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Pass the Quick Impression Test - 12/30/25


Some studies have shown that people create an impression of you in less than a second when they first meet you face-to-face.  Other studies have shown that that initial impression can take up to 7 seconds.  Regardless, first impressions are quick.  First impressions are not always the lasting impression, Read more

2025 Holiday Poem - 12/23/25


We hear the word change And that change can be good, But we like things to stay same, And sometimes they should.   The weather can be wet And then dry as a bone. We know things will change, Even if all left alone.   Our customers change. Our co-workers do, too. It seems like our resources Are often too few.   The technology Read more

Make the Long Wait Feel Shorter - 12/16/25


When Greg entered the Tax Office, he was thinking only about two things: (1) How he was going to get the tax value on his home reduced, and (2) Whether the wait would be 1 hour or 2.  He checked in with the navigator who asked a few questions, Read more

When Kindness Means More in Customer Service - 12/9/25


Since a large part of the work we do at CSS includes customer research, we have seen tens of thousands of comments over the years about staff, and it is great to hear the positives that customers, fans, and account holders say about our clients’ team members. One word that Read more

Don’t Create the Second Complaint - 12/2/25


Maria was upset.  Rightfully so.  The product delivery was delayed, she couldn’t get anybody on the phone, and nobody would reply to her e-mails.  So, she went down to the store, and she found a customer service representative. After the initial greeting, the employee listened to Maria’s complaint.  While Maria Read more

Refresh on the Reasons to Appreciate the Customer - 11/25/25


This is a great time of year to give thanks, not just because it’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, but also because – with 2025 coming to a close - it gives us the opportunity to do some reflecting on the recent past. The idea of reflecting on reasons Read more

Confirm the Customer is Cleared for Takeoff - 11/18/25


An airplane pilot is told when they’re “cleared for takeoff” before they begin to accelerate down the runway.  The air traffic controller (ATC) has looked at everything in front of the pilot, on the runway and in the air space, and checked to ensure the pilot is good to Read more

Build Relationships with First-timers - 11/11/25


We’ve worked with one of our sports clients for over 10 years, and although the main focus of our work is research with their fan base, we also provide informal consulting advice and guidance whenever possible.  One approach we’ve talked about on and off for years is the need Read more

Last Impression Faux Pas - 11/4/25


Rightfully so, many customer service experts harp on the importance of the first impression.  It happens quickly, and it can impact the individual’s perception of you and the organization.  We even wrote a Tip of the Week on this years ago called First Impression Faux Pas. What many people tend Read more

Familying with Customers - 10/28/25


In our transactional society, it’s hard to think about customers in the long-term.  But if we want to be as successful as we can as an individual or as a business, we need to view customers through a relationship lens. What do we need to know about them to Read more

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Put Your Fans’ Names on Your Uniform

Posted on June 21, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

You may have heard of “Harley Loyalty,” where some customers are such fervent fans of Harley-Davidson motorcycles that they’ll have the Harley-Davidson logo tattooed somewhere on their body.

Well one Italian soccer team is turning the tables. According to an article in Metro.co.uk, “Fans of Italian club Parma have been recognised in a unique way by their club, after it was announced the name of every season ticket holder will be sewn into their new shirt.”

That’s right. Imagine that happening in sports in the US. If you’re a season ticket holder of the LA Kings hockey team, your name would have been on their jersey during the Stanley Cup run. Maybe you’re a season ticket holder of the Miami Heat; your name would be on LeBron James’ jersey. How about Eli Manning of the New York Giants dropping back to pass in the Super Bowl with your name on his jersey – wow!

Sometimes it’s not about how to make your fans more loyal, but it’s about how to show loyalty to your fans. And sometimes it doesn’t take a ton of money to do so. Try not to focus on perks and benefits all the time; focus on methods of recognizing the fans.

We recently co-hosted a Twitter Chat about fan relations/loyalty (see our #fanexperience innovation center for details), and few of the ideas shared cost a lot of money. That’s because the ideas were based on relationships, access, and recognition.

Get creative. Find ways to put your season ticket holder’s name on your uniform.

Listen to our latest podcast episode on “Delivering the WOW Experience!”

See more sports-related blog postings at: http://serviceadvice.wordpress.com/category/sports/


Don’t Fight the Fan

Posted on March 7, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

Don’t pick a fight with a customer. Don’t throw a baseball at them. Don’t kick a football in their direction. Don’t smack a slapshot over their head.

In the article Flyers touching third rail of fan relations, Phil Sheridan gives multiple examples of players chastising fans for complaining (about the play on the ice or a sign outside a stadium or performance on the field). The crux of the article is that it’s a big risk for a player to attack (verbally or otherwise) fans just because the fans are complaining. Even though many athletes don’t think fans understand what’s it’s like to be in their shoes, many athletes don’t understand the fan’s perspective, but they should be willing to learn.

When fans are passionate, they can impact a game. When they care for a team or club, they’ll spend money on them. And when fans impact a game or they spend money, they impact the organization and its players.

It’s the same thing with any other business. Customers have opinions, and if they care enough to voice those opinions, they’re conveying their passion. But they’re also giving you advice (on what to do differently or how to interact and engage them differently). The customers are sharing their expectations. And if customers care enough to complain, we need to care enough to encourage that dialogue and listen.

Studies have shown that customers are far more likely to stick with you if they complain than if they have an issue and don’t complain. They are far more like to stick with you if you address their issue than if you don’t.

Let the fan talk, vent, complain. Listen and learn. Encourage dialogue. Because if there’s dialogue, that means they’re engaged. When the dialogue stops, that’s when you should start to worry because that might indicate apathy and a lost customer.

Don’t shut down customer complaints.

If you liked this, you might like our podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” called “Take a Football Approach to Culture Change”

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/


Stop Punishing Account Reps

Posted on November 23, 2010 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

I’ve read stories recently of account representatives on professional sports teams being laid off. On one team, it was because the team sold so many seats, they didn’t need sales representatives. On another team, it was because the team performed so poorly on the field, that attendance was down, and the team needed to cut costs – so they let go of fan relations staff.

Our company is very focused on getting clients to deal with the root cause of problems. So let me try to understand this from a root cause perspective. If your product is really exciting, you don’t need sales staff. And if your product is terrible, you don’t need customer service staff. Are those the conclusions I should draw?

Any organization wanting to be GREAT needs to realize that customers form opinions of businesses – any business – based on 3 key attributes: 1) The Employee Attitudes, Skills, and Knowledge. 2) The Processes that the Customers Experience. 3) The Product or Service Itself.

To take out the first (and some portion of the second) of those three key attributes is short-sighted. It says if our product is exciting, we don’t need staff to sell. If our sales are down because of disappointment with the product, we don’t need staff to try to maintain those customer relationships.

When your organization has a new hot product or – conversely – has a bad product, don’t take it out on your sales and service staff.

They’re the ones who interact with your customers. They’re the ones that maintain relationships (and retention) through the tough times. They’re the ones who strive to build relationships when your product is great, so the customer loyalty remains even if the product quality drops.

Make sure you understand the true long-term value of sales and service staff.

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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