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2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

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

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Respond to Negativity in Kind, or Respond Kindly – 6/1/21

Posted on June 1, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  It seems like that’s what makes the world go ‘round nowadays.  You yell at me, and I yell at you.  Then you yell louder, and I yell louder.  And all that cacophony just pushes us further and further apart.

In customer service, we’re not looking for opportunities to push the other person away.  We’re looking for opportunities to work with our co-worker, to work with our customer.

Sometimes through no fault of our own, these conversations or interactions start with the other person being negative, or they are being vocal – and not in a pleasant way.  They’re griping and complaining and quickly firing criticisms our way.

And it’s easy for us to get defensive, to get our back up, and to respond in kind.  We raise our voice.  We criticize them.  We get into a debate on the minutiae, or we loudly share our valid points.  No matter what we do, though, if we do it in a way that is reciprocating that anger or negativity, that is not bringing us closer together or moving us forward.  It is pushing us away from each other, and it is hard to get to a resolution together if we are far apart.

Instead, try kindness.  Try dealing with that loud voice with a softer voice.  Try dealing with that complaint with some statement of your intent to figure out what CAN be done.  Try being extra courteous and polite, using their name, saying thank you, and conveying a little bit more caring and compassion.

We can dull the edge of their anger, not by responding to negativity in kind, but by responding kindly.

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They’re a Good Person Having a Bad Day – 5/4/21

Posted on May 4, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

How can someone have so much anger about something that is so insignificant?  Why is the customer getting all out of sorts for something that is not a big deal?  Why are they getting upset with me when I had absolutely nothing to do with their problem?

Although we want to help these customers and we try to navigate through their specific issues and focus on them and their needs, sometimes we can’t help but ask ourselves these questions.  And when we ask ourselves these questions, it could be because we don’t understand, we’re starting to get wound up and feed into their negative emotion, or there’s something going on with us that’s keeping us from helping them.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

This statement may be true or very untrue, but handling these situations well requires we handle our own emotions well.  It helps us to have a bit of empathy with them so we can remain a little detached from the emotional nature of the conversation.  Sometimes a key to handling these situations effectively is handling ourselves effectively.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

If we pose these questions of “Why is the customer overreacting?”, sometimes those “Why’s” just feed on each other in an unproductive way.  We need to find a way to answer the Why for ourselves, even if it may not be the ultimate correct answer.  We need to find a way to answer it such that it helps us maintain our composure.  It helps us to stay calm.  It helps us to focus on the facts instead of getting burned by the friction.

Maybe they’re a good person having a bad day.

Try telling yourself this, as it helps me to avoid taking things so personally, to be a bit more understanding, and to maintain my composure.

It helps to assume that the angry customer is a good person having a bad day.

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Challenges Create Opportunity, People Create Change – 4/20/21

Posted on April 20, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

There are so many great things that have been said over the years about overcoming challenges, pushing aside the roadblocks of life, dealing with difficulties.  And these are important points of discussion because challenges are all around us.  There are challenges with our personal health or in our personal lives.  We could have the challenges of dealing with mean or angry individuals at work.  It could be the challenge of trying to support a customer but not getting the support of your co-worker.  The challenges could be inconsistent communications or ineffective systems and processes.  Maybe our challenge is due to our own personal burdens or biases or lack of professional development.

We have these challenges, but to overcome them or push them aside or deal with them, people have to take some action:

  • You’re dealing with essentially the same complaints from customers in your office every day. What can you do to reduce the number of those complaints that you have to deal with each day?
  • You’ve been given bad directions to a customer’s home 4 times this week – it wasted your time! What can you do to make sure it doesn’t happen 4 times next week?
  • You deal with an issue where you’re just not comfortable or confident. What can you do to become more comfortable and more confident?
  • The system is not intuitive for you. It takes you much longer to accomplish your work than it should.  What can you do to become more proficient?
  • The frustration of that angry customer gets to you. You get flustered and you get defensive, and the next thing you know you’re in a 10-minute conversation that never seems to go anywhere.  What can you do to manage your own emotions better?

We’re always going to have challenges.  We are human, and the people we work with are human, as well.  The systems that we work with are FAR from perfect, too!

Identify 1 or 2 of the challenges that cause you heartburn.  Then determine 1 or 2 actions you can take so that these situations happen less frequently or you’re more effective at dealing with them in the future.

Challenges create opportunity.  Be one of the people that creates change.

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