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Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


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 Read more

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


“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. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


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 Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

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Create Your Own Moments of Truth – 3/3/15 TOW

Posted on March 3, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Bonnie can run 100 miles an hour – not literally, of course. She’s a nursing assistant on a floor of a hospital, so she rarely goes into a full sprint, but she is constantly in motion. If you could watch her, you would see she’s hyper-productive. Whether it’s making the bed, dressing the patient, or taking vital signs, she’s efficient and quick.

Despite this high productivity, the patients and the co-workers never feel like she’s rushing them through or making them feel like a cog on the assembly line.

Bonnie has that innate ability to pause at just the right time and in the right way. When a patient has a need or question or comment, she looks the patient in the eye, and slows down the task. When the nurse manager has a question while Bonnie is “running” down the hall, Bonnie stops, faces the manager, smiles, and takes a calming breath. When a new co-worker is confused about the schedule or their assignment, Bonnie puts down her pen, softens her voice, and affixes her eyes on the co-worker’s papers.

As good as Bonnie is with her body language and tone of voice, she’s even better at something else. She’s better at seeing the situation.

When it comes to serving others, her eyes are always open for opportunities to engage others; the other person’s question, need, confused look, or eye contact are what Bonnie is always looking to see. She is always seeking cues for a chance to serve.

Work on the habit of looking for cues in others that there’s an opportunity to serve. When you see those opportunities, don’t let them go by.

Slow down, and start creating your own Moments of Truth.

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Flip the View of Your Process – 2/24/15 TOW

Posted on February 24, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


The customer complains that they had to go through 6 phone menus, some of which didn’t make any sense, and then they waited 8 minutes to get to an employee who asked for the same account information that the customer just keyed into the phone. The employee wonders why the customer is so upset, after all, the employee had a great tone of voice and read the script perfectly when he answered the phone!

To the employee, the encounter just started, but to the customer, the encounter started 20 minutes ago when they were looking for an answer on the website and then – in frustration – called the company only to wade through the phone menus and sit on hold – again – for 8 minutes.

It’s tiring just writing about it; imagine how frustrating it was to experience it!

I’m not painting a picture of anything you haven’t experienced as a customer in your personal life. This happens every day, in every industry, MILLIONS of time each week.

Many companies claim to want processes that are “customer-friendly,” but too often the reason why they are not “customer-friendly” is that they were designed looking only internally – like conducting a 1980s style flow chart analysis.

What is the rework we can eliminate? Where is the redundancy that we can streamline? Where is the waste to remove? Where is the manual step that we can automate?

While these are all excellent questions, too often they’re asked purely from the company’s perspective. Then we design a process and implement it, only to later wonder why customers complain so much about the process! To them, it’s frustrating, it’s cumbersome, it’s not clear.

So what’s the process solution? Look at that wonderful process flow that looks so clean from the company’s perspective, and – instead of implementing it as is – flip it to view it from the customer’s perspective.

What’s that journey like that the customer undertakes? When do they find the need to contact you? How do they decide to look for you? How do they start tracking down answers or tracking you down?

We call this step part of our Customer-focused Process Redesign methodology, but you can also do this using mystery shopping or using customer focus groups and interviews. There are many methodologies to use in improving a process, but to make that new process part of a great experience, incorporate the voice of the customer.

Flip the view.

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Body Language Tips from Other Experts – 2/17/15 TOW

Posted on February 17, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Sometimes it’s as important to admit what you don’t know as what you do know. By understanding the gaps in your knowledge or expertise, you allow yourself to be open to learn. You allow yourself to grow personally and professionally.

I pride myself on being able to read others’ body language and being very intentional about my own expressions, gestures, and other non-verbal cues when needed. But I’m not THE expert, and I don’t know anyone who has that title. However, I read this online article (17 Tactics For Reading People’s Body Language) with enough specific and interesting tips, that I wanted to share it with you.

In particular, note the use of the open palm to convey honesty; it’s akin to taking notes at a meeting; when I do so, I always leave my tablet flat on the table, in plain sight of the customer so they could easily read any note being written. This helps them to trust me more and become more comfortable in the conversation.

The article talks about a lack of crinkles around the eyes as being a red flag about a fake smile. I’m BIG on the eyes – making good eye contact, smiling with the eyes, watching other’s eyes. You can sometimes truly see into the soul and spirit of others through their eyes.

Finally, see “If they mirror your body language, the conversation is probably going well.” I don’t often look for people to mirror my body language, but I’ll often mirror theirs if they seem uncomfortable or not open at first. If I can get them to relax their body, open their arms, open their hands, then I’m sensing that they’re feeling more comfortable and open. And in customer service, the customers will become more confident in your response if they’ve first become more comfortable with you.

Be yourself. Be sincere. Be genuine.

And also be the best you can be with your body language.

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