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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

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


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 Read more

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


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 Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

Delight Your Customers - 10/22/24


Buddy the Bug Man was different.  His company was new, and the only reason why Janet tried him out was that the service she had used for years just wasn’t working.  Whether it was mosquitoes in the yard, ants in the kitchen, or cockroaches flying through on their way Read more

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Riding the Train to Better Customer Service

Posted on June 13, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

For those of you from “my era,” you may remember the song “Metro” by the rock group Berlin. The singer was on a train from Paris to London, met her boyfriend in a pouring rain, and he was “Swimming through apologies.”

Well the group Berlin must have been ahead of its time, because there is a modern day Metro that apparently got tired of giving apologies, and they decided to do something about it.

In the article Metro To Revamp Customer Service, the author discusses how the Fairfax Metro system is creating a new customer service program. After dealing with numerous complaints, the Metro has created a “Customer Service Action Plan” to improve the customer experience. Let’s quickly review the key plan points:

  • Provide customer service training
  • Put new electronic displays in the train stations
  • Improve their payment card system
  • Upgrade the stations themselves with better lighting and other improvements
  • Address and communicate better about security and youth behavior.

If we take a broad assessment of these key points, they deal with the impact of staff on the experience, process improvement, facility layout/signage, external communications, and safety. From that broad perspective, that’s very good. That deals with people, processes, and products. It deals with communications to the public. So we like the comprehensive nature of what they’re trying to do. So what are they missing?

How will they reinforce the importance of customer service and skills with staff after the training? What will they do to ensure the trains run on time? How can they ensure that processes (other than payment processes) are quick and self-evident?

When you think of revamping your organization’s customer experience, be comprehensive enough to address your people, processes, and products. But don’t just do something that will make an impact today. Incorporate plans to continually communicate and improve the experience in the future.

Ride the train to GREAT customer service!

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


Achieve and Improve

Posted on June 12, 2012 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Hospitals learned years ago that their reimbursement from the Federal Government would begin being impacted by patient satisfaction. Essentially, the higher patient satisfaction, the higher the reimbursement. The hospital could potentially make less money for the same services provided if the patient satisfaction level was low.

But when that impact became more well-defined over the past couple years and has become a reality, it’s interesting to see how the Federal Government adjusts its reimbursement. HCAHPS (this new government mandated measurement/reimbursement program) is changing how hospitals get reimbursed, how they’re measured, and about what they care most.

According to Janette Jones, a consultant and HCAHPS expert with the healthcare research firm The Jackson Group, starting this summer, the Government will begin withholding reimbursement from hospitals based on patient satisfaction and clinical measures. The dollar impact can be as much as $500,000 for mid-sized hospitals, and more for larger hospitals.

And while the Achievement of key levels of performance comes into the calculation today, Improvement will also be considered down the road. And as Improvement in performance is taken into account, gradually the overall impact of the reimbursement will increase until 2% of Government reimbursement (in some cases equating to millions of dollars annually) is at-risk.

So the Government is focused on patient satisfaction, and it’s asking the hospitals to focus on two factors: Achievement and Improvement.

Think about your business in this manner. If your financial success was determined in part by achieving certain levels of customer satisfaction and then continually improving customer satisfaction, how would your priorities change? How would your strategies change? How would your decisions change?

When it comes to customer satisfaction – focus on Achievement and Improvement.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Alignment, Alignment, Alignment

Posted on June 6, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Why in the world would General Motors tie employee bonuses to customer loyalty? According to a Motor Trend article, “The better the overall customer retention GM has with its four brands, the higher the bonuses will be.”

It’s about alignment. In the world of positive motivation, you get what you reward. You want higher customer retention? Then tie a substantial portion of your employees’ pay to retention. You want a responsiveness culture? Then tie bonuses to responsiveness metrics and service recovery performance. You want to increase annual dollars spent by existing customers? Then incent those in the organization on retention, cross-selling, and up-selling.

It’s about alignment. If you align organizational goals with reward and recognition systems, you have a better chance of achieving those goals. And while this might seem simplistic, take this test. Look at a copy of your organization’s Top Organizational Goals for this year. Then ask “What is the financial impact on staff if these specific goals are achieved…or are not achieved?”

If the typical executive, the typical manager, the typical staff person will get paid roughly the same whether those goals are achieved or not, then there’s not sufficient alignment…and there probably won’t be much success.

Remember – you get what you reward.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


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