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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

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

Notice the Little Changes - 9/24/24


“My, how times have changed.” Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, one of the biggest reasons why an organization’s customer service deteriorates is that times have changed…customers have changed…and the company has not… If we think about customer service delivery today v. decades ago, changes in technology alone Read more

Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


No, this is not a take off on the Bobby McFerrin song:  Don’t Worry Be Happy. It’s actually a take off on the John Wooden quote:  Be quick, but don’t hurry. When I read Wooden’s book with this title, I liked the concept, and not just because John Wooden was a Read more

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Why the President Wanted to Mystery Shop

Posted on July 27, 2011 in Business Advice, Government, Healthcare Please leave a comment

You may have read the articles that came out recently that addressed the Federal Government’s plans to call different physician practices as a prospective patient. These callers would not have asked questions for the true purpose of learning the answer or becoming a patient. These are mystery shoppers. These are individuals who call to see how certain questions are answered and how certain policies are applied.

Essentially what the Federal Government wanted to do was to determine if some physician practices are turning away patients or delaying their access to care/appointments if they do not have a preferred form of health insurance. It wanted to use these mystery shoppers to identify people who are not doing essentially what they’re supposed to be doing.

It’s interesting that many companies use mystery shopping in this “gotcha” manner. This is why so many employees are negative toward mystery shopping. They feel like it is something being done to catch employees doing wrong. Staff feel like the only reason why they’re being shopped is so they can be caught and dealt with in some kind of a punitive manner.

But mystery shopping done effectively tries to gauge consistency of service, responses, and processes across the organization, from person-to-person and facility-to-facility. Mystery shopping done right tries to identify what internal best practices exist so that they can be leveraged across the organization. Mystery shopping done right identifies organizations do great, and what organizations need to improve upon. And mystery shopping done right also includes sometimes contacting your company’s competitors to see where you have a competitive edge and where you’re falling short through the customer’s eyes.

So while we understand the Federal Government trying to identify who is doing things in the most appropriate way, we encourage you to have a broader perspective in the use of mystery shopping. Use mystery shopping to reward, recognize, find internal best practices, find areas which are opportunities for improvement, and find ways to beat your competitors.

Mystery shop to improve performance.

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

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


How Many Customers Did You Lose Today?

Posted on March 24, 2011 in Business Advice 1 Comment

They’re walking out the door, never to return.

According to a recent study conducted of 22,000 consumers, 22% of customers will stop buying from you because of a bad experience. Some of the top reasons for the customer exits included 34% leaving because of interacting with a rude or disinterested employee. When you compare that to the statistic we’ve quoted often during the years (that 68% of lost business was due to the fact that the customer perceives the organization to be indifferent), then you can surmise that approximately half of that perception of indifference comes from employees just being blatantly rude or seeming like they’re disinterested.

We’re talking about customer service basics, which too many organizations don’t understand. They think it’s all about the product or the price or the design of the shop or the website, but so much of what drives customers away is about the employee – how they’re perceived, whether they appear engaged, whether they use the right tone and body language, whether they talk about you and your needs or themselves and their personal issues. So much of customer retention comes down to hiring and training, motivating and rewarding, challenging staff to be great and holding them accountable to your standards.

Look at your organization, asking yourself these basic questions:

· When hiring staff, do we test/gauge an applicant’s ability to communicate effectively (orally and in written word)?

· Do we assess how prospective employees come across with their tone and body language?

· Do we have basic customer service standards, those expectations of the bare minimum of what we expect in terms of how they’ll treat the customer?

· Do we train them (continuously) on customer service standards, skills, principles, and techniques?

· Do we monitor performance, rewarding and recognizing excellence, and holding accountable when standards are not met?

· Do our leaders model what we expect of staff?

Limit the number of customers you lose because you answered “No” to these questions.

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

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


With Customer Issues and Complaints, It’s All About Speed

Posted on March 17, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Fast…Do it fast…Make them feel like you’re moving at light speed…Make them feel like there’s continuous action…

When you’re dealing with a complaint or a customer issue, a key to retaining (and even increasing business with) that customer is speed.

Studies have shown that if you resolve an issue of a customer, they will tell 5 people about the great work you do. If you resolve issues quickly, you have an 82% chance of repurchase v. only 54% chance of repurchase if you resolve it slowly. So speed aids retention to the tune of 28%!! Speed.

It takes a lot for some customers to complain; so if they care enough to complain, convey you care, too, by acting to resolve that issue fast.

Tell them you want to help them. Tell them what you’re doing to address the need. Give them status updates along the way. Ensure your organization has communication and service delivery processes in place which are speed-oriented and geared toward service recovery situations.

Evaluate how you handle these situations. Look internally, and test externally with mystery shopping, but assess, and improve.

When it comes to Service Recovery, find a need for speed.

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

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


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