process improvement | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 21

Create Customers for Life - 6/17/25


Veronica has gone to the same automotive service shop for at least 20 years.  She bought a new car about a year ago, and this is the third car she’s brought to the shop instead of taking her car to the dealer where she bought it.  She’s had three Read more

Don’t Turn the Customer into the QA Department - 6/10/25


Roberta received a form with information filled in by the company after her conversation with the account rep.  Roberta just needed to review the information, fill in some of the blanks, sign it, and resend it in order to set up a new account. She noticed that the effective date Read more

Imitate to Improve - 6/3/25


Oscar Wilde said that “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”  Now this doesn’t mean that plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.  Nor does it mean that great impersonators such as Rich Little, Dana Carvey, or Frank Caliendo are always offering flattering portrayals of those that they imitate. Wilde’s Read more

How the Customer Perceives a Truth as a Lie - 5/27/25


You’re the customer, you’re asking about an unused item that you’re returning, and you hear the employee say: “The refund process takes 7-10 days.”  You’re thinking: “Great!  I can get the refund check as early as a week from today!”  The reality is that the company means that they’ll Read more

Tell Customers What’s Next - 5/20/25


In most businesses that have been around for a while, how a process was originally designed is not how it currently operates.  Sometimes this change is referred to as “practical drift,” where the actual process moves further and further away from the documented steps over time.  Maybe the changes Read more

Questions to Guide You to Empathy - 5/13/25


“If I was him, I would do ABC…” If you’ve ever heard somebody say this - whether it’s a friend or acquaintance, whether it’s some TV reporter or podcaster - you may get as frustrated or as annoyed as I do. I get annoyed because we are not that other person. Read more

Negate the Nervousness - 5/6/25


The customer needed a loan, so he walked into the bank, but he was a little nervous.  He knew that launching his business would be easier if he had some working capital, but that’s about all he knew.  He was anxious because he didn’t know what to expect in Read more

Don’t Rush to Resolve Quickly - 4/29/25


The customer is angry, so you use the CSS LEAD technique as designed.  You, listen, empathize, accept responsibility, and deliver on a remedy.  But it doesn’t work.  The customer is still upset, and maybe even a little more frustrated than when you started…why?! If the use of this technique fails, Read more

Energy v. Apathy - 4/22/25


I asked a couple friends who are much more scientifically-oriented the question: What is energy?  I didn’t mean E=MC2.  I meant physiologically, what is energy? They described a lot of things that sounded really good, yet far too advanced for my non-medical mind. Part of the reason why energy is of Read more

Prep Enough to Personalize - 4/15/25


Everybody loves Howie.  He is an account rep for the local air conditioning and heating company.  When I say Everybody loves Howie, I’m definitely talking about the customers.  His co-workers love him too, but customers are especially fond of him.  They seem to really enjoy their conversations with him, Read more

Take the HCAHPS Test

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

Will the government be getting into healthcare with the proposed healthcare reform legislation? That’s probably not the best question to ask, because the government is already in healthcare in many ways. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Medicare and Medicaid, but since this is a customer service and retention-related blog, have you heard of HCAHPS?

The government is already in healthcare in the customer service/satisfaction aspect of the business. The federal government has required that hospitals survey patients using standardized tools to gauge satisfaction with multiple areas of the patient experience including communication, responsiveness, information provided, processes, etc. Then this information is posted on the internet for any current or prospective patient to review to compare one hospital to another.

What if this approach related to other organizations? What if two retail stores had their customer satisfaction ratings posted side-by-side? Or maybe you could compare all restaurants in your region in an evaluation – side-by-side – of key characteristics of the food, the environment, the price, the customer service. How about comparing 3 banks or 4 car dealerships or 5 animal hospitals or 6 grocery stores?

If you were one of those retailers or restaurants or banks or grocery stores being objectively compared for all your current or prospective customers to see, how would you do?

It’s a scary proposition, but if you’re not willing to consider it, believe me, your customers make this evaluation every day.

Think of this as the HCAHPS test. How would you objectively compare on key characteristics of the customer experience with your competitors? If you have no idea, then you might want to consider mystery shopping, having a research firm such as ours to shop your organization…and your competitors.

Make sure you know how you measure up.

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


Educate on Profits

Posted on in Business Advice, Education 1 Comment

Peter Waller, Chief Executive Officer of Corinthian Colleges, was speaking about the recent performance of the organization in terms of its financials late last year (http://seekingalpha.com/article/186144-corinthian-colleges-inc-f2q10-qtr-end-12-31-09-earnings-call-transcript). And one of the key areas he addressed as a part of that discussion was the improvement in student satisfaction.

Before I go further, what this CEO did was to link (early on in his conversation) financial performance to student/customer satisfaction.

To put meat behind his belief in the cause/effect relationships between these two measures of performance, he noted several major initiatives focused on driving increases in student satisfaction such as: ‘Major increases in faculty development, increased investment in student services personnel, investments in new technology in the classroom, and increased wireless bandwidth at the campuses.’ He stated that "We will continue to focus on creating an outstanding experience to students at every campus and every program. We believe that if our students are satisfied and find value in our services; we will continue to grow and ultimately create value for shareholders."

This is a leader who understands the link between satisfaction and financial performance. He measures that link. He invests in those things which should drive up student satisfaction, knowing how that impacts business success. He gets it.

Many leaders discuss the importance of customer service. But do they measure it? Do they make strategic decisions which may – short-term – cost money or require resources? Do they change operations, processes, and people to improve student or customer satisfaction because they understand the link to profits?

If the answers in your organization are "No, No, and No," then your leaders may need to gain a better understanding of what truly drives long-term success.

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


Capitol Customer Service

Posted on in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

The White House held a forum with dozens of CEOs last week, and the topic moved to customer service. The government was trying to learn how to be more customer-friendly, and they were particularly interested in what Southwest Airlines CEO, Gary Kelly, had to say.

Now I know many of you are thinking such things as “it’s about time!” or “isn’t that an oxymoron – government customer service?” But one particular reaction might be “why would a government agency turn to an airline for advice?”

The answer is the same reason why an airline would turn to NASCAR – the stock car racing league – for advice.

You may have heard the story of the airline that was trying to improve the speed and efficiency with which it “turned” planes at the gate. So where did they go to determine how to improve? They went and met with NASCAR pit crews to observe, talk, and learn about how they could do so much so fast so effectively in a 5, 10, or 15 second pit stop.

Kelly suggested at the forum that to satisfy customers, “It’s more important for us to be on time and have great employees…than offer frills.”

In other words, do what you do with great efficiency and great attitudes, and that’s more important in engendering customer loyalty than offering a perk or two.

The next time you’re trying to get better, to learn, to grow, don’t just look at yourselves or at an organization just like you.

Benchmark with the best, regardless of industry.

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