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What Annoys the Customer? - 9/19/23


Domino’s Pizza had TV commercials years ago where they promoted how they trained their employees to “Avoid the Noid.”  The “Noid” was basically an annoying person or thing that would disrupt the delivery driver, possibly making the driver drop the pizza on the way to your door.  The goal Read more

Lift It Up - 9/12/23


I worked with a great client for several years who was in a leadership role in the education industry, and she was the executive champion for a culture-strengthening initiative.  We were the outside firm helping to develop the overall strategy and facilitate the teams addressing the various aspects of Read more

Addressing the Horror Story that Wasn’t - 9/5/23


You may have seen the commercials for one of those garden hoses that fits in your pocket.  When you put it on the valve outside your home and turn on the water, it expands to 50 feet.  When you’re done and turn off the water, it contracts and fits Read more

Be There ALWAYS for the Customer - 8/29/23


In healthcare, the patient experience mantras often include the phrase Always, such as: We have an always culture.  This gets at frequency of action.  Instead of service excellence being a most-of-the-time occurrence, some-of-the-time occurrence, an occasional or rare occurrence, the idea in an Always Culture is that the organization Read more

Respect, Regardless of Rank - 8/22/23


I was reading a management book written by a former naval officer.  He was given a leadership role over a ship that had been underperforming and had low morale.  One thing he did to turn around the performance, to improve morale, was instill in everyone onboard the principle that Read more

Move on to the Next One - 8/15/23


The ultimate game in professional American football is the Super Bowl.  In this past year’s Super Bowl, James Bradberry of the Philadelphia Eagles was called for a penalty with less than two minutes to go in the game.  The penalty gave the other team a first down; the other Read more

How to Rise to the Occasion - 8/8/23


In the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Mr. Magorium – played by Dustin Hoffman – tells his protégé that “Your life is an occasion.  Rise to it.” He’s conveying a big picture life lesson – don’t let fear and apprehension keep you from living. Rising to the occasion is also something Read more

Thanks for Reading - 8/1/23


My company, Customer Service Solutions, Inc., just celebrated our 25th Anniversary!  We love the work we do for our clients, and we definitely love our clients.  We’ve developed many friendships over the years, and we’ve tried to provide consistently high quality and personal support for whatever may be their Read more

Share the Why to Value the Customer - 7/25/23


We encourage our clients to explain “The Why behind the What” to the customer.  Usually we suggest that staff explain Why so that the customer understands the reason for a change or can buy-in to a particular solution. However, explaining the Why is also effective when you’re doing some very Read more

Navigate their New Experience - 7/18/23


Everything is changing for customers.  How they buy products and services…how they get customer service…where they get information from, and who provides the information. So, confusion and frustration can ensue.  Let’s help customers navigate our new world, our new systems and processes.  It’s about Empathy and Expectations; it’s about Input Read more

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Create Your Own “Fan Guide” – 12/17/13 TOW

Posted on December 17, 2013 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Benchmarking is a wonderful thing. Airlines learn how to turnaround flights faster by watching NASCAR pit crews. Businesses learn how to create engaging employees by watching the Disney experience.

In keeping with this theme, here’s a benchmarking exercise for you. Let’s look at the “A-Z Fan Guide” from a sports organization. One of our pro basketball clients creates this Guide every year for its fans. It’s a pocket-sized document (also provided in “e-form”) that is given to key fans and employees who work with the fans.

These are some of the topic areas:

  • Event/Game Schedule.
  • Contact Information for Corporate Offices and Customer Service.
  • Arena Policies.
  • ATM Machine Locations.
  • Program/Product/Merchandise Overviews and Contact Information.
  • Information on Broadcast Partners (e.g., television and radio).
  • Concessions – Options, Descriptions, and Locations.
  • Directions.
  • Arena Map.
  • Guest Conduct Overview.
  • Account Holder Management Website Information.
  • Parking Locations, Access, and Cost.
  • Free Promotions.
  • Publications.
  • Season Ticket Holder Express Lines and Other Benefits.

Essentially, it’s a combination of educational and promotional information all in one good looking, convenient package. It addresses processes, products/services, promotions, personal contact information, policies, perks, partners, and the physical location. Now think about how this could apply to your business.

What would you share with your clients to educate them on the best experience they could have with you? What promotional options would you mix into this tool? To whom would you provide such a tool? In other words, who would benefit most from one key tool to best navigate your organization and utilize your products and services?

Learn from the pro sports “A-Z Fan Guide” to best educate and inform your customers.