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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

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

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Find the Hidden Compliment – 7/26/22

Posted on July 26, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The fact is, they ARE complaining:  The room is too cold.  The wait is too long.  They wish the parking spaces were bigger.  The new app doesn’t have a mapping function.  They cannot pay with their phone.  The website is unclear.

In these types of complaints, the ones that are not as much personal as they are about process or product or technology or payments, there are often hidden compliments within the complaint.

There are two clear ways we can view these complaints based on a point in time.  In-the-moment, we have to focus on the issue and the resolution.  For the future, we can find that hidden gem of information, and oftentimes that gem is a compliment.

Why look for compliments?  First, compliments are positive, and it’s usually better for our mindset and mental health to make sure we have at least some semblance of a balance in customer service – where those positives don’t allow themselves to be overrun by all negatives.

Second, compliments tell us what customers like.  Frequently, the best way to improve is to Strengthen Our Strengths as opposed to purely fixing our organizational faults.

The room is too cold? The wait is too long? The parking spaces need to be bigger?  The view through the positive lens suggests that customers want to conduct their business in this building. They appreciate the opportunity to engage us face-to-face.  They’re willing to come to us, to reach out to us.  That method of engagement is not a barrier to our relationship with them.

The app doesn’t have a mapping function? They can’t pay with their phone? The website’s unclear?  Let’s put these complaints in a positive light.  They like that we provide an app!  They like the ability to do customer service in a self-service manner.  They want to pay for our services.  They are willing to move toward the latest technology.

When we’re dealing with that complaint, we need to be in-the-moment and focus on the issue.

But when it’s not in that moment of truth, look for opportunities to continuously improve by finding the hidden compliment in the complaint.

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When You Know More Than They Do – 7/19/22

Posted on July 19, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

It was 95 degrees outside.  That’s not too bad when you’re inside and enjoying the air conditioning; but when Rachel’s A/C went out, in came Rachel’s worry.  Luckily, she knew the company to call, and a technician from Acme HVAC (fake name, real company) came out the next morning.

Rachel is not a heating, ventilation, nor air conditioning expert, but she likes to understand the problem before deciding how to get things fixed.

The visit went well, and later that day, Rachel responded to a follow-up e-mail from the home office of Acme HVAC with a positive reply.  She was very happy with the technician.  The tech was an expert in his work and excellent in his communications with Rachel, and there were 3 lessons learned for all of us when we’re in a situation like this – where you know lots more than the customer:

  • Pack Your Patience – Providing short answers to broad customer questions – so you can shorten the conversation – can lead to a customer’s lack of clarity or understanding. The customer doesn’t have your level of knowledge, so if they’re inquisitive, it’s because they want to talk, they want to learn, they want to make an informed decision.  Be patient from the start.
  • Explain in Bite-sized Chunks – Explaining something new to a customer verbally can be difficult for them to clearly comprehend, especially if you’re discussing a process. Most people cannot absorb and understand a series of steps or interrelated topics if you give them everything at once.  Give them Step 1, verify they understand, then go to Step 2.
  • Allow/Encourage Questions – Learning is made easier if the teacher is encouraging conversation. Ask if they have any questions.  Note how you’re happy to answer any questions.  Offer the types of questions that people in similar situations often ask.  Convey a willingness to help them learn.

 
When you know more than the customer, Pack Your Patience, Explain in Bite-sized Chunks, and Allow/encourage questions.

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Investigate for FACTS – 7/12/22

Posted on July 12, 2022 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Sometimes the issues that we deal with don’t have an immediate resolution.  There’s unknown information and conflicting stories.  Many individuals are involved, or possibly whoever is involved is not available.  You have to investigate.

For situations where you have to be clear on what occurred, make sure you’re gathering all the pertinent information.  Here’s a quick acronym to help guide your research into the issue – Get the FACTS:

  • Financial Information – The emotions from the customers can often relate to their bottom line; what is coming out of their pocket or already has been taken out? Likewise, the company often uses financial criteria when deciding how to deal with situations.  Make sure you clearly understand what’s going on from a financial angle in the situation.
  • Actions Taken or Untaken – Determine what has been done, or potentially what should have been done but didn’t occur. Knowing what work has been accomplished or what forms were completed helps to understand the situation better.
  • Content of Communications – Understand what the customer communicated to the company, and likewise what employees in the company communicated back. This goes to completeness of information, clarity of communications – and it affects expectations from both parties.
  • Tone of Communications – When emotions are involved, it’s not just because it’s dealing with people’s pocketbooks or because of the particulars of the situation, it’s also because of HOW things are communicated. Try to uncover whether and how tone played a part in this situation.
  • Sequencing – Finally, if things don’t make sense when you’re digging for facts, it may be because there’s not clarity about what happened first, then second, then third. Knowing the timing of the process that has led you to this point will let you know where miscommunications or miscues occurred, where feelings were hurt, and where expectations were set and not met.

 
When you have to investigate an issue, first uncover the FACTS.

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