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How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

When They Might Walk Out the Door…Permanently- 7/21/26


Have you ever had one of those conversations with the customer where they literally tell you they’re about to stop doing business with your company?  This is it.  They may bring up a competitor or found another way to get their need met, or they are just leaving. When we Read more

Transparency in Customer Service- 7/14/26


We’ve worked with a lot of clients in the local government sector, and many of these clients have Customer Service Standards and/or corporate values that include Transparency. Think about an old-fashioned transparency sheet, that malleable see-through page you put on an overhead projector.  You can see everything on one side Read more

See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26


That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next. But in the life Read more

Gaining the Benefits of the Greeter- 6/30/26


Most likely, we’ve all entered some establishment – a retail store, restaurant, or service center - when there is a greeter at the door.  The most famous greeter position is probably the Walmart greeter.  I often thought that my father-in-law would have been a fantastic Walmart greeter, because he Read more

Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

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Manage New Customer Expectations – 8/11/26

Posted on August 11, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not used to having to park far away at the race, not used to delays because of the weather, and not used to dealing with the heat or the elements or whatever Mother Nature would toss out at any point in time.

The local municipality has leadership that focuses on providing cost-effective services.  They want to keep the taxes down.  They want to be efficient.  The community has grown by 50% over the last 15 years, with the vast majority of the residents coming from the Northeast and the West Coast.  Those residents are used to having more municipal services, more frequent trash and recycling pickup, more same day appointments available.  And when they try to get those services done, or done more frequently, or done same day, they’re often irritated by the fact that the municipality does not do what others did elsewhere.

When you’re dealing with new customers, you’re often dealing with people who have expectations, but they’re not necessarily basing those expectations on previous experience with your company.  They’re often basing their experiences on similar but different activities, different services, different locales.

We can’t assume “how we do things around here” is realistic to them because they’ve not been “around here” before.

View every new customer as someone with – likely – different expectations than your repeat customers.  And, as we’ve said many times before, the gap between expectations and reality could be a problem.

Proactively set realistic expectations with new customers.

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Complement Empathy with Action – 8/4/26

Posted on August 4, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a piece of paper, writes a prescription, throws it in the hole, and walks on.  Words.

A little while later Paul walks by the hole, and the man in the hole yells to Paul “Please help me!  I’m in this hole, and I can’t get out!”  Then Paul jumps in the hole with the man, and the man looks incredulous and says “You dummy!  Why did you jump in the hole?  Now we’re both stuck!”  And Paul says “Because I’ve been down here before…and I know the way out.”

This is not a new story.  It’s just one that I modified a little bit to illustrate a point..

So, here’s the point.  The doctor is a customer service representative (CSR).  And the customer – the man in the hole – has an issue.  The CSR shares a few words and goes on to his next task.

Paul is a different CSR.  And call it empathy or call it sympathy, but Paul goes beyond sharing a few words.  Paul gets in there with the customer, and works side-by-side with the customer to figure out how to get out of the hole…how to fix the issue…how to find a resolution…together.

There are some customers that just want a little guidance when there’s something that needs to be fixed, but there are others who are much more in need of and appreciative of you when you’re willing to work with him or her.  You’re willing to see that they’re stuck, and you’re willing to jump into that hole, give a little bit of empathy, and help them dig themselves out of their predicament.

Find opportunities to work side-by-side with the customer while you’re empathizing with their situation.

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See the Customer’s Journey from Their Perspective- 7/7/26

Posted on July 7, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

That customer is face-to-face with you right now, and you are fielding their questions or delivering your service to them.  And oftentimes and understandably, we are so immersed in the moment that we don’t think about what came before or think enough about what comes next.

But in the life of the customer, they have a journey, often an ongoing one with your organization.  So, it helps to understand their perspective, so that you can deliver a better experience, foster a stronger relationship.

Need and Awareness

Let’s start very high-level.  Their journey usually begins with them identifying a need or issue to be addressed, followed by their creating an awareness of your product or your service, or their need reminds them of having heard of your service.

Research and Purchase

Then, they conduct research on the service, or they make an inquiry.  They want to learn more.  That’s when the sales and customer service kick in, and it can lead to an acquisition or a purchase.  This is what most people think of when they think of that customer transaction.

Receipt and Evaluation

Then they receive the product or the service that you deliver.  They are experiencing that product or service and every process/person/policy associated with its delivery, and they’re forming opinions.  They’re going through an evaluation process.

Support…or Not

Then they need support, they need guidance, they need questions answered or issues resolved, and they have to determine or research how to make that happen.

They get that support…or not.  They get that answer from your team…or elsewhere.

Word-of-Mouth and Repurchase

Finally, they decide what that word-of-mouth is going to be.  Will they talk you up positively, be indifferent and not mention your organization at all, or complain to their friends and co-workers?

And that word of mouth – formed from their opinions and experiences – could lead to the potential repurchase of your product.

Understand where you are in this journey, but realize everything that comes before and everything that comes after.  The nature of your encounter with the customer is going to be framed by what happened before, and the experience that the customer and your co-workers have down the road is going to be framed based on the customer’s encounter with you.

See the customer’s journey from their perspective.

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