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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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You, Your Car, and Customer Retention

Posted on January 19, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

A recent J.D. Power study on retention among automobile manufacturers noted that Hyundai has the best customer retention – a 64% rate. The industry average was only 49%. So that means that only half of you (and me) buy the same brand of car that we’re replacing. Yikes! If that’s not a red flag to businesses, I don’t know one.

Take this perspective (more numbers…). Hyundai sold 645,691 vehicles in 2011. At a 64% retention rate, that’s equivalent to a 36% loss rate. So when those 2011 vehicles are turned in by owners for their next vehicle, 232,449 of them will not be a Hyundai.

If I wanted to create a revenue-generating job at Hyundai, it would be “Chief Retention Officer.” The CRO would be in charge of trying not to lose as many of those 232,449 customers as possible. If he saved just 1% of them, he’d generate over $30 million for Hyundai. Keep in mind that we’re talking about the BEST automotive manufacturing company there is at customer retention.

Now, look at your own company, your own business. Who is your CRO? Who has the authority to do the research and create the strategy to generate your additional revenue by reducing customer loss? Who has the capability to design the training and customer relationship development approach to increase loyalty?

Find a CRO so you can crow about your retention.

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

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/


Social Customer Service, and Customer Expectations

Posted on January 12, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

In the article 20 minutes is too long for Twitter Customer Service, Michael Pace notes that the “@HyattConcierge Twitter response time goal (service level) is 20 minutes.” He then talks about whether that is the right goal – particularly from the customer’s perspective. Mr. Pace offers several standards based on the type of social media that customers are utilizing – interesting data, so check out the article.

So this begs several questions for your business – whether or not you’re in the Twitter world. What expectations do you have for the timeliness of responsiveness to customers? How do your organization’s expectations match up with the customer’s expectations? How do you find out your customer’s expectations? How do you share your organization’s expectations with your employees? How do you address your processes and systems to help employees meet those expectations? How do you measure expectations vs. reality? Finally, how do you communicate those expectations to customers so their expectations are more realistic?

This is a lot about expectations, but remember that studies have shown that 40% of customer dissatisfaction is because the company didn’t meet customer expectations. Maybe they overpromised, or they just didn’t do the bare minimum of what a customer would expect.

So get with the customer service and marketing leaders at your business, and talk about customer expectations. What is realistic? How do we communicate realism in a positive manner? What needs to be improved? How do we improve? How do we become GREAT?

There’s a lot that businesses try to do every day to improve customer service – but those efforts need to include a clear focus and strategy around setting, meeting, and striving to exceed customer expectations.

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

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/


Secret Shopping to Uncover…Great Customer Service?

Posted on December 21, 2011 in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

We’ve done enough secret shopping for our clients to know that employees are not happy to learn that they might be shopped. It’s tough to get evaluated, and it’s especially tough when the evaluator is some mystery person. But in the article Secret shoppers reveal best in customer service, a mystery shopping engagement in California results in…awards!

The secret shoppers identified eight residents who provided exceptional service, and the eight individuals were rewarded with certificates and prizes.

This is the part that many organizations forget when they do research – whether that research is a customer satisfaction survey or a mystery shopping engagement. The goal is not just to see what you can do better, but it’s also to celebrate success. We often talk about redirecting people when they do poorly and reinforcing what they do right. It’s not about punishment; it’s about improvement. And one of the best ways to improve is to highlight (and then replicate) success!

We have a hospital client which we meet with quarterly to review patient satisfaction survey results and create Action Plans for the upcoming quarter. Well over 60% of the Action Items listed deal with sharing positive results with staff, recognizing customer service stars, and celebrating success.

So when your organization does research, remember that’s it’s not about the “gotcha” moments. It’s about finding opportunities to improve and opportunities to reward and recognize.

Get shopped to highlight great customer service.

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

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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