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When Technology Fails the Customer - 8/19/25


Technology is a wonderful thing…until it isn’t.  The website is down, the mobile app won’t work, the system keeps kicking them out of their account, or they received a spoofing phone call supposedly from your department. If you’ve ever been manning the phones or managing the department inbox, you know Read more

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research - he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the Read more

Uncover Silent Concerns - 8/5/25


One of the customer service statistics we have quoted many times over the years is:  For every complaint you do hear, there could be 26 other customer issues that you don’t hear. And when we bring up that statistic, we bring it up because we want to make sure companies Read more

Talk Yourself Up to Take Down Their Anxiety - 7/29/25


I believe that most customer service people are pretty humble, so I’m not asking you to lose your humility.  But I do have one ask of you… When that customer is anxious or nervous, when they fear the future because the future is unknown or it could be laced with Read more

Use Little Acts to Make a Big Impact - 7/22/25


A WOW Experience is not always one instance, one act that blows away the customer.  It’s not always an over-the-top-the-employee-saved-the-day act of brilliance.  Sometimes a WOW is the sum total of a series of little things that others don’t do – those actions that differentiate you from others.  The Read more

Avoid Some Stress by Addressing Issues Quickly - 7/15/25


It’s good customer service to resolve issues quickly.  The customer sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  They more quickly bring their anxiety and stress, their negative emotions down.  And they more quickly get to a solution. But this tip is not about them.  This tip is about Read more

Better Customer Service through Better Teamwork - 7/8/25


We spend so much time talking about what great customer service looks like in those 1-on-1 Moments of Truth, that we often neglect to discuss what goes on inside the company that leads to those great moments.  We’ve talked about customer handoffs within an organization, but what does a Read more

Highlight the Hidden Value - 7/1/25


Marketing campaigns often highlight a particular product and ALL the features and extras that the customer will receive… “For 3 low, low payments of only $39.99, you not only get these world-renowned chef knives, but you can also get this free laser-etched spatula!  AND THAT’S NOT ALL!  We will also Read more

Don’t Harp on the Customer’s Mistake - 6/24/25


Seth’s daughter, Sarah, had missed some swim classes, and Seth remembered that the aquatics center had several make-up classes available late in the summer.  So Seth pulled up the class schedule on his phone, found one that worked on his and Sarah’s schedules, and planned to attend a session Read more

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

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Respect, Regardless of Rank – 8/22/23

Posted on August 22, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 we need to respect each other, regardless of rank.

For anybody who’s watched an old military movie where the personnel show respect for rank, often you hear the statements of “Yes, General” or “Sir!  Yes, Sir” that we see exhibited by those with the more junior ranks.

But the Captain of this ship, the one trying to instill a new, high-performing culture, expected EVERYONE to be respectful of EVERYONE.

To understand “respect” in customer service, we have to paint a picture of it.  For many people, it’s much easier to paint a picture of respectful behavior by describing disrespectful behavior so that people know what action NOT to take.  Sometimes we literally define the word respect to paint that picture for those in customer service.

Communicating Respect to Rank

Today, let’s think about respect in terms of how it’s conveyed to people of rank – whether it’s an organizational leader or even the President.  The words we use (Yes, Sir or Yes, Ma’am) are stated frequently in response to what the ranking person says.  With individuals in those in high-rank roles, we try to understand their needs so that we can address them, carrying out their orders or requests.  We listen as much as possible in that one encounter to minimize the need to meet with them again as well as to ensure we don’t take up any more of their time than is necessary.

Communicating Respect Regardless of Rank

These are all actions and behaviors we can do with each other – with co-workers and with customers.  Use personal names and respectful terms to greet and address individuals throughout the conversation.  Try to understand specifically what they’re saying by asking the right questions and spending the majority of our time listening.  Allow them to speak first, and be patient through the conversation.  Follow through on what we offered to do, trying to limit how much of their time is required, whenever possible.

Respect, Regardless of Rank – find ways to make respect an all-the-time thing.

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Move on to the Next One – 8/15/23

Posted on August 15, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 team was able to run the clock down until there was almost no time left, and then they kicked the winning field goal.

The penalty was one of those that, technically, was the correct call.  Bradberry briefly grabbed the shirt of a wide receiver, and that’s a penalty.  In a lot of games, in a lot of situations, that penalty is not called.  But at the end of the most important game of the year, Bradberry made a mistake, and he was called on it.

In the lead up to this upcoming season, Bradberry was asked about this play.  He said “A play’s going to happen. Good play. Bad play. You’ve got to move on to the next one.”

Ours is an Imperfect World

The working world that we live in – about customer experience, retaining clients, delivering good solid customer service – is an imperfect world.

And we are imperfect.  Despite our best intentions, our best training, our best skills, and our reading of weekly customer service tips, we make mistakes.

Even though I’m someone who has run a management consulting firm focused exclusively on customer service, client retention, and customer experience for the last 25 years, I make customer service mistakes.  I may make a mistake in how I respond, or maybe I don’t respond timely enough.  Recently, I left someone off the list of invitees for a meeting to debrief on a research project.  We make mistakes, and hopefully we apologize sincerely when we do.

Don’t Stay in the Negative

But like Bradberry, we need to move on.  We can’t get consumed by the mistakes of the past, because then we are allowing ourselves to get mired in mediocrity and negativity.  We need to acknowledge our mistakes, learn from them, and move on.

There will always be opportunities to do better, to improve, to take care of our customers.

So, the next time one of us imperfect people makes a mistake, let’s make sure we’re able to move on.

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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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