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View Quality through the Customer’s Eyes - 10/14/25


Geri had been dealing with backups in the downstairs plumbing system of her house on and off for the past year.  The most recent company that she called in to unclog the pipes stated that they could send a camera down the pipes and tell her exactly where the Read more

Be Supportive, Not Defensive - 10/7/25


[An employee on the phone with a customer…] Who told you that you didn’t have to submit that form? … Bob?  Oh brother!  You see Bob is our “special” co-worker.  He seems to always tell customers the wrong thing to do, and we’re having to clean up after him.  Read more

Some Customers LOVE Predictability - 9/30/25


I was facilitating focus groups of businesses that utilize local government services.  The phrase that popped up multiple times was “Time Is Money!”  What these municipal customers were conveying was that their time was valuable, and delays were wasting their time.  But the conversations were not just about how Read more

Find Your Special Sauce - 9/23/25


When I watch a football game and I see a great quarterback (somebody who may be considered a “Star”), he might be an excellent runner, have a big arm, be able to diagnose the defense and get his team into the right play.  But he’s likely not great at Read more

Gain Control of the Conversation - 9/16/25


The customer’s angry or upset or they have a complaint.  They’re very chatty or very wordy or they just want to talk to somebody.  You’re on a time crunch, and the customer obviously is not. There are times when you need to gain control of the conversation.  It’s important for Read more

Complement with a Compliment - 9/9/25


We perform many tasks for our customers every day, and when we’re done with a step in the process, oftentimes we will tell the customer what’s been done.  But if we want to create more of a WOW experience, if we want to make the customer feel a little Read more

When Patience Begets Patience - 9/2/25


Jennifer, the server, walked toward the couple in the restaurant.  The customers had been seated for a minute or two, and they noticed the server was walking briskly toward their table.  Jennifer recognized the couple she was about to serve, because they had been in the previous week. Since the Read more

Address the Expectations that Were Set - 8/26/25


Before the caller ever got to Marco – the customer service representative, the customer had been working with the company for months.  They had read the marketing brochures, had a conversation with a sales rep, reviewed the new customer information on the website, and read all the information e-mailed Read more

When Technology Fails the Customer - 8/19/25


Technology is a wonderful thing…until it isn’t.  The website is down, the mobile app won’t work, the system keeps kicking them out of their account, or they received a spoofing phone call supposedly from your department. If you’ve ever been manning the phones or managing the department inbox, you know Read more

The Misunderstood Physician - 8/12/25


I was speaking with one of my personal physicians years ago, and when we were talking about my work – particularly customer satisfaction research - he started talking about online physician ratings.  He lamented that a few low ratings were dinging his overall score.  Then he shared that the Read more

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Build a Retention Program

Posted on February 2, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

You have a marketing plan, a social media presence, and sales program. But do you have the same structures in place for retention?

In a recent Body Shop Biz article, the Toronto Area Dealer Association’s “Renewit program” is noted because it focuses on how the association is helping members to increase customer retention, sales, and profits. Among other features, the program directs the customer’s vehicle back to the dealership after a breakdown or wreck.

Now whether the program turns out to be as great as advertised is not yet known, but there is much to be learned from the program.

First, you have to have solid data on the customer and the product/service they purchased in order to communicate most effectively with them – make sure these details are acquired during the sale and effectively flow to your customer service systems.

Second, make it easy for the customer to contact you back if they have an issue. You’d rather resolve the issue and keep the relationship than have them go elsewhere today for support, since that might make them go elsewhere tomorrow for a product.

Third and more broadly, view your customer service functions as revenue-building entities that should have the goals, technology, people, and processes that focus on staying in touch with clients, meeting after-the-sale needs, and deepening relationships.

Build your own great customer service body shop.

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/


Horton Hears a Stakeholder?

Posted on February 1, 2011 in Business Advice Please leave a comment

Do you remember the Dr. Seuss story about an elephant named Horton who believes he hears the voices of an entire village of people (the "Whos") on a speck of dust? Only Horton could hear the Whos. All the other animals in Horton’s kingdom thought he was crazy. To keep Horton from wasting his time protecting the Whos, a mean kangaroo and some crazy monkeys tried to boil the speck of dust.

Just before the dastardly deed was to be done, a small boy from Whoville added his voice to the other Whos, and his yell enabled the Whos to be heard by all in Horton’s Kingdom. It was a little voice, but when added to the rest, it helped the Whos break through the sound barrier. It worked because every person in the village, and let me emphasize EVERY person, had a common goal.

Think about all the voices in your organization, in your business life. Are you tapping into all the resources available to you for advice, guidance, input, and resources? Are you able to get all your key stakeholders and staff on the same page, or are assignments made with the mere hope that everybody gets their job done?

Unfortunately, most companies that tout customer service in marketing, or preach customer service internally, don’t leverage their key sources of ideas – customers and staff. But you can and should tap these resources.

Survey and/or interview your customers and your employees. Ask them to reveal their minds and hearts. What do they see as the most likely changes to the business environment over the next 3-5 years? What do you need to do now to be successful then? And ask what must be done in the short run to lock-in employees and guarantee customer loyalty now so that change won’t bring lost business and lower revenue.

Use this research to learn and to create a common direction and a common focus. Make sure you’re getting all the input you need, down to the last Who in Whoville.

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/


The Quest is Not the Thing

Posted on January 31, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

The quest for the next customer is exciting, arduous, challenging, and – when you win – rewarding. Every quest begins with a first contact. You work hard to learn about this customer’s needs, wants, and priorities. You strive to learn their goals, their price parameters, and their personal profile. Where did they go to school? Do they have children? Who’s their favorite football team? Where did they grow up?

You learn the facts. You create the plan. You execute the plan. You make the sale, and you ring the bell in celebration! Then you move on to the next potential new customer, the next quest.

Is there something wrong with this picture?

You’ve just worked hard to earn that new customer. Yet, your focus now is on the NEXT new opportunity. What’s most important is the CURRENT new opportunity. So many people in business are in such hot pursuit of the next new opportunity that they are blinded to the current new opportunity.

What would rather achieve: 50 one-time sales or 50 sales from one customer? I hope you all responded "the latter." Think of each new customer as the beginning of a new relationship – your current new opportunity. Your primary focus after completing that transaction with the customer should be developing the relationship and initiating an ongoing system of communicating with them.

Selling to people you don’t know and don’t have a relationship with is hard. Create a legion of customers with whom you can relate, communicate, and – hopefully – enjoy working.

Create this legion by developing relationships with the one-time customers and making them your source for long-term business success.

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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