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Pass the Quick Impression Test - 12/30/25


Some studies have shown that people create an impression of you in less than a second when they first meet you face-to-face.  Other studies have shown that that initial impression can take up to 7 seconds.  Regardless, first impressions are quick.  First impressions are not always the lasting impression, Read more

2025 Holiday Poem - 12/23/25


We hear the word change And that change can be good, But we like things to stay same, And sometimes they should.   The weather can be wet And then dry as a bone. We know things will change, Even if all left alone.   Our customers change. Our co-workers do, too. It seems like our resources Are often too few.   The technology Read more

Make the Long Wait Feel Shorter - 12/16/25


When Greg entered the Tax Office, he was thinking only about two things: (1) How he was going to get the tax value on his home reduced, and (2) Whether the wait would be 1 hour or 2.  He checked in with the navigator who asked a few questions, Read more

When Kindness Means More in Customer Service - 12/9/25


Since a large part of the work we do at CSS includes customer research, we have seen tens of thousands of comments over the years about staff, and it is great to hear the positives that customers, fans, and account holders say about our clients’ team members. One word that Read more

Don’t Create the Second Complaint - 12/2/25


Maria was upset.  Rightfully so.  The product delivery was delayed, she couldn’t get anybody on the phone, and nobody would reply to her e-mails.  So, she went down to the store, and she found a customer service representative. After the initial greeting, the employee listened to Maria’s complaint.  While Maria Read more

Refresh on the Reasons to Appreciate the Customer - 11/25/25


This is a great time of year to give thanks, not just because it’s Thanksgiving week in the United States, but also because – with 2025 coming to a close - it gives us the opportunity to do some reflecting on the recent past. The idea of reflecting on reasons Read more

Confirm the Customer is Cleared for Takeoff - 11/18/25


An airplane pilot is told when they’re “cleared for takeoff” before they begin to accelerate down the runway.  The air traffic controller (ATC) has looked at everything in front of the pilot, on the runway and in the air space, and checked to ensure the pilot is good to Read more

Build Relationships with First-timers - 11/11/25


We’ve worked with one of our sports clients for over 10 years, and although the main focus of our work is research with their fan base, we also provide informal consulting advice and guidance whenever possible.  One approach we’ve talked about on and off for years is the need Read more

Last Impression Faux Pas - 11/4/25


Rightfully so, many customer service experts harp on the importance of the first impression.  It happens quickly, and it can impact the individual’s perception of you and the organization.  We even wrote a Tip of the Week on this years ago called First Impression Faux Pas. What many people tend Read more

Familying with Customers - 10/28/25


In our transactional society, it’s hard to think about customers in the long-term.  But if we want to be as successful as we can as an individual or as a business, we need to view customers through a relationship lens. What do we need to know about them to Read more

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How to Exceed the Promise – 10/10/23

Posted on October 10, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

It’s the never-ending battle between marketing and customer service.  Marketing makes promises, and customer service has to deal with upset customers when the company doesn’t deliver.  To ensure we deliver on promises, let’s assess promises by looking at some famous quotes over time…

Promises may get Friends, but ‘tis Performances that keep them. Thomas Fuller

Why you gained a customer is not necessarily why you will keep that customer. Typically, that carrot that leads the customer to your organization is not based on their personal experiences with your business. But their personal experiences are what determine whether they come back or not. 

Don’t ever promise more than you can deliver, but always deliver more than you promise.  Lou Holtz

Promises in business create expectations, so it’s better to under promise and over deliver. Remember, the difference between an expectation and reality is a problem when the expectation is greater than the reality.  Make the reality a little greater than the promise.

Let your yes be yes and your no be no.  James

Just like you need to be clear with the customer about what you can do, be clear with them about what you cannot Don’t give the customer the impression that you can hit a deadline when you probably cannot, that you can process a full refund when you probably cannot, that you can fix a problem exactly how they’ve defined the solution when you know you cannot.  Don’t create your own issues.

An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.  Mae West

The ultimate judgment of an organization is their performance. The lasting impression of an organization is much more likely to be based on the last impression or experience rather than the initial promise.

Deliver on promises by under promising at the start.  By looking for ways to deliver a little bit more.  By being clear when you cannot do something.  By understanding that performance is what makes the lasting impression.

Exceed the Promise.

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What “One in a Million” Means – 10/3/23

Posted on October 3, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

You are One in a Million!

That can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people.  Depending on the tone in which it’s said, the phrase can be a compliment or a criticism.  If there are 8 billion people in the world, that means there might be 8,000 of you on this earth.

But regardless of how it’s intended, there is one core meaning:  You are unique.

We often talk about customers needing to be viewed as individuals, not as a number.  They need to be considered for what makes them and their situation unique.  But what makes an individual or the situation unique?

If Service Excellence requires that we treat each person as an important and valued individual, let’s talk about what makes that individual in front of you or on the phone with you, that person you’re e-mailing or texting…unique:

  • How long have they worked with your business?
  • How urgent is their need?
  • What is their emotional state?
  • What is their knowledge or experience level in working with your organization or in dealing with situations like this?
  • What is their demographic makeup?
  • Where are they from, and where are they going next?

 
If they’re coming to you about a prior experience:

  • When did their prior experience or issue occur?
  • Who was involved in that prior experience or issue?
  • What caused that prior experience or issue?
  • What is their ultimate goal moving forward?

 
Maybe the individual responses to these questions are not unique, but the sum of all these responses are usually quite unique.  Think of it this way – if you flip a coin, there are only two options, heads and tails.  What’s so unique about that?  But if you flip that coin 20 times, how many different combinations of heads and tails could you have? What do you know, it’s about a million!

To treat someone like one in a million, work to uncover what’s unique.

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Frame the Ways to Get Back Your Customer – 3/7/23

Posted on March 7, 2023 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Every organization that gains customers is in a position to lose customers.  For the sports organization, it’s the lost account holder.  For the healthcare provider, it’s the member who enrolls with the competitor at the end of the year.  The retailer, the software provider, the financial services firm – lost customers occur, typically with clear financial repercussions.  Even with local government, it’s the customer moving elsewhere, the customer circumventing the system, the resident griping and complaining.  Maybe that loss is loss of support, but it is still a loss.

So, if you’re smart enough or lucky enough to get a chance to identify the reason for the loss, maybe there’s a chance you win them back.  Or at least there’s a good chance that you can put some improvement in place to mitigate similar losses in the future.

If you’re formulating a survey or talking with the customer, create some structure around how you ask about exit reasons.  Use this framework as a starting point:  Think about Product, People, Process, Policy, and the Place.  You’re trying to get a holistic view of the customer experience in those controllable categories of exit reasons.

For Product or Service, what about the product could have been improved?  What could have been done so it stood out a little more relative to the competition?

For People, think about the organization, the culture, how those communications flow and how those relationships are developed.  Ask the customer about the attitude, skills, knowledge of your team.  How do they communicate with the customer?  And did the company as a whole proactively communicate with the customer – trying to keep the relationship strong?

Regarding Process, how self-evident is the experience?  What are the wait times or lead times like for the customer?  Is everything as self-evident as possible?  Are the terminology and technology and paperwork simple enough and clear enough for any customer to understand and navigate?

Do the Policies restrict the customer experience or enhance it?  Are policies conveyed clearly, and are they in the best interests of the customer?

And what about the Place?  This could mean the physical facility or the environment that people experience online or with your apps.  Is it intuitive and clear and, again, easy to navigate?

There are many reasons why companies lose customers.  To win them back, organize your thoughts within this framework.

Consider the Product, the People, the Process, the Policy, and the Place.

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