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While I’ve Got You on the Phone… - 1/6/26


I’m a big planner.  Whether it’s strategic planning or planning out the year or planning my week first thing on a Monday morning, I like to plan.  I do this because it gets all of my action items documented and ensures that I have some understanding of what I Read more

Pass the Quick Impression Test - 12/30/25


Some studies have shown that people create an impression of you in less than a second when they first meet you face-to-face.  Other studies have shown that that initial impression can take up to 7 seconds.  Regardless, first impressions are quick.  First impressions are not always the lasting impression, Read more

2025 Holiday Poem - 12/23/25


We hear the word change And that change can be good, But we like things to stay same, And sometimes they should.   The weather can be wet And then dry as a bone. We know things will change, Even if all left alone.   Our customers change. Our co-workers do, too. It seems like our resources Are often too few.   The technology Read more

Make the Long Wait Feel Shorter - 12/16/25


When Greg entered the Tax Office, he was thinking only about two things: (1) How he was going to get the tax value on his home reduced, and (2) Whether the wait would be 1 hour or 2.  He checked in with the navigator who asked a few questions, Read more

When Kindness Means More in Customer Service - 12/9/25


Since a large part of the work we do at CSS includes customer research, we have seen tens of thousands of comments over the years about staff, and it is great to hear the positives that customers, fans, and account holders say about our clients’ team members. One word that Read more

Don’t Create the Second Complaint - 12/2/25


Maria was upset.  Rightfully so.  The product delivery was delayed, she couldn’t get anybody on the phone, and nobody would reply to her e-mails.  So, she went down to the store, and she found a customer service representative. After the initial greeting, the employee listened to Maria’s complaint.  While Maria Read more

Refresh on the Reasons to Appreciate the Customer - 11/25/25


This is a great time of year to give thanks, not just because it’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, but also because – with 2025 coming to a close - it gives us the opportunity to do some reflecting on the recent past. The idea of reflecting on reasons Read more

Confirm the Customer is Cleared for Takeoff - 11/18/25


An airplane pilot is told when they’re “cleared for takeoff” before they begin to accelerate down the runway.  The air traffic controller (ATC) has looked at everything in front of the pilot, on the runway and in the air space, and checked to ensure the pilot is good to Read more

Build Relationships with First-timers - 11/11/25


We’ve worked with one of our sports clients for over 10 years, and although the main focus of our work is research with their fan base, we also provide informal consulting advice and guidance whenever possible.  One approach we’ve talked about on and off for years is the need Read more

Last Impression Faux Pas - 11/4/25


Rightfully so, many customer service experts harp on the importance of the first impression.  It happens quickly, and it can impact the individual’s perception of you and the organization.  We even wrote a Tip of the Week on this years ago called First Impression Faux Pas. What many people tend Read more

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A Startup’s Reason to Love Customer Service

Posted on September 17, 2013 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

I have to blog about this – a startup expert promoting the need for customer service – WOW!

Many startup entrepreneurs are so in love with their product or with selling that they don’t make delivering great customer service or “WOWing” the customer a high priority. But in the article Why Startups Should Prioritize Customer Service, there are a couple classic quotes that promote a startup’s focus on customer service:

  • “I have never once seen a start-up lured down a blind alley by trying too hard to make their initial users happy.”
  • “Customer service is not just a mechanism for ensuring customer satisfaction; we rely on it to help develop the vision and set the roadmap for the future of our business.”

I like the second quote because I can relate to it. When my company (Customer Service Solutions, Inc.) was started 15 years ago, we had a core list of industries and products that we thought would be our fuel for the future. But over the years we’ve allowed our customers to determine our industries and products by asking, listening, and watching where our services were in greatest demand and had the greatest impact.

If you’re looking for a reason to love customer service, love it because you can’t love your customer without loving serving them. If you truly love your customer, then your company (the people, processes, products, and services) are about them.

Act like a startup that prioritizes customer service; sometimes let your customers take the lead.

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

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


Brilliance Among Mediocrity – 9/10/13 TOW

Posted on September 10, 2013 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Jennifer was witnessing a horrible customer experience first-hand – she was at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Luckily she’s at the point where she only has to go to the DMV every 8 years, but when she does go, her expectations for timeliness, attitudes, process, facility – everything – drop.

After waiting in line for 45 minutes and now having finally entered the office, Jennifer was in shock. Now remember that her expectations were rock bottom, so could the experience be worse than even she anticipated?

Sure the waits were horrible; the stark room with a barely functioning television and hard metal chairs were pretty lousy, too. The employees with the glazed stares or the monotone voices didn’t impress either. But the shock wasn’t the result of any of that; the shock was that amidst all the mediocrity, Jennifer saw a flash of brilliance. It was like a light – literally – like there was a brighter light around one person. Her name was Marie.

Marie was a DMV staffer who was administering a test, and Jennifer noted that Marie smiled ear-to-ear almost non-stop. She stood and introduced herself every time someone walked up to her work station to take a test. Her voice made her sound excited to see the customer. Marie even sounded encouraging during the test (“I hope this goes well for you” and “I’m sure you’ll do fine” and “You did great!” after the test was done).

It was as if Disney had transported one of its cast members to Jennifer’s DMV, but Marie was real, and she was sincere. Maybe Marie stood out because she was in the midst of mediocre customer service, or maybe she stood out because she conveyed she cared about the person. She did the same task as the co-workers sitting around her, but she did it in such a way that most of her customers smiled as they left. Most of her customers seemed to have more energy. Most of her customers fed off her positive nature.

We all do tasks, but no matter how good we are at those activities, we can always bring brilliance to the interaction with our customers.

Be brilliant, and watch your brilliance get reflected from your customers.


Customer Service – Look Internally to Ensure Satisfying Externally

Posted on September 10, 2013 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

With the proliferation of relatively inexpensive online customer satisfaction survey solutions (at least for web-based surveys), there has thankfully been more of a tendency for organizations to ask customers about their experiences. This first-hand feedback can be very helpful for businesses in understanding customer perceptions and preferences.

But organizations can’t be so focused on just getting feedback from customers (those external to the organization) that they ignore many of the internal measures of operations that drive the customer’s (dis)satisfaction.

In the article City, county teaming up to speed land-use permits, Fort Wayne and Allen County governments were recognized for working well together on a new online land-use permitting system. According to the article, “The system will allow developers to track their projects online. It will also help city and county employees track their performance and understand where in the process applications are getting stalled. The system will chart a permit’s progress from department to department. If it is held up too long in one department, the system will red-flag it, and a computer-generated letter will be sent to the applicant.”

The system was developed – in part – to improve customer service. And a large part of that improvement will be driven by the organization looking at internal performance reports that are impacting speed of service processes for external customers.

When you review your customer satisfaction/service performance metrics, think beyond those surveys that customers complete. To truly improve customer service, you have to have effective measures of internal operational performance that impacts service delivery to customers.

Look internally to ensure you’re satisfying externally.

Interested in improving your organization’s customer service? See our other blog posts at: http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/category/government/

Learn about our CSS Government services at: http://cssamerica.com/cssgovt.htm


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