train | Customer Service Solutions, Inc.

Home  /  Show Your Confidence – 9/7/21  /  train

Be Amazing - 4/23/24


Watching Michael Jordan steal a pass and then dunk a basketball is amazing.  Taking a rocket to the moon is amazing.  The taste of my mom’s homemade beef soup is amazing. We all have our personal examples of what is amazing.  Usually, it’s something that we cannot comprehend, that we Read more

Talk About Yourself to Build Customer Confidence - 4/16/24


When you’re dealing with somebody who is anxious or nervous about a situation, a customer who feels like they don’t have much control, an individual who is unsure and uncertain, it’s important to put the customer at ease.  It’s important to build their comfort level.  It’s important to help Read more

The Proven Value in What You Do - 4/9/24


Forbes wrote an article last year based on a compilation of the results of research on customer service and the customer experience; it was titled:  100 Customer Experience Stats For 2023. In reading the article, you’ll note that many of these key research findings are about you – the value Read more

A Tale of Two Texts - 4/2/24


Having to get allergy shots once a week is never fun, and for Janet, it became an even bigger frustration. She had the shots typically scheduled on Tuesday around 10:30 in the morning, figuring she would avoid the morning rush as well as the lunch rush by going mid-morning.  However, Read more

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

The Miracle of an Apology - 3/19/24


Unfortunate but true story… The manager basically lost his mind.  He terminated his employee on the spot.  She had told the customer that there was going to be a delay in the shipment.  The employee called up the customer ahead of time to let the customer know what was about Read more

It’s Not About the 5-Minute Wait - 3/12/24


Robert went into his supervisor’s office to update her on a situation at the payment desk.  Robert said that a customer was about fourth or fifth in line, waiting to be served, and the customer was complaining loudly about the wait.  He was there to make a property tax Read more

Lessons from the Greats - 3/5/24


I was recently facilitating a workshop on the customer experience, and I made the point that it’s usually beneficial to look at your personal life for great experiences; identify what really resonates with you in a positive way in order to uncover ideas to improve your own customer service. So, Read more

The Empathy Roadmap - 2/27/24


For some people, empathy comes naturally.  There’s an innate desire to learn about the other person and to sincerely convey that sense of interest and caring.  But for many of us, sometimes it helps to have a communication plan.  It helps to know what to do in order to Read more

“You’re the Boss” - 2/20/24


Terrence is excellent at what he does.  From a technical standpoint, he knows how to keep the facility clean.  He’s the lead custodian, and he knows that keeping things straight does not necessarily mean keeping things sanitary.  He knows what chemicals to use and not to use, how to Read more

•••••

Show Your Confidence – 9/7/21

Posted on September 7, 2021 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

“Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.”

To do something great, you need to have confidence in yourself.  That confidence often comes from positive experience, preparation, understanding what has happened and could happen, and having the knowledge and resources and training to address it when it does happen.

If you want to do a great job in your role in service or in delivering a customer experience or dealing with the irate customer, remember your positive experiences, prepare, understand what happened and why and that it could happen again.  Know your resources, and train with others so that you can address even the greatest of undertakings.

“With self-confidence fulfilled, you’ll find that folk have confidence in you.”

While having confidence is important, when we’re working with customers, it’s also exceptionally important to show your confidence.  People don’t always take what you say or the information you provide at face value. Oftentimes, they judge the quality of the information and the credibility of the person providing the information based on how that information is delivered.

If you want the customer to accept what you say, have faith in what you decide, and trust the direction you provide, it needs to be delivered with confidence.

Confidence is often conveyed by presenting something with a focus on the other person.  It’s conveyed with clarity of thought and well-articulated words.  It’s often conveyed with brief statements as opposed to lengthy and rambling narratives.  And it’s conveyed with your nodding of the head or with your strong yet conversational tone.

Set yourself up for customer service success.  Invest in yourself so that you are confident in the work you do.  Then present yourself in such a way that the customer shares your confidence.

Show your confidence.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


Never Before… – 8/4/20

Posted on August 4, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The importance of customer service is at the forefront again in our economy.  We noticed this clearly in the early 2000s when the country’s economy struggled, and we noticed it again during the Great Recession several years later.  Today, with yet another set of unexpected and extreme economic challenges, companies are fighting to keep customers.  They’re coming up with creative ways to change the customer experience.  They are trying to identify unique opportunities to provide customer service in a way that works best for the customer.

We’re seeing enhanced delivery of services and packages.  We’re seeing the offer from businesses to take products out to customers while they are in the car.  We see employees wearing masks and facilities being sanitized like never before.  We’re seeing acceleration of technology options for customers to browse and to buy and get their questions answered.

But the products themselves remain relatively the same. The services themselves remain relatively the same.  The programs themselves remain relatively the same.

So, what is different?

We’ve always defined customer service as the Attitude (and skills, knowledge) conveyed by employees and the Processes within which the customer experiences the service and the product.  These are the areas where companies are making significant change.  They are improving customer service by improving Attitudes and Processes.

Companies are realizing the importance of retention and the value of the customer more and more, and they are finding different ways to deliver the same product.  They’re more overtly appreciative of the customers they have and those that are taking the steps to stay with the businesses.

There are many lessons learned here, but the one key takeaway is that customer service matters.  Customer service adds value.  Customer service leads to higher retention and sales.  And customer service is about serving the customers in a manner that would work best for the customer.

The keep a customer, find out how to best serve the customer.

Serve like never before.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


Effectively Teach the Customer – 7/28/20

Posted on July 28, 2020 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

The 1985 Harris and Rosenthal research project conveyed what really improves student learning based on the interaction with the teacher.  The top two factors that teachers used to increase learning were (1) The duration of the interaction with the student and (2) The encouragement of the student.  In 3rd and 4th place were gestures and smiles, and since we talk a lot about body language, will defer those for now.

So, let’s talk about the top two and how they relate to customer service.  Oftentimes, you are in the role of being a teacher to the customer – particularly in this COVID-19 world where we’re having to do things differently, where customers are having to do things differently, or customers are often having to do things for themselves.  If we want them to retain what we teach, we need to shift some of the past paradigms in the customer service world.

Longer Conversations – First, a short customer conversation may be good for a call center’s handle times, but it’s bad for a customer’s learning.  Increasing our patience, planning for more time with customer encounters, and ensuring customer understanding of processes, activities, and expectations – these actions have the greatest effect on how well the customer learns what we’re teaching them.

Encouragement – Second, it’s not just a matter of conveying the right information and allocating the time to it.  It’s also a matter of encouraging the customer. I know we don’t often think of ourselves as the coach to the player as employees to the customer, but when we are helping them to help themselves and expecting them to do things differently, we need to encourage them just like coaches encourage players.  We need to give them positive feedback just like teachers should with students or – for that matter – we should with each other.

When you find yourself in the role of educating others, allow for longer interactions with customers, and ensure the content is complemented by your encouragement of the customer.

Be a great teacher to your customers.

Signup for FREE Tips!    Contact Us    More Resources for You    Visit Our Home Page


1 2   Next »