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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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Satisfy Patients or Payments Suffer

Posted on March 21, 2012 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

“Sure I’m not sick anymore, but the food was lousy!”

Huh? Why do people go to the hospital? You would think it would be to get their broken arm healed, their sickness cured, their ailment addressed, wouldn’t you? Well you would be correct, but when patients go to hospitals, they often assume that they’ll get good clinical care. So what ends up driving their opinions of the experience is often everything BUT the clinical care.

In the article Stakes high for hospital service, Detroit-based Henry Ford health system is highlighted because of their efforts to improve patient satisfaction. The Federal Government is implementing a patient satisfaction evaluation system for healthcare providers (primarily hospitals at this point) where reimbursement will be based in part on patient satisfaction ratings. So when you don’t satisfy patients, your payments are going to suffer.

We work with hospitals, helping them create and execute 90 day action plans that focus on recognizing progress and addressing issues on an ongoing basis. The Henry Ford hospitals have gone to the point of creating “fine dining restaurant”-type menus and even creating loyalty programs for their emergency departments.

But what we find in our work with hospitals and what Henry Ford confirms is that so much of patient satisfaction comes down to whether or not employees and physicians convey they care about the patient. Is customer service part of the culture? Does the hospital care more about the patient they’re serving or the x-ray they’re taking? Are staff patient with patients, or is it more about the task than the customer?

Beyond any program you provide to your clients, first think about how you can get your employees to convey that they care for the customer. Your financial success depends on it.

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/

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


Great Customer Service is Up to Great People

Posted on March 15, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

There’s a lot at play in the customer’s experience – it’s the phone system they wade through, the website that gives them directions, the signage that helps them navigate the store front, the process for returning an item. But what’s most at play in customer experiences it the interaction, the 2-way dialogue between employee and customer.

In the Southern Business Journal article It’s the customer! Learn to see service from patrons’ vantage point, the author quotes a sales manager at the “Wright Do-It Center” that says one of the keys to “great customer service for her store is hiring the right staff members — finding friendly, outgoing and positive people. New employees go through extensive customer service training, she says, and management tries to look for opportunities to reinforce what staff has learned.”

In other words, the best CRM system, the best phone system, the best website, and the best process need the best of employees to make it all work. They discuss the use of “secret shoppers” to assess performance and identify improvement opportunities. They address surveys to research customer preferences. But whatever needs to be changed or improved in the customer experience, it comes down to people designing the change. People implementing the change. People delivering the higher level of service.

No matter what your organization does to improve customer service, remember that it all starts with people. Try to hire, train, motivate, and otherwise enable employees to become great at customer service.

Identify the criteria you use to hire people, how you evaluate them, how you hold them accountable and motivate them to grow, how you tap their knowledge to understand the voice of the customer, and how you use their talents to constantly improve customer experience.

Don’t get so caught up in investing in the latest technological advance or marketing scheme that you lose sight of the key to it all.

To keep and grow with your customer base, keep and grow your best talent first.

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/

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


Of Cash, Customer, and Culture – The Goldman Sachs Exit

Posted on March 14, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

What is Corporate Greed? One way to define it is simply that all that matters is the company and making money – the benefit to the customer is irrelevant. In the article Why I Am Leaving Goldman Sachs, Greg Smith announces why he left a high paying job and a company he had represented for almost 12 years – Goldman Sachs.

Read the article – click above. I’m not going to say much on it since it largely speaks for itself.

But the salient customer service point is that the question “How will this benefit the customer?” is not the core of the decision-making process at Goldman Sachs, not even a part of the decision-making process. In fact, it might be the opposite of the question asked in the decision-making process.

If you want a culture of customer service – a culture that employees can take pride in – put that question back into the heart of your discussion.

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/


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