to greet you.  We’re averaging about a 5-6 minute wait at this time.

If you want to provide great customer service, get more consistent about creating comfort with your customer when there is a next step involved.

Don’t Let Customers Drift Through Your Process.

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Questions to Guide You to Empathy – 5/13/25

Posted on May 13, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

“If I was him, I would do ABC…”

If you’ve ever heard somebody say this – whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster – you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do.

I get annoyed because we are not that other person.  We haven’t lived their life.  We haven’t experienced what they experienced.  So, in most cases, it’s hard to tell people what they should do or what we definitely would do if we were in their situation.

But for customer service, there actually is some value in asking a related question.  When we’re engaging with the customer, it sometimes is helpful to ask ourselves:  If I was him, how would I feel?  What would I want to know?  How would I want people to respond to me?

I often note how empathy is the single most important characteristic of somebody who’s great at customer service.  But many of us are not naturally empathetic.  Many of us don’t know what it means to be empathetic.  Sometimes it helps to have little prompts or triggers or questions that we ask ourselves to get into that empathetic mindset.

If we’re getting ready to interact with somebody who is returning a product that was defective or part of it was missing, it helps to ask ourselves:  If I was him, how would I feel?

If I’m interacting with a customer who is brand new and has never had to deal with any of our processes, it helps to ask ourselves:  If I was her, what would I want to know?

If I’m interacting with somebody who just went through our business or financial process, or experienced our entertainment venue or game, or was getting discharged from our medical facility, it helps to ask ourselves: What feedback might they want to share?

If you ever find yourself engaging everyone in the same way and not really reading the other person well, if anybody ever accuses you of not being empathetic enough, just start asking yourself a few questions.  Ask – How might they feel? What might they want to know? What might they want to share?  And use those questions to guide your conversation and help you convey some empathy.

Ask yourself questions that help you better empathize with others.

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Negate the Nervousness – 5/6/25

Posted on May 6, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in the process, and he didn’t know if he’d get a loan.  If the loan was approved, he was uncertain of the amount of funding he’d receive, the interest rate, by when/how he’d have to pay it back.

Then he met Marguerite.  She was the banker, and she didn’t know the customer, didn’t know the needs, didn’t know whether she could address the needs.  But Marguerite had her act together.  What she DID know was her approach to engaging a customer that walked through the doors.  She knew her paperwork, her policies, her procedures.

Marguerite understood – that despite dealing with data, facts, figures, money – she was also dealing with a human being.  She was also dealing with his emotions, and she could see the emotions – a mixture of anxiety and hope – written on his face.  She was also dealing with the understanding that – handled effectively – she could be starting a business relationship between the customer and the bank that could last a lifetime.

We’ve Been There, Done That – But the Customer Hasn’t

With new customers, there’s often apprehension.  There’s a fear of the unknown.  There’s uncertainty.  And if we can change the uncertainty to certainty, then we can convey hope, we can build rapport, we can help grow the customer’s confidence.

Marguerite could not convey certainty about the outcome, but she could convey certainty about the process.  She could describe the steps, note what had worked in the past with other clients, and share an attitude of interest, concern, and responsiveness.

Negate the nervousness.  Build customer confidence by creating some certainty.

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