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


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 Read more

Guiding Principles for Great Customer Service - 11/12/24


It’s hard to know every procedure, every policy, every technique possible to handle every situation correctly.  After all, maybe our procedures are standard, but our customers are not.  Maybe our policies stay pretty consistent, but our customers’ needs and issues, their attitudes and actions can change from customer to Read more

From a Simple Question to an Exceptional Experience - 11/5/24


Phyllis loves her job.  It’s not just because she loves being a customer service representative, not just because she really likes her co-workers, and not just because she enjoys her company.  It’s because she really appreciates her customers, as well. A customer had ordered a register book off the company Read more

Fix One Problem without Creating Another - 10/29/24


If you’ve ever had an issue with your dishwasher, this will sound familiar.  I’ve dealt with so many dishwashers over the years, and they always seem to have some kind of an issue.  Maybe it’s because of the mix of water and technology, but for whatever reason, these never Read more

Delight Your Customers - 10/22/24


Buddy the Bug Man was different.  His company was new, and the only reason why Janet tried him out was that the service she had used for years just wasn’t working.  Whether it was mosquitoes in the yard, ants in the kitchen, or cockroaches flying through on their way Read more

A More Complete Definition of Responsiveness - 10/15/24


I was purchasing something recently that was being custom-developed.  At one point, the company’s employee and I had a good 20 e-mails going back and forth - 10 from each of us.  Unfortunately, I broke my own rule, and I did not pick up the phone after 2 or Read more

Have a Game Plan to Address Their Anxiety - 10/8/24


It seems like we all get deliveries - whether it is UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, the local courier, or all the above.  We order.  They deliver.  Or do they? It’s times like these, when we’re expecting that package, that item that we’re looking forward to or need urgently or are Read more

How Persistence Saved the Day - 10/1/24


Sherrie saw the customer walk into her store holding his cell phone, and Sherrie immediately knew that was William.  She had spoken to William on the phone about an hour ago, he said he would be at Sherrie’s cell phone store in less than an hour, and there he Read more

Notice the Little Changes - 9/24/24


“My, how times have changed.” Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, one of the biggest reasons why an organization’s customer service deteriorates is that times have changed…customers have changed…and the company has not… If we think about customer service delivery today v. decades ago, changes in technology alone Read more

Don’t Hurry…Be Quick - 9/17/24


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 Read more

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Retention is Not Marketing

Posted on May 16, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

One of the biggest philosophical errors in business today is the thought that marketing should drive customer retention. In the article Customer acquisition versus customer retention, the author talks about which of these options (acquisition v. retention) is the best use of marketing dollars. While there are several good points in the article, the bigger point I’m focused on is the “best use of marketing dollars” concept.

Marketers far too often view “retention” as the next “campaign” where we’ll push this product or that message in an e-mail blast or a glossy newsletter. We’ll promote this event or offer that discount with a big ad push.

But customer retention needs to be viewed differently. It’s not transaction-based or event-based. It’s not push-oriented. It’s relationship-oriented. It’s dialogue-oriented. It’s 1-on-1.

Now don’t mistake this statement to think that I’m promoting retention as something that has to be labor intensive and high cost. I’m addressing the mindset of it because this affects the strategy of it. Once you start thinking how can I retain Joe or Mary or Sue, once it’s Andre or Bea or Randy, the approach changes. It’s more personalized, more customized, more person-focused and less number focused.

You begin to think “How can I develop a relationship with this individual?” You ask “How can I keep them for the long-term?” You consider “How can I become vital to their day-to-day activities?” These types of questions lead to longer-term strategies, longer relationships, higher retention, and higher revenue.

Think about retention in 1-on-1 terms, not broad based marketing terms. Your decisions will change, and your performance will improve.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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


Of College Football and Fan Retention

Posted on May 3, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

A University of Tennessee Volunteers football fan of 40 years is not renewing his season tickets. What makes this story interesting is that one person encapsulated many of the problems that fans of sports across the nation experience in one letter to the UT Athletics Director. The now former season ticket holder addressed:

  • Game times/scheduling that appease television networks but are inconvenient to ticket holders
  • How high-definition television has made the at-home experience “much more attractive”
  • Pricing of concessions v. pricing of ‘a beer in my fridge at home.’

If these points could be boiled down to two key items, those items are price and convenience. The price difference between staying at home v. going to the game is significant. The convenience of going to the fridge v. driving to the stadium, finding parking, waiting in ticketing and concession lines, finding your car, and going home are also significant.

So how do you overcome the significant price and convenience gaps? It comes down to the experience and the value. The game day experience has to be better at the stadium. The value (through the entertainment, the perks/benefits, the relationship-building environment (relationship-building between fans and between fan-team/club), the quality of the play, etc.) has to be significant enough to overcome the alternative – staying at home.

To simplify the challenge of retaining season ticket holders whose alternative is that at-home option, think of the challenge in these terms – What can you do with the experience and the value to overcome differences in price and convenience?

Narrow the battle to those four factors, and build a game plan for success.

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

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


Of Napoleon and University Retention…

Posted on April 25, 2012 in Business Advice, Education Please leave a comment

Apparently Napoleon and today’s higher education system have something in common…really.

According to Associate Provost for Curriculum Gregory Heileman from the University of New Mexico in the article ASUNM talks retention rates, “Student retention and graduation rates are similar to Napoleon’s march from Paris to Moscow in 1812. It started out with 400,000 soldiers but ended with only 10,000 soldiers.”

The point is – many students come in, but comparatively few graduate. Based on enrollment data from 2005-11, only 45% of students who had first enrolled in 2005 had graduated by 2011.

To resolve this, UNM plans to modify courses that have high failure rates to enable all students to “choose the pace of the course.” This teeters on the brink of lowering standards (or at least expectations) to make sure people keep moving through the system, but UNM assures that they “won’t let you move forward without knowing a concept.”

What else is interesting in the article is that the #1 cause of student loss if the cost of the education, but the main tactic being employed to address this is offering more extended pay plans.

It seems like UNM has decided not to focus on ways to build value but is instead trying to remove the near-term causes of pain (i.e., failing a class or having a higher short-term tuition payment). While these might concepts work to a point, they primarily support the philosophy of making things easier for the student as opposed to making the experience better or facilitating the student’s academic growth.

So let’s broaden this topic to ask a key question – What would you do if your customers were leaving because of an issue with a product or because of the product’s cost?

Would you look to build value or just extend payment terms? Would you look to make the experience better for the customer or remove their hassles? These are tough questions because a university which understands its role fully realizes it needs to grow the person (their willingness to take on challenges, be responsible, and hold themselves accountable) as it helps to build the student’s knowledge and abilities. Most other businesses aren’t trying to effect core changes in the makeup of their customers – such as making them more responsible or accountable.

So this is the approach that UNM is taking. What do you think of it?

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

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


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