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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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Customer Waits Without the Hate

Posted on July 27, 2010 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

We’ve been saying it for years, and now more studies are beginning to confirm it. While customer wait times can be a cause for frustration and anger, organizations can positively impact the customer’s emotions, even if they don’t shorten the wait.

Take a hospital Emergency Room, for instance – one of the most vivid examples of the aggravation that is long waits. You fell off a ladder or were shot with a BB gun; you have a 103 degree temperature or a pain in your side. There are MANY reasons why you could be in an E.R. without a life threatening condition. Be prepared to wait…and wait…and wait.

In an article titled “ER wait times rise; proper communication soothes dissatisfaction” (http://www.cardiovascularbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=23342&division=cvb&division=cvb), a 2009 study noted that E.R. wait times nationally continue to increase, now standing at 4 hours 7 minutes. That makes that 20 minutes of telephone hold time for your cable company not seem so bad now, doesn’t it? Well maybe it still does.

One interesting fact about the study was that patients who waited 3-4 hours had similar patient satisfaction levels as those waiting less than one hour. How could this be? Well according to the study authors, “frequent, proactive communication improves both the quality of patient care and the manner in which patients perceive their care." The communication helps the patient “understand the processes within the emergency department environment and shows them that staff has not forgotten them.”

Remember, satisfaction in any business is a measure of perception (as much or more than a measure of reality). How can you positively impact your customer’s perception of you and your business? When it comes to wait times, we have a key answer – it’s frequent and proactive communication.

Convey you care by keeping in touch with your customer.

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

Check out our new customer service book at http://www.amigreatat.com/


Technology Helps to Keep Customer Relationships Healthy

Posted on May 12, 2010 in Business Advice, Education, Healthcare, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

With the passing of Healthcare Reform, medical practices are bracing themselves for significant increases in appointments and workload as tens of millions more Americans anticipate acquiring health insurance. Having insurance eliminates a key barrier to utilization of healthcare services, so volumes should increase; yet there’s no guarantee that revenues flowing into medical practices will increase at the same rate as their workload.

So the question is how do they operate more efficiently? One key productivity driver in most businesses is the use of technology. Any many practices will use technology not only to become more efficient, but they’ll also use it to improve their customer relationships.

Technology can provide this dual role (increasing efficiencies and customer satisfaction) for virtually any business.

The practices will rely more and more on technology to send out appointment confirmations via e-mail. Reminders will be sent of the appointments as the date draws near. Satisfaction surveys will be launched post-visit via e-mail invitations. The practices will get more automated in their communications with their customers to ensure patients are prepared for their appointments, arrive, arrive on time, and provide feedback after the visit.

Think of how this applies to any business. The local courier service could use technology to keep their customers up-to-date on the stages of the order, pickup, and delivery – thereby eliminating most incoming/outgoing phone calls requesting status. The car dealership could use technology to ensure that the customer shows up on time and gains feedback on their experience while it’s fresh on the customer’s mind. The university’s admissions department could use technology to ensure that the prospective student and her parents know how to navigate the campus, understand where to access financial aid forms, and are kept up-to-date on the financial aid evaluation and admissions status.

Technology can be a great driver of efficiency, but it can also be a great communications tool with customers to keep them up-to-date and to keep your organization looking responsive to their needs.

Use technology to keep your customer relationships healthy.

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


Take the HCAHPS Test

Posted on March 11, 2010 in Business Advice, Government, Healthcare Please leave a comment

Will the government be getting into healthcare with the proposed healthcare reform legislation? That’s probably not the best question to ask, because the government is already in healthcare in many ways. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Medicare and Medicaid, but since this is a customer service and retention-related blog, have you heard of HCAHPS?

The government is already in healthcare in the customer service/satisfaction aspect of the business. The federal government has required that hospitals survey patients using standardized tools to gauge satisfaction with multiple areas of the patient experience including communication, responsiveness, information provided, processes, etc. Then this information is posted on the internet for any current or prospective patient to review to compare one hospital to another.

What if this approach related to other organizations? What if two retail stores had their customer satisfaction ratings posted side-by-side? Or maybe you could compare all restaurants in your region in an evaluation – side-by-side – of key characteristics of the food, the environment, the price, the customer service. How about comparing 3 banks or 4 car dealerships or 5 animal hospitals or 6 grocery stores?

If you were one of those retailers or restaurants or banks or grocery stores being objectively compared for all your current or prospective customers to see, how would you do?

It’s a scary proposition, but if you’re not willing to consider it, believe me, your customers make this evaluation every day.

Think of this as the HCAHPS test. How would you objectively compare on key characteristics of the customer experience with your competitors? If you have no idea, then you might want to consider mystery shopping, having a research firm such as ours to shop your organization…and your competitors.

Make sure you know how you measure up.

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


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