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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

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

Allow Yourself to Solve a Couple Puzzles Every Day - 6/2/26


Frank had never been a dog owner before, and when he first got Bosco at the shelter, Frank didn't really know what he was doing.  He would try to be a good parent - feed the dog, play with it, take it on walks - but he was doing Read more

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Improve Outcomes by Involving the Customer

Posted on April 18, 2012 in Business Advice, Healthcare 1 Comment

Imagine that you’re a hospital patient about to be discharged, and two employees (a nurse and a tech) are standing in front of you but looking at each other (not you). The tech asks the nurse “What should we do in this case?” The nurse responds, “Well much of this is a patient issue; I’d suggest that he do a better job of caring for himself at home, modifying his diet.” The tech responds, “That’s a great point. Patients need to take more ownership over their own health.”

It makes the customer want to yell “HELLO!! I’M RIGHT HERE!!”

Whether it’s a hospital patient or a banking client, a fast-food customer or an event patron, customers want you to talk with them – not about them as if they’re not even there.

So when you do need customers to do something (such as take better care of their health, complete forms, send in some paperwork, get their own condiments, or find their own seat), you want them to do so right the first time. You want your and their outcomes to be positive. And the best way to get the customer to do what they need to do is to involve them in the process. We’re talking buy-in, and buy-in isn’t just for employees; it’s for customers, too.

When decisions need to be made or processes require customer action, include the customer in the discussion – encourage and allow their input.

An article titled Getting results in practice: The importance of patient involvement is written by a nutritionist who advocates getting patient compliance and ownership over their health by building their “knowledge of one’s health and the skills and confidence to self-manage chronic conditions.” She states that “A more balanced power distribution between patient and doctor fosters patient confidence and allows the patient to play a larger role in achieving his or her health outcomes.”

Involve your customer in their process of working with you and in your decisions. It will build their compliance, their participation, and your sales.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/


Satisfy Patients or Payments Suffer

Posted on March 21, 2012 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

“Sure I’m not sick anymore, but the food was lousy!”

Huh? Why do people go to the hospital? You would think it would be to get their broken arm healed, their sickness cured, their ailment addressed, wouldn’t you? Well you would be correct, but when patients go to hospitals, they often assume that they’ll get good clinical care. So what ends up driving their opinions of the experience is often everything BUT the clinical care.

In the article Stakes high for hospital service, Detroit-based Henry Ford health system is highlighted because of their efforts to improve patient satisfaction. The Federal Government is implementing a patient satisfaction evaluation system for healthcare providers (primarily hospitals at this point) where reimbursement will be based in part on patient satisfaction ratings. So when you don’t satisfy patients, your payments are going to suffer.

We work with hospitals, helping them create and execute 90 day action plans that focus on recognizing progress and addressing issues on an ongoing basis. The Henry Ford hospitals have gone to the point of creating “fine dining restaurant”-type menus and even creating loyalty programs for their emergency departments.

But what we find in our work with hospitals and what Henry Ford confirms is that so much of patient satisfaction comes down to whether or not employees and physicians convey they care about the patient. Is customer service part of the culture? Does the hospital care more about the patient they’re serving or the x-ray they’re taking? Are staff patient with patients, or is it more about the task than the customer?

Beyond any program you provide to your clients, first think about how you can get your employees to convey that they care for the customer. Your financial success depends on it.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


Google This…Then Think Differently About Retention

Posted on January 26, 2012 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Go to Google News and search on “business retention.” When I did this recently, there were 102 items of business news for the last week alone, and they are from close to 100 different locations.

Why is this term becoming so ubiquitous (never used that word in a blog post before…very exciting!)? “Business retention” programs are proliferating, and it’s because communities are realizing the value of a company and its jobs and its fees and its taxes and its construction projects and the salaries it pays. Communities are realizing the value of a customer, and their customer is a business.

When the economy tanks (as it did around 2008 and earlier this century as well), businesses in general start talking a lot more about customer service and customer retention. Whereas it’s sexy to talk about new sales, new clients, and new businesses coming to town, all of that “new” stuff is an addition to what already exists – your current customers.

What we tell our economic development clients is the same thing I’d tell most any other business – don’t limit your retention strategy to “delivering great customer service” or to “having lots of face-to-face meetings with your customers.”

Your strategy needs to be based on data, facts, intelligence – some of which you acquire by asking your customers questions, and some of which you acquire by conducting ongoing research on your clients (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google News, MarketWatch, etc.). Your strategy needs to involve a mix of pre-planned Touch Points that occur throughout the year to pull information from customers via surveys/research/meetings/calls/e-mails or push information of value to them or marketing information for them. But the Touch Points also have to include those (as we say with our healthcare customers) PRN touches – those provided as needed based on that intelligence we just noted.

When you think about how to retain your customers (whether that customer is a business or an individual), you still need to deliver great customer service. But also develop strategies to gather intelligence, and provide strategic Touch Points to develop relationships that grow with your existing customers.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our 2012 Customer Service Trends podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/2012/1/12/stepping-up-service-6-customer-service-trends-for-2012.html

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


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