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It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

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

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It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… – 9/1/26

Posted on September 1, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  The customer is generic, not unique individually.  This is a transaction, not anything more.

In sports, we look at that customer – that account holder whose ticket for an individual basketball game might cost $100.  But the average account has 2.5 tickets.  There are 41 home games in the season, and the average account lasts for 5.3 years.  So, we can view that conversation as a generic customer or a $100 ticket, or we could realize that the lifetime value of the relationship with the person I’m speaking with is $54,325.

We’re working in the water utility call center, and somebody is calling in to ask how to use our ePortal, or they’re complaining about a high bill.  We noticed that their average bill is $75.  We could view this person as somebody who is asking a question we’ve gotten 100 times, we’re just trying to give them the standard response.  Or we can realize that the average homeowner will end up living in our community for close to 30 years.  Therefore, in today’s dollars, that $75 monthly bill equates to an account worth $27,000.

It shouldn’t matter whether this is a $100 ticket or a $54,000 account.  It shouldn’t matter whether this is a $75 invoice or a $27,000 account.  But for many of us, it does matter.

For many of us in customer service, it affects our mindset.  If we go into every interaction just viewing this as a transaction or somebody asking me a question or presenting me with an issue, it can feel routine, not interesting or unique, and sometimes that indifference in our mind can come across as indifference in our tone of voice and interaction with that customer.

So, it’s sometimes beneficial to get that phone call from the season ticket holder, and realize this is somebody who has $54,000 in value in ticket purchases alone.  It’s beneficial to think about this water utility customer as somebody who is contributing $27,000 to the municipality.

It shouldn’t matter, but sometimes it helps to get us in the right mindset when we see the true lifetime value of the customers we serve.

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My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26

Posted on July 28, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 appointment online and decided to go that route instead of showing up and hoping for the best at some other office.

When I pulled into the parking lot, there was only one space available.  When I walked in, I was confused.  The waiting area was nearly full, and immediately to my right there was a police officer who was doing some kind of administrative task with some of the customers.  I waited for a second wondering if he was working with the DMV.  It turns out that he was with the Highway Patrol, a group that shared the space with the DMV, and many (or most) of the people there were waiting to talk with the law enforcement staff.

So, I went around the corner to the other side of the waiting room, and the DMV office was there.  An employee immediately walked by and said “somebody will be with you shortly.”  A few seconds later, a gentleman walked up and asked me for my appointment number or my phone number to confirm the appointment.  Still standing, he tapped a few buttons on his computer screen, printed out a number for me, and told me to wait in one of the seats in the lobby.  He twice said somebody would be calling me “very soon” to one of the numbered windows, and he pointed behind him at the windows.

After sitting for less than 10 seconds, they called my number and asked me to go to Window #5.  The lady confirmed why I was there and asked me for my identification documents.  She told me when and why to sign the keypad multiple times.  She then told me to put my back against the wall and look straight at the camera to have my picture taken for the ID.

She said “look to your left at the screen, and you’ll see the photo.”  And there I was in all of my closed-eyes glory.  She apologized for taking the picture too quickly, and she took it again.  I told her I was going to be going on a trip and asked if she thought I would get the Real ID before then, and she said she hoped so, but – just in case – she instructed me to bring certain documents with me to the airport.

From the moment I walked into the DMV to the moment I pulled out of the parking lot, it was less than 8 minutes.

Negative reputations which many businesses (like the DMV) have are often well-deserved.  But great processes, communications, instructions, attitudes, and systems, can slowly turn the reputation around – at least for certain locations.

If the DMV can deliver a great customer experience, we can all deliver a great customer experience.

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The Power of Teaching While Helping – 4/7/26

Posted on April 7, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

If you’re trying to develop a relationship with the customer rather than just simply handling their transaction and moving on, you are taking a long-term view.  You realize that that individual is someone you want to keep with your business for months or years to come, so it’s a great opportunity to invest in them.

In thinking about the future with this customer, you want to do the core things we typically think of such as convey appreciation to them and understand their retention drivers, but you also want to educate them.  Educating your customer is one of the key roles of a customer service professional in the relationship development process.

Educating in the Moment

Obviously, there are formal customer onboarding strategies and webinars and how-to videos that companies produce to educate the customer.  But in this case, I’m talking about those opportunities for you to educate the customer in the moment, when you’re helping them with one thing, and you see an opportunity to become the educator about something related…

They’re talking to you about a payment, so as you explore the situation, you take the opportunity to let them know about automated bill payment or the payment portal.

They’re asking how your tax appraisal office calculated the value of their home, and after explaining the methodology, you let them know that there is a comparison feature on the website they can use, as well.

They called to submit a complaint, and after helping them, you let them know that – if there are future issues – they can also share any issues or feedback through the website.

They’re asking you how much longer it will be for their project to be completed, and after giving them an updated estimate, you let them know about the mobile app that updates immediately when the project status changes in your system.

Helping Them Select Their Preferred Process

You’re educating them about how to do business with your company in ways that might be more efficient for them, more user-friendly, more in-depth or timely.  You’re happy to help them in the future in the manner that you helped them today, but by being the educator, you’re letting them know that they have a broader array of options that might meet their needs better in the future.

Serve in the moment.  Teach for the future.

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