restaurant | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 2

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

The Miracle of an Apology - 3/19/24


Unfortunate but true story… The manager basically lost his mind.  He terminated his employee on the spot.  She had told the customer that there was going to be a delay in the shipment.  The employee called up the customer ahead of time to let the customer know what was about Read more

It’s Not About the 5-Minute Wait - 3/12/24


Robert went into his supervisor’s office to update her on a situation at the payment desk.  Robert said that a customer was about fourth or fifth in line, waiting to be served, and the customer was complaining loudly about the wait.  He was there to make a property tax Read more

Lessons from the Greats - 3/5/24


I was recently facilitating a workshop on the customer experience, and I made the point that it’s usually beneficial to look at your personal life for great experiences; identify what really resonates with you in a positive way in order to uncover ideas to improve your own customer service. So, Read more

The Empathy Roadmap - 2/27/24


For some people, empathy comes naturally.  There’s an innate desire to learn about the other person and to sincerely convey that sense of interest and caring.  But for many of us, sometimes it helps to have a communication plan.  It helps to know what to do in order to Read more

“You’re the Boss” - 2/20/24


Terrence is excellent at what he does.  From a technical standpoint, he knows how to keep the facility clean.  He’s the lead custodian, and he knows that keeping things straight does not necessarily mean keeping things sanitary.  He knows what chemicals to use and not to use, how to Read more

Customer Understanding Leads to Relationship Growth - 2/13/24


We’ve worked with educational organizations at all grade levels over the years.  One special and unique characteristic about the staff who work in these organizations is that there’s a clear intent to know about the students as individuals, to focus on them rather than purely focusing on what’s delivered Read more

Define Customer Service Success Differently - 2/6/24


When I’m watching television, listening to the radio, or listening to a podcast, it’s always interesting when the topic moves to the question:  How can you be a success?  The speakers often discuss the process of becoming a success with the assumption that people believe success is defined by Read more

Care Enough to Give Them a Heads Up - 1/30/24


Nothing bad at all might happen.  Every day in the office could seem like every other day.  Sights and sounds and smells might continue to be the same.  But we have a lot of construction going on around our offices, and the building manager knows the type of work Read more

Be Better than AI Customer Service - 1/23/24


There was a recent CBS Sunday Morning Show story called: How artificial intelligence is revamping customer call centers. The journalist described how artificial intelligence is being used in customer service, and he noted the millions of pieces of information that can be processed in a matter of seconds. There are clear Read more

Order a Pizza…Save a Life…

Posted on in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Talk about knowing and caring about your customer! This story about how a Domino’s Pizza delivery person may have saved a life was an amazing read and video. Check out the story, and think about how this could happen in your company…

An 82 year-old woman orders a pizza every day for 3 years. When one of her frequent delivery drivers learns that the customer hasn’t ordered in 3 days, the driver goes to the woman’s house and helps to find out that the woman had been on the floor of her home for 3 days and hadn’t been able to call for help. The woman will be fine, and this delivery driver may have saved her life. There are MANY lessons we can take away from this story.

First, be proactive with customers. Don’t allow their perception of you to be based purely on when they initiate the transaction or the conversation.

Second, monitor the activity of your customers. If something changes, that could be a symptom of a problem (or an opportunity for growth!). Act on those changes in behavior.

Third, care about your customer, and make sure they know you care by reaching out to them in ways that don’t always have a sales pitch attached.

Enjoy pizza, enjoy your customers, and enjoy life!

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/


I’ll Drink to Great Customer Service!

Posted on in Business Advice Please leave a comment

In England, Simon Longbottom, managing director at Greene King Pub Partners, has embarked on a series of customer service initiatives for his pubs. The article (in Eat Out Magazine) notes how Pub Partners’ licensees will get customer service training to make consistent and improve customer service at the affiliated pubs.

The program was spurred on by recent secret shopper reports which have garnered national attention in UK retail circles. Keep in mind that Mr. Longbottom is doing this purely for business reasons. He states that “Research has shown that a high level of customer satisfaction has a direct correlation with customer spend.” He’s doing this for the money – customer service is just good business.

There are 8 key areas of focus for the training: Customer service and the profit chain, Service Excellence, Retail Service Excellence, Driving Up Performance, Service and Standards, Customer Feedback, Engaging People, and Action.

Great customer service works in banks, it works in pro sports, it works in government, education, healthcare, and even…in pubs.

Raise your glass for great customer service!

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/


An Ice Cream Cone and a Princess – Lessons from Disney

Posted on in Business Advice Please leave a comment

The little girl was with her family at Disney World for the first time. She had just sat down to have her ice cream cone, and was wearing a princess outfit which was bought just for this special trip.

As she started to eat, the ice cream fell off the top of her cone onto her dress, and then onto the floor. As the tears started to well-up, the mother took her daughter to the restroom to get cleaned up.

When they went back to their table, they noticed two “cast members” standing at the table, and the other family members were there as well. The ice cream had already been cleaned up by the employees, and they asked if she was the girl whose ice cream had fallen. When she replied “yes,” one of the employees said “please come with me,” and the employee took the little girl’s hand, walked with the mother and child to the counter, and greeted the employee making the cone saying “This princess had an ice cream cone, and it fell. Can you please give her whatever she’d like?”

“I would be happy to,” replied the other employee, and the girl was thrilled to get a new cone.

There are LOTS of lessons to be learned here. First, the employees spotted the issue because they were looking for opportunities to engage and help customers. They proactively addressed the other family members. They immediately cleaned up the mess without having to be asked. They were patient in waiting for the child to return. They clarified what had happened. They used respectful phrases in addressing the customer. They quickly provided an alternative product, communicating well with co-workers.

I know…it was just an ice cream cone.

But think about your company. Where are there issues, whether caused by your organization or the customer themselves? How do you deal with these issues?

Are you looking to help customers? Are you proactive in engaging customers? Do you address issues without having to be asked by the customer? Are you patient with them? Do you clarify the issue instead of making assumptions? Are you respectful in how you address customers, particularly in these situations? Do you quickly remedy issues, working as a team for the customer?

Ask yourself these questions, and then learn a little lesson from a Disney Princess.

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/