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Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

Boost Customer Happiness - 7/9/24


There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make Read more

Brainstorm to Better Yourself - 7/2/24


I’ve led enough sessions with clients on continuous improvement topics to have solid experience on how to lead ideation exercises, brainstorming to develop new ideas.  Oftentimes these sessions start with the right question; the first answers may not be the ultimate solution, but they can serve as a jumping Read more

The Power of the Pause - 6/25/24


When I’m facilitating a meeting, and it feels like it’s going off-track or the discussion is going a little longer than it should, I may say something like “let me pause the conversation so that…” or “let’s pause just for a minute and consider…” I don’t like the word STOP. Read more

Handle Interruptions Heroically - 6/18/24


In the middle of a project, Jimbo, the customer service team member, had to stop what he was doing because he received an e-mail from a customer complaining about their experience at a recent event. Later that day, Jimbo was asked by his boss to put everything on hold for Read more

From Employees to Teammates: The Shift - 6/11/24


Be a great teammate. Be a good team player. We’re all part of the team. We’re no longer employees, we’re team members! The phrase “Team” is used in describing co-workers so much more than it was used years ago.  Then, we would be talking about employees, talking about staff, talking Read more

Nurture New Relationships - 6/4/24


Freddie was a new business owner in town.  He was launching a franchise, had acquired some funding from a local bank, and was in search of staff who cared about customer service. All the while, he was in the process of renovating a storefront for his business, so he was Read more

There’s Positivity in Patience - 5/28/24


The employee at the financial services firm was working with a new client on a relatively simple loan.  The documentation was about as clear as it could get to the employee, but the customer had lots of questions.  The employee calmly, clearly, and specifically answered each question.  The meeting Read more

The Goal – A Great Experience - 5/21/24


The following is a narrative of a great experience (people, process, service, facility) at a minor league sporting event – key points that could apply to any business are in bold… Mark and I pulled into the parking lot, excited about the game.  The Slapshots had been on a roll Read more

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Find a Fun Benchmarking Organization for Lessons on Service and Retention

Posted on April 11, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service 1 Comment

Why did Apple benchmark with the Ritz-Carlton? Are computers the same thing as hotels?

Why did Southwest Airlines benchmark with NASCAR pit crews? Are airplanes the same things as cars?

Benchmarking is usually more about how you do something than what you do. In the article How the Ritz-Carlton Inspired the Apple Store, the author notes how Apple Stores went to the Ritz-Carlton to learn lessons on customer service. Similarly, many years ago Southwest Airlines went to work with NASCAR pit crews to learn how to turn planes at the gate more quickly.

Continuous improvement in any organization involves thinking beyond your world, growing your organization’s collective knowledge by learning from others. What’s more, it can be lots of fun learning, particularly from those in other industries.

To most effectively benchmark, think about how you deliver a service, interact with customers, communicate, process, produce. Try not to think of this in industry terms; instead, think of this in functional terms. For example, as a bank, don’t think “What bank does a great job of increasing the number of accounts with current customers?” Think more broadly such as “What organizations are great at retaining and selling more services to existing account holders?” Instead of benchmarking with another bank, they might consider benchmarking with a pro sports team.

Instead of a local municipality asking “What City/County governments do a great job with their website?”, they should ask “What organizations effectively engage their customers online and leverage those sites to drive interest and traffic to their programs and facilities?”

Benchmarking is a fun way to get creative ideas, to continuously learn, grow, and improve.

So what industry (other than yours) is interesting to you? Go and learn from them.

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

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


BRE and Beyond…Act on What You Know Makes Customers Happy

Posted on March 29, 2012 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Fix what customers don’t like, but also give customers more of what they do like.

Continuous improvement in customer service is not all about root cause analysis and process improvement. Much of it is about doing more of what already satisfies the customer.

In the article Survey: Oshkosh good for business as CEOs cite better economic outlook, the local economic development organization reports results of a survey of local businesses. When economic development organizations have a Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) component, it’s because they want to retain those industries and those jobs (and those fees and taxes, etc.) locally. So surveys are conducted on businesses just like retailers conduct surveys with customers.

The Oshkosh article notes changes made as a result of the survey to help businesses become more accessible to customers and to plan for infrastructure changes. But one of the great things about BRE surveys or any surveys for that matter is that the survey organization also learns what the customer (or in the case, the business) likes – they like talking about their facilities or products, oftentimes they like the personal relationship with BRE organizations, they like help with facilitation of difficult permitting processes, they like the access to qualified technical personnel locally. And BRE organizations that are great at what they do, use the information on what makes customers happy to their benefit.

If the industry likes to share information about their facilities and products, find forums to allow them to present about themselves. If they like the relationships with the BRE staff, create Touch Point Plans for ongoing relationship-building. If the business likes help with permitting processes, create an issue-resolution process in partnership with the local code enforcement agency. If they like the access to qualified technical personnel, ensure businesses are establishing relationships with local providers of technical staff, with community colleges, and even some high schools.

Whether it’s for a BRE organization or a private business, research to uncover customer likes is important. Sometimes capitalizing on what already makes them happy is as important as fixing those things that bring frustration.

Act on what makes customers happy.

Interested in CSS’ Government Services? Check out:

http://cssamerica.com/cssgovt.htm

http://cssamerica.com/cssbrenews.htm

http://cssamerica.com/cssbresurvey.htm


Make Your Existing Clients Your New Star

Posted on March 8, 2012 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

In the article NuStar Energy Plans $365-Million Expansion in Louisiana, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal hailed growth of an existing company in Southeast Louisiana. According to Gov. Jindal, “When I entered office, I said business retention and expansion (BRE) would be our top economic development priorities. Today’s announcement shows our strong commitment to retaining and growing existing Louisiana companies so we can create more opportunities for our people here at home.”

When local communities focus on keeping their existing businesses, they’re doing it to keep fees, taxes, jobs locally. If a State is focusing on business retention and expansion such as Louisiana, they are it doing it to keep fees, taxes, and jobs statewide. There’s no altruism involved in a BRE focus; it’s business…and that’s absolutely fine.

According to the article, “Louisiana Economic Development’s Business Expansion and Retention Group, or BERG, began working with NuStar more than a year ago to cultivate the expansion project.”

So what can any business learn from this example? If you want to sustain a business, you want to grow a business, you have to focus on retaining and growing with who you already have; learn these lessons:

· Get buy-in from the top, with leadership being an outward, visible champion of retention and growth.

· Create structures in your organization that exist to support the effort.

· Dedicate staffing/financial/research-driven resources to retention initiatives.

· Partner with clients by planning together how to succeed/grow.

To be a big success in retaining and growing with existing clients, buy into these BRE lessons.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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


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