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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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2 of 3 Customers Switched Providers – Did Yours?

Posted on February 1, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

A recent Accenture consulting research study noted that 2 out of 3 consumers worldwide “switched providers in at least one industry in the past year due to poor customer service.” In addition, “Forty-four percent of consumers said their expectations today are higher than they were just a year ago.”

Boiling these two key points down to a quick conclusion, you could say that today’s customers expect more, and they are highly likely to leave if you don’t meet those expectations.

So what do you know about TODAY’S customers? Don’t just think in terms of surveys you conducted on customers 2 years ago or market research conducted 4 years ago or focus groups you did 18 months ago. What do you know about the customers you have TODAY?

Older information from past customers about previous experiences in a different time can lead to faulty decisions for tomorrow.

Any organization that wants to continue to learn, to improve, to grow, to succeed has to – at the same time – continually communicate with and learn about their customers. What do they expect out of their experience? Why are they a customer? Why would they leave? What competitors are they considering or already patronizing? What makes them loyal to you, or what WOULD make them loyal to you?

Ensure you have an ongoing customer research strategy that provides you with the fresh intelligence you need to retain and grow with TODAY’S customer.

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/

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/


Google This…Then Think Differently About Retention

Posted on January 26, 2012 in Business Advice, Government Please leave a comment

Go to Google News and search on “business retention.” When I did this recently, there were 102 items of business news for the last week alone, and they are from close to 100 different locations.

Why is this term becoming so ubiquitous (never used that word in a blog post before…very exciting!)? “Business retention” programs are proliferating, and it’s because communities are realizing the value of a company and its jobs and its fees and its taxes and its construction projects and the salaries it pays. Communities are realizing the value of a customer, and their customer is a business.

When the economy tanks (as it did around 2008 and earlier this century as well), businesses in general start talking a lot more about customer service and customer retention. Whereas it’s sexy to talk about new sales, new clients, and new businesses coming to town, all of that “new” stuff is an addition to what already exists – your current customers.

What we tell our economic development clients is the same thing I’d tell most any other business – don’t limit your retention strategy to “delivering great customer service” or to “having lots of face-to-face meetings with your customers.”

Your strategy needs to be based on data, facts, intelligence – some of which you acquire by asking your customers questions, and some of which you acquire by conducting ongoing research on your clients (via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google News, MarketWatch, etc.). Your strategy needs to involve a mix of pre-planned Touch Points that occur throughout the year to pull information from customers via surveys/research/meetings/calls/e-mails or push information of value to them or marketing information for them. But the Touch Points also have to include those (as we say with our healthcare customers) PRN touches – those provided as needed based on that intelligence we just noted.

When you think about how to retain your customers (whether that customer is a business or an individual), you still need to deliver great customer service. But also develop strategies to gather intelligence, and provide strategic Touch Points to develop relationships that grow with your existing customers.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our 2012 Customer Service Trends podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/2012/1/12/stepping-up-service-6-customer-service-trends-for-2012.html

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


Service or a Perk – Pick 1

Posted on January 25, 2012 in Business Advice, Sports Please leave a comment

“Service, Price, or Quality – Pick any 2.”

A sign with that statement used to hang in my dry cleaners years ago – luckily, it was a joke. They’re pretty good at all 3!

But that statement hasn’t died; a recent article in Moneywise essentially had a revised version of the statement – “Service or a Perk – Pick 1.”

The article references a survey with the following finding: “Almost half (49%) of consumers would change banks because of bad customer service – more than twice the number (22%) of people who would change providers because of rewards and incentives.” Now you may be thinking of an incentive from a bank being a stereotypical “toaster,” but different organizations have different definitions of incentive, reward, or perk.

We work with lots of organizations that focus on perks, particularly professional sports organizations. And many of them are constantly looking to expand their offering of benefits to season ticket holders (STHs) to impact renewals for the next season. But instead of assuming perks drive retention, we often survey (or tell our clients to survey) STHs and ask them directly – how much impact does “X” have on your likelihood to renew?

Now “X” could be “Direction of the Team” or “My Relationship with My Account Representative” or “Perk A” or “Benefit B.”

But don’t make assumptions; ask the customers what drives their retention and renewals, and then act on that information. Remember, Perks/Benefits can cost a LOT of money, so don’t spend it unless you have to do so.

So when you’re determining what perks and benefits to provide, first ask your customers if those items really drive retention.

Listen to our Pro Sports episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/2011/10/11/stepping-up-service-3-customer-service-in-professional-sport.html

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/


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