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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

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

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


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 Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

Tell Them Why You’re Giving Thanks - 12/3/24


Thank you! Merci! Danke! Doumo! Gracias! It seems like every language has a translation of Thank You.  Even though I only fluently speak English and speak Spanish, un poco, I – and probably most of you – have heard some or all of the translations of "Thank You” noted above.  Read more

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Build their Confidence in You – 8/22/17

Posted on August 22, 2017 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


The service and retention rep was getting quite a rep! Although Jessie had only been with this sports franchise for 10 months, she was continually getting unsolicited praises from her season ticket holders. They were e-mailing her boss, sending positive letters to other team executives, and sending her cards as thank you’s.

And while all that was great, her manager hadn’t been overly curious about why she was receiving all the accolades. The tipping point for him was when the annual seat selection and renewal process came around for the first time for Jessie, and her boss noticed something staggering. Although other representatives were averaging only 35% renewals of FIRST-YEAR season ticket holders and none surpassed 50%, Jessie was already over 80% renewals, and there was a month left before the deadline.

Her boss saw success – and the dollars she was generating – and he wanted to know how she was doing it.

“I’m not certain,” said Jessie. “They come in a little uneasy about the process of renewal, the commitment, the risk of changing seats or adding seats or upgrading seats – just like with the other reps’ accounts. I guess that the one thing I notice is that when my clients leave, they’re confident. They know what to do and how to do it; they know the benefits; they know what they’re going to get; they know they can trust me, so they’re comfortable, too.”

Jessie’s manager had always preached the importance of building emotion to make a sale or renewal, but Jessie’s approach was to breed confidence and comfort. She would listen to the account holder, understand their needs, and show her understanding of their concerns and apprehension.

She would explain the processes in clear and simple steps, and she’d explain how she’d helped many other clients through the decision-making steps and renewal processes successfully time and time again.

Jessie was credible, she painted a vivid picture of success, and instead of trying to create positive emotion, she eliminated negative emotions – the roadblocks to decisions. Instead of dominating the discussion, she listened and built the customer’s confidence.

Sometimes the best customer service you can provide doesn’t require you to provide anything. The best customer service is delivered when you take away the fears and anxieties of the customer and build their confidence.

To deliver great customer service, build their confidence in you.

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Words of Encouragement – From You and For You – 8/8/17

Posted on August 8, 2017 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Comfort and Confidence. These are qualities you want to build in your customers. Their comfort level in working with your organization. Their confidence in you and your business.

And these are qualities staff generally want as well – to be comfortable and confident. When I note that employees want to be comfortable, I’m not saying comfort to the point of being unchallenged or apathetic. I’m saying comfortable enough in the environment where they can be open in sharing their views and ideas, and be open to hearing the perspectives of others as well.

It’s best to have comfortable and confident customers and co-workers because trust is more easily created, relationships are more fully developed, and loyalty is more easily engendered.

So let’s address how to build comfort and confidence by simply being encouraging of others. You could tell customers:

  • You completed the first step in the registration process – good job!
  • You did everything right so far! We just have one more step.
  • You asked excellent questions or That’s a great question!
  • You’re making great progress.
  • You’re definitely doing your part.
  • You called the right number.

For co-workers, you could say:

  • You’re always so organized.
  • You made this process so easy for me.
  • Thanks for being so responsive.
  • Your preparation made the process flow very smoothly.
  • I love how you handled that situation.
  • Great job on the report!

Why are we talking about words of encouragement? Because they convey appreciation, and they also reinforce positive words and actions of the person you’re speaking with – words and actions you’d like to see repeated. So those words of encouragement actually help you as well. Your encouragement creates an environment where the other person is more comfortable and confident that what they did (those words and actions that made YOUR life a little better) is something they should do again.

Offer Words of Encouragement to help others build comfort and confidence.

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How to Grow Your Relationships – 7/11/17

Posted on July 11, 2017 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


In a study conducted about human relationships by Leo Buscaglia, researchers surveyed participants about the qualities of primary relationships which were most enhancing to continued growth. The three qualities that seemed to contribute most to growing relationships were Communication, Affection, and Compassion/Forgiveness.

Let’s see how to apply these relationship-growing attributes to our interactions with customers and co-workers.

Communication was defined as “the desire to be open, to share, to relate, and actively speak and listen to one another.”

Consider your co-workers and customers. To grow your relationships with them, be open, go to them sharing information of interest and use to them. Share your perspective and your thoughts. Likewise, ask for their thoughts, and listen to their responses.

Affection was seen as the “trait of caring, understanding, respect, physical and psychological closeness, nurturing, and kindness.”

Now here we’re not saying to be affectionate with your customers and co-workers, because that can get you in all sorts of legal troubles! So let’s focus on the definition of Affection. Show care for the other person, be respectful of them, be understanding of their needs, and show them kindness.

Compassion was defined as “the ability to have empathy, to forgive, to be supportive and selfless.”

I’ve often said that empathy is the greatest quality somebody can have in customer service. It’s hard to really serve someone if you don’t care enough to try to understand what’s unique about them and their situation. That’s empathy.

But forgiveness is something newer – a word I don’t discuss often. It suggests that sometimes the customers don’t treat us well, the co-worker doesn’t do what they need to do, others are throwing roadblocks in front of us. This definition of compassion suggests that we need to forgive them and move forward. We need to be supportive of others and lose any selfish tendencies that we might bring into situations.

If you want to grow relationships, focus on building these qualities of relationships into your everyday interactions with co-workers and customers.

Focus on Communication, Affection, and Compassion/Forgiveness.

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