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It Helps to Downshift - 3/11/25


One of the first tips I heard when I was learning how to drive related to what to do when the brakes fail - downshift.  Shifting into a lower gear can slow down a moving vehicle.  I would explain this in technical terms to you, but considering I’m not Read more

Patience is… - 3/4/25


Patience is a…pain in the neck.  Why is it so hard to be patient?  Those of us who work in customer service know that we constantly have to show patience with our customers.  We’re ready to move to the next step or the solution because we’ve heard this issue Read more

Everybody Doesn’t - 2/25/25


Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he Read more

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

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Rude Salespeople and Phone “Heck”…a Bad Combination

Posted on June 8, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service 1 Comment

What is your customer service pet peeve? Is it phone trees with no end? Is it providing the same information three times to the same company prior to completing a purchase or making an application? Maybe it’s the contrast of the great attention you receive when the company tries to get you as a customer followed by the inability to get support once you’ve actually signed that contract for service.

Based on a recent Consumer Reports study, the two biggies are “not being able to get a person on the phone, followed by rude salespeople.”

But the most interesting statistic in the study noted how 64% of Americans have walked out of the store because of poor customer service. Great customer service is not a nice-to-have. Customer service is not a “cost center.”

Customer service is a bottom-line impacting part of any smart business. We believe that customers form their opinions about three aspects of any business, the attitudes of the employees, the processes that they experience in working with the business, and the product or service itself. Attitude and Process are customer service. Attitude and Process drive satisfaction of many customers. And this study shows that poor Attitudes and Processes can cause 64% of customers to leave.

What are your employees’ attitudes like? Are they caring, concerned, positive, and proactive?

What are your processes like? Are they simple, self-evident, efficient, and effective?

Don’t drive your customers away. Make sure your Attitudes and Processes convey to the customer that they are an important asset to your business.

xxx

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/


India Wants Immediacy in Customer Service

Posted on June 1, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Immediacy. That’s what it’s about. Immediacy.

In the just published Customer service goes social in India article, a survey showed that consumers in India are using Social Media to complain directly to companies (not just about, but to companies). Their rate of interaction (44%) directly with companies is much higher than in the UK and US.

Why? Immediacy. The long wait times to get a company representative on the phone is so aggravating that consumers prefer to go to Social Media. The ease with which complaints can be voiced via Facebook and Twitter, the speed of sending the message (literally and figuratively), and the speed of expected response are much faster via Social Media.

So customers want speed. They want to be able to vent. They want to be able to interact with a business, a person. They want resolution…fast.

With customer expectations changing, speeding up, what are you doing to speed up your organization’s response rate? Do you measure speed of answer (not just on the phone) via your website, via e-mail, via Social Media, in your storefront?

You should. Your customers have an internal clock, and it’s always ticking.

Understand customer expectations. Measure performance. Improve…continuously. Do it with…immediacy.

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/


Social Media and Customer Service – Are you integrating?

Posted on May 26, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

It’s a big buzz in the customer service world and in the business world in general. It’s all about social media – Twitter, Facebook, whatever your preferred flavor may be.

In the article Carriers using social media to measure & improve customer service, an IBM exec notes during a forum in Dublin, Ireland that a recent study indicates 33% of consumers overall look for product information via social media while 50% of 18-25 years olds search the social platforms.

Panelists on the topic agreed that “Effective social campaigns to measure and improve customer experience require individualized attention and an increased response speed.”

Let’s stop. Forget about the fact that we’re talking about social media; I’ll even take that word out of the statement. Think about your store. Your online business. Your hospital. Your bank. Your sports team or club.

Now read this statement again: “Effective campaigns to measure and improve customer experience require individualized attention and an increased response speed.”

This fact is NOTHING NEW!

It applies to your storefront, your web, your phone response systems, and – yes – social media. Social media may set an expectation for more immediacy since people using that vehicle are part of a demographic typically looking for quick information and response. Also, from the company’s perspective, since social media can “go viral” to many hundreds or thousands of people quickly, there is a need to address issues fast to maintain the brand and minimize customer churn.

But the core point applies throughout any business; it goes beyond social media. If you want to measure and improve your customer’s experience, get to know your customer as an individual. Communicate with them as an individual. Respond to them quickly…as an individual.

Integrate Social Media and Customer Service in your business, but when you do it, keep in mind that you’re not using Social Media just to promote and sell to existing clients.

You’re doing it to serve your customer as an individual.

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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