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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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Canceling Internet Service – 8 calls, 5 employees, 5 tweets, 2 phones, and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

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

Welcome to my nightmare from Saturday. I wanted to cancel internet service at my home, and this is what transpired…

Web Attempt to Cancel

I logged into to my account on the company website to cancel internet service (but keep my television service). The website FAQs said that I could not cancel over the internet, and it provided a number to call.

Call Attempt #1

  • I called a toll free number found on the website.
  • The system stated “I noticed you’re calling from an out of town number,” which seemed odd since it was a toll-free number.
  • It said to press 1 for Los Angeles, 2 for El Segundo, etc. I’m in Charlotte, so I wasn’t expecting the El Segundo reference.
  • The system asked what I was calling about, and I said to disconnect; after I confirmed again that it was to disconnect…I got the proverbial “All of our agents are currently busy” message.
  • After 8 minutes of silence (absolutely no noise, beeps, or music), I hung up.

Call Attempt #2

  • I called the same number and went through the same menu.
  • The call was transferred to a representative after 2 minutes of the menus, and he picked up immediately – whew!
  • Charles introduced himself; I introduced myself.
  • He then said “Is anyone there? I cannot hear anyone. If I don’t, I will be forced to hang up.” After not hearing my repeated statements of “Hello! Charles! Can you hear me?!”, he hung up.

Call Attempt #3

  • I used a different phone (a cell instead of the landline at the house), called the same number and went through the same menu.
  • I received the “All of our agents are currently busy” message.
  • This time I DID get music and a message about every 90 seconds about agents being busy.
  • I held for 26 minutes, and it disconnected me and started beeping…
  • While I was on hold, I tried to do an online chat, and they also said I couldn’t cancel via the web, but they gave me a different number to call to cancel.

Call Attempt #4

  • I called the alternative toll free cancellation number.
  • It sent me through a menu (at least they didn’t ask me about El Segundo…).
  • I received the “All of our agents are currently busy” message.
  • They picked up after 7 minutes, and they could hear me…hallelujah!!!!!!!!!!!
  • I confirmed several items for the representative, and then they all of a sudden couldn’t hear me, so they disconnected me – UGH!!!!

Call Attempt #5

  • I called the alternative toll free cancellation number again.
  • It sent me through a menu again, and I received the “All of our agents are currently busy” message.
  • I Tweeted, they responded within 4 minutes – WOW…Great!
  • Still holding on call #5…
  • They picked up in 6 minutes but couldn’t hear me…I’ve tried 2 different phones (1 AT&T landline and the other Verizon cell), and they couldn’t hear me on the landline, and they both could and could not hear me on the cell.

Call Attempt #6

  • I called the alternative toll free cancellation number again.
  • It sent me through a menu again, and I received the “All of our agents are currently busy” message.
  • I tweeted again but didn’t get a response.
  • After 6 minutes, I finally got through to the 4th rep on my 6th call using my 2nd phone, 2nd phone provider, and 2nd toll free number. She “couldn’t hear me,” and disconnected my call.

It’s interesting that the provider initially responded so quickly to my tweets. When I tweeted that my frustration was about cancellation, they didn’t return the tweet.

I later sent a summary tweet with my concerns, and they did respond and asked me to Direct Message them so they could schedule a call. We did so, and they promised a call in 2-4 hours; the call came 48 hours later.

I returned the call and left a message; they returned my call, and we got it canceled.

Finally Tally

I initiated 8 calls, talked to 5 employees, called 3 phone numbers, used 2 phones, tweeted 5 times, made 2 web attempts (via website and live chat) and now all I have to do is bring their modem to one of their facilities during their hours to cancel their service. I think cancelling their TV service will be next…if I’m willing to go through the hassle again.


One Company’s Path Toward Greater Customer Service…

Posted on June 28, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Chart the course. It’s easier to get to where you need to go if you have a path, a map, direction, a guide.

But when starting in the muck, achieving the vision is that much more difficult.

That’s where Charter Communications is/was according to a recent CED article. They hired an individual with success at a telecommunications company to come in and revamp their customer service. Here’s some of what John Birrer did and is doing for them:

· Helped them create/refine their metrics that measure customer satisfaction and retention.

· Emphasized the importance of teaching “soft skills” to front-line staff since they’re the ones engaging the customers.

· Has supervisors role play customer service situations with staff.

· Created ongoing employee and customer feedback systems focused on continually improving customer service.

· Training staff to build their product/process knowledge as well as those customer service skills.

· Involving partner companies in the customer service initiatives.

· Instituted follow-up calls with customers served in the past 48 hours.

And what have they found from these efforts? Improved customer satisfaction and reduced operating costs.

If you want to improve customer service, satisfaction, and loyalty, find an expert, address metrics/processes/people, and make sure your staff are empowered and enabled (through training and technology) to succeed.

Need an expert (FYI – you can e-mail me at edward.gagnon@cssamerica.com !)

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/


Social Media and Customer Service – Are you integrating?

Posted on May 26, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

It’s a big buzz in the customer service world and in the business world in general. It’s all about social media – Twitter, Facebook, whatever your preferred flavor may be.

In the article Carriers using social media to measure & improve customer service, an IBM exec notes during a forum in Dublin, Ireland that a recent study indicates 33% of consumers overall look for product information via social media while 50% of 18-25 years olds search the social platforms.

Panelists on the topic agreed that “Effective social campaigns to measure and improve customer experience require individualized attention and an increased response speed.”

Let’s stop. Forget about the fact that we’re talking about social media; I’ll even take that word out of the statement. Think about your store. Your online business. Your hospital. Your bank. Your sports team or club.

Now read this statement again: “Effective campaigns to measure and improve customer experience require individualized attention and an increased response speed.”

This fact is NOTHING NEW!

It applies to your storefront, your web, your phone response systems, and – yes – social media. Social media may set an expectation for more immediacy since people using that vehicle are part of a demographic typically looking for quick information and response. Also, from the company’s perspective, since social media can “go viral” to many hundreds or thousands of people quickly, there is a need to address issues fast to maintain the brand and minimize customer churn.

But the core point applies throughout any business; it goes beyond social media. If you want to measure and improve your customer’s experience, get to know your customer as an individual. Communicate with them as an individual. Respond to them quickly…as an individual.

Integrate Social Media and Customer Service in your business, but when you do it, keep in mind that you’re not using Social Media just to promote and sell to existing clients.

You’re doing it to serve your customer as an individual.

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/