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Narrow Your Focus to Seek Excellence - 4/1/25


You’ve probably heard companies use phrases such as: “We want to go from being good to great.”  Maybe they’ve said: “We strive for perfection, and although we’ll never reach perfection, maybe we can achieve excellence along the way.” These organizations find some kind of a catch phrase or slogan, but Read more

Avoid the Unfriendly Ghost - 3/25/25


Last week we talked about the qualities of “PERKI Customer Service,” essentially what attitudes and actions are characteristics of those who provide great customer service.  This week, let’s take the opposite approach.  What are some of the mistakes that people make?  Maybe these are mistakes of omission or commission; Read more

PERKI Customer Service - 3/18/25


After having worked on hundreds of projects over the years with thousands of thousands of individuals, some things become pretty clear. There are certain traits held by people who are great in customer service.  Look at this list, and do a self-assessment.  Which apply to you? Positive and Patient Do you Read more

It Helps to Downshift - 3/11/25


One of the first tips I heard when I was learning how to drive related to what to do when the brakes fail - downshift.  Shifting into a lower gear can slow down a moving vehicle.  I would explain this in technical terms to you, but considering I’m not Read more

Patience is… - 3/4/25


Patience is a…pain in the neck.  Why is it so hard to be patient?  Those of us who work in customer service know that we constantly have to show patience with our customers.  We’re ready to move to the next step or the solution because we’ve heard this issue Read more

Everybody Doesn’t - 2/25/25


Joey received the compliment, but he was confused.  Paula, his boss, and Joey had their monthly one-on-one meeting, and Paula noted that, although he was new, Joey was already doing a great job!  While there were learning curves on some of the organizational policies and the technology that he Read more

A Simple Phrase to Transform Your Customer Feedback Approach - 2/18/25


I went to a restaurant called Big Ed’s (no relation) in Raleigh, NC recently.  It’s basically country cooking with fantastic breakfast options!  On the menu there was a quote that said: If you enjoyed your meal, tell a friend.  If not, please tell us. That was an excellent statement that embodies Read more

What Phones and Football Have in Common - 2/11/25


Congratulations!  You made it through weeks/months of hype for football’s Super Bowl!  You made it through hundreds of pregame shows and podcasts, endless debates on things endlessly inconsequential, 10 hours of pre-game shows on Sunday, what seems like 100 commercials designed specifically for the “Big Game,” and the longest Read more

Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

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From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement – 1/7/25

Posted on January 7, 2025 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation.

After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several people in the class also had:  What does it mean to engage the customer?

The instructor said: That’s a great question!  Let’s think about engagement from two perspectives…

First, it’s the mindset and the attitude you take into these conversations.  If you are being engaged, you have a desire to help the other person.  You find a way to care for them in their situation.  You’re constantly trying to think of how to help them, how to understand them better.  Your attitude is that that other individual is the most important person in the world to you at that moment.

That’s an engaged attitude.  You are focused, concerned, and have the appropriate level of energy and enthusiasm FOR the other person.

The second perspective is about your action.  Literally, how do you engage the other person?   You take that desire to understand them, and you apply it by tapping into your own curiosity, by asking questions.

You apply that information they provided by using their name, restating their situation, their goals, their perceptions and preferences.

You act engaged by starting the conversation with them.  You take engagement seriously by seeking solutions, often on the spot.  By offering tips.  By sharing your knowledge with the purpose of not only helping to address their need but by also helping them to become more knowledgeable.  And you convey that you stay engaged by initiating follow-up, and by following through on what you promised.

View the other person as important, as interesting.  Then be proactive, personalize, tap into your own curiosity, and take action to engage the customer.

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Acting on the Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service – 11/19/24

Posted on November 19, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 start the conversation.  Take that monkey off the customer’s back to initiate the engagement.  Immediately be self-aware of your body language, like you’re looking in a mirror, and you’re checking yourself if you’re putting off any negative vibes.  Think about your tone of voice, ensuring that it has a bit of energy, has a positive flow.

Seek to Understand their Uniqueness: Be inquisitive, ask questions, understand them and their situation more specifically.  Clarify your understanding of anything that’s unclear, and make a confirming statement back to ensure you are stating your understanding of what they’ve just shared.

Figure Out How to Help: Identify solutions, identify alternatives when what they suggest just cannot happen, for whatever reason.  The more uniquely you understand their situation, the more you can put yourself in the position of being the solution provider.  Figure out how to help.

Take Action: Do what was promised, or if your co-worker needed to take the next step, make sure they did as was asked in a timely manner.

Convey that You Followed Through: Tell the customer what you did, or share what action was taken by your co-worker on behalf of the customer.  If appropriate and available, let the customer know the outcome.  If you’re making all these efforts to support the customer, ensure that they know that you followed through.

Turn Guiding Principles into a Great Experience.  Put principles into action.

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Don’t Hurry…Be Quick – 9/17/24

Posted on September 17, 2024 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

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 great basketball coach and – apparently – a great person. With his UCLA Bruins college basketball teams, he had success that has never been rivaled – having won 10 NCAA tournament championships.  And that is not a typo – 10!

Wooden said that if you’re in a hurry, you make mistakes.  He doesn’t want mistakes.  He wants achievement.

In order to be quick, it helps tremendously to know what to do.  You can achieve more if you’re quick, efficient, with little wasted motion or effort.

I guess that a less creative way to say “Be quick, but don’t hurry” is to say: You can achieve more the more you know, and the fewer mistakes you make.

Never lose sight of the fact that hurrying through things can hurt the quality of your customer service.  Rushing conversations, speeding through forms and documents without reviewing, avoiding a QA check because “I’ve done this 1000 times,” or skipping a few process steps – these all can result in mistakes, in issues, in rework, in complaints.

And never forget that the more you invest in your knowledge of people, processes, systems, policies, and places, the better equipped you are to handle things right the first time, and usually with less help.

Look at your job through the eyes of a master teacher – Be quick, but don’t hurry.

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