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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

Familying with Customers - 10/28/25


In our transactional society, it’s hard to think about customers in the long-term.  But if we want to be as successful as we can as an individual or as a business, we need to view customers through a relationship lens. What do we need to know about them to Read more

Avoid These Techniques - 10/21/25


We had a Customer Service Tip of the Week recently that addressed gaining control of the conversation.  One of the key points was that the focus should be on gaining control of conversations in various circumstances, but trying to avoid making it your goal to gain control of the Read more

View Quality through the Customer’s Eyes - 10/14/25


Geri had been dealing with backups in the downstairs plumbing system of her house on and off for the past year.  The most recent company that she called in to unclog the pipes stated that they could send a camera down the pipes and tell her exactly where the Read more

Be Supportive, Not Defensive - 10/7/25


[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  Read more

Some Customers LOVE Predictability - 9/30/25


I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how Read more

Find Your Special Sauce - 9/23/25


When I watch a football game and I see a great quarterback (somebody who may be considered a “Star”), he might be an excellent runner, have a big arm, be able to diagnose the defense and get his team into the right play.  But he’s likely not great at Read more

Gain Control of the Conversation - 9/16/25


The customer’s angry or upset or they have a complaint.  They’re very chatty or very wordy or they just want to talk to somebody.  You’re on a time crunch, and the customer obviously is not. There are times when you need to gain control of the conversation.  It’s important for Read more

Complement with a Compliment - 9/9/25


We perform many tasks for our customers every day, and when we’re done with a step in the process, oftentimes we will tell the customer what’s been done.  But if we want to create more of a WOW experience, if we want to make the customer feel a little Read more

When Patience Begets Patience - 9/2/25


Jennifer, the server, walked toward the couple in the restaurant.  The customers had been seated for a minute or two, and they noticed the server was walking briskly toward their table.  Jennifer recognized the couple she was about to serve, because they had been in the previous week. Since the Read more

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Turn 4% Feedback into 100% – 5/9/17

Posted on May 9, 2017 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Only 4%. That’s the percentage of customers that have a problem with an organization that will come right out and tell you about it. Sure, they’re happy to post a review on Yelp, or post a complaint on their Facebook or Instagram account. They’ll tell their buddies or relatives, but most won’t tell you.

Then they may return to your business – or not – but either way the bad word-of-mouth is out there.

Many companies understand the huge negative financial impact of poor experiences, so they conduct surveys, mystery shop, and try to improve their customer service based on the Voice of the Customer.

But what can you as an individual do to uncover any issues when you’re engaged with the customer? You can simply ask, and here are Ten Ways to Ask for Feedback:

  • (For incoming callers who go through a phone tree) How was your experience in getting through to me today?
  • What do you think of our store (or website)?
  • How has your experience been?
  • Is there anything we could have done to have made your experience better today?
  • Did you get your questions answered?
  • Did we address your need?
  • Did you find everything you needed easily?
  • How helpful has this (or – have we/I) been to you?
  • What was our process like for you today?
  • Do you have any suggestions about how we can improve our service?

When you get this feedback, you hear the voice of the customer before they leave the door. You turn the 4% into close to 100%. You have an opportunity to address any additional needs or issues. You positively impact word-of-mouth. You allow yourself the opportunity to retain. You make the unknown known.

Don’t let the customer’s complaint fester. Get the customer’s opinions before the conversation ends.

Turn 4% feedback into 100%. It will help you to fix problems on the spot, keep more customers, and get more thank you’s from the customers themselves.

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Improve the Patient Experience from the Inside Out

Posted on April 18, 2014 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Blog 4-17-14There is no shortage of patient satisfaction “experts” and CEOs in healthcare wanting you to implement the latest measurement tool, rounding format, physician best practice, script, or leading-edge technology – all with the promise of launching patient satisfaction scores to the stratosphere! Okay, maybe I’m overstating it, but it’s not overstating it to suggest that many of these experts offer a tactic or tool as the panacea.

However, the article on Park Ridge Health in Hendersonville, N.C. suggests a different approach. They did implement a new training program, but after the description of the training, the Director of Patient Experience notes that “When we changed the culture, that’s when we saw the scores improve. We always want the patient to be involved in their care, and we try to provide them a voice to be able to talk to us in layman’s term about their experience and their needs.”

The key words? “Changed the culture.”

The consistency required for sustainable excellence comes from inside. It comes from culture. If a hospital wants to have a great patient experience, they need to look inside at the people, processes, policies, services, and facilities that comprise the experience.

The best scripting results in merely words if not delivered with interest, empathy, and sincerity. The best leader preaching on efficiency and marketing a “2 minute wait in Our E.D.!” are setting staff up for failure until the organization internally has communication and service delivery processes that are efficient and high quality. The great customer service techniques that we and others teach won’t be effective long-term if they are not reinforced on an ongoing basis and modeled by leaders.

To get a great patient experience, “provide them with a voice” as they did in Hendersonville. But also start with each other; start with culture.

Improve the Patient Experience from the Inside Out.

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