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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

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

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Brainstorm to Better Yourself – 7/2/24

Posted on July 2, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping off point for deeper/better ideas from participants.

Brainstorming as an individual isn’t quite as easy an exercise, but it’s something that can create similar outcomes.  If you’re trying to identify ways that you can improve yourself and your role in customer service, it really helps to be asked the right questions.  So hopefully some of the following questions – and particularly your answers to these questions – will help you to find ways that you can be just a little bit better in the future than you are today:

If you had 2 free hours and could do anything possible to uncover ways to better your performance, what great customer service companies would you research?  What co-workers would you shadow?  What team members would you sit down with to just tap their brains for ideas and best practices?

How could you improve your communication skills?  Become a better listener?  Communicate more concisely and specifically?  Become more empathetic of the other person’s situation?

If you had available financial resources or funding, what training or webinars or books or workshops would you engage with to learn?

What are the 3 aspects of customer service where you are best?  What can you do to get better?

What are the 3 aspects of customer service where you have the least experience or you’re not quite as strong?  Who or what can you engage with to get better at those 3 specific topics?

Maybe these questions lead you to one or two ideas that you can take action on to improve.  Maybe these questions lead you to 8-10 different ideas.  Either way, answer these questions to identify opportunities to improve.

Take a few minutes to brainstorm by yourself to find ways to better yourself.

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The Power of the Pause – 6/25/24

Posted on June 25, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

When I’m facilitating a meeting, and it feels like it’s going off-track or the discussion is going a little longer than it should, I may say something like “let me pause the conversation so that…” or “let’s pause just for a minute and consider…”

I don’t like the word STOP.  I don’t like to say “let’s stop that discussion” or “you need to stop talking.”  ‘Stop’ just gets taken as much more of an abrupt, sometimes rude way to cut somebody off.  But suggesting that we ‘pause’ the conversation suggests that it’s not fully closed (although for all intents and purposes, it is closed). It’s a softer way of ending one part of the conversation and then transitioning to another topic.

So, that word – pause – is a useful tool.

Also, learning how to pause is useful.  I’ve received many e-mails recently where the person should have paused before hitting Send.  They should have re-read what was being requested and made sure that their e-mail was addressing the specific request.

I’ve been in conversations where I could tell that people considered going down a negative path, but – instead – they calmly tried to convey their concern about a co-worker or about a situation before transitioning to some potential solutions.  I could tell they were intentionally thinking about what they wanted to say, because there were these subtle pauses during the conversation.

Pausing enables you to be thoughtful.  It enables you to take that emotional intelligence that the “gurus” of the world say we need to have, and put it to use before we just give a reflex response to what’s being said or how it’s being said.

Maybe you are trying to redirect a conversation, you’re wanting to send an e-mail that truly addresses the other person’s points, you seek to go down a path of solutions rather than pure negativity, or you’re striving to convey a little bit of thoughtfulness in your response.

To be more effective and impactful in those situations, tap into the power of the pause.

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How to Fix Other People’s Problems – 1/31/23

Posted on January 31, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I was helping a friend navigate some healthcare processes recently, so I conducted a 3-way call with my friend and the physician practice to try to get things cleared up.  The employee I spoke with on the phone – let’s call her Katie.

There had been poor communication between different employees at the clinic, but Katie didn’t throw the others “under the bus.”

The office coordinator (who has since left the practice) had previously told my friend that the coordinator had certain paperwork, but the papers had not been filed correctly.  However, Katie still apologized on behalf of the office for the coordinator’s misstatement.

Another practice was supposed to forward information to this office, but they sent it to the wrong facility.  Katie offered to call that other practice to get them to resend it.

Katie tried to call my friend, but my friend had changed their phone number and forgot to tell the office, so the calls did not go through.  Katie did not complain or huff and puff in frustration; instead, she offered to update the contact information so she could follow up with my friend.

It wasn’t Katie’s fault, and it’s probably not your fault in most cases when you find yourself in these situations.  Sometimes it’s the co-worker that drops the ball.  Maybe it’s another organization that didn’t do something correctly.  Perhaps the customer makes a mistake.

Katie showed that even though it wasn’t her fault, she was willing to rectify the problem.  She was willing to apologize on behalf of others.  She was willing to be proactive, and she was willing to do it without a negative tone or a negative word.

Channel your inner Katie the next time you find yourself having to fix problems caused by others.

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