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Create Awareness of Alternatives - 2/4/25


Sandy was hungry, and she was on the move.  Driving between meetings, she saw the restaurant sign and pulled in.  The fast-food restaurant had two drive-thru lanes.  One was for any customer who wanted to place an order on the spot. The other was for mobile orders only.  The Read more

Listen with Your Eyes - 1/28/25


Out of the corner of his eye, Patrick saw the customer enter the lobby.  The customer was carrying a large shoulder bag with several papers in her hand.  The customer was shuffling the papers and looking down; then she stopped, looked up, and saw the staff navigator sitting at Read more

When You’re the Educator, What Should You Teach? - 1/21/25


The best customer service professionals are also excellent educators.  Not only within the organization, but I’m talking specifically about the role they play as educator with their customers.  With all the self-service options that technology provides, customers often have the opportunity to do things on their own, to investigate Read more

Wrap It Up Right: Why Follow-Up Communications WOW Customers - 1/14/25


Dena had some questions about her water bill, so she looked for answers on the utility’s website.  She didn’t find specific answers, and she really didn’t want to get on the phone with somebody at the time and risk staying on hold.  She had lots going on, but she Read more

From Conversation to Connection: Defining Customer Engagement - 1/7/25


Maggie was sitting in the Service Excellence Training class, and the instructor kept talking about staying engaged with the customer.  Proactively engaging the customer.  Being fully engaged in the conversation. After hearing this same phrase (“engage”) used in various ways, Maggie raised her hand and asked a question probably several Read more

Self-empower for the New Year - 12/31/24


Jeff joined the company, in part, because he loved their approach to culture.  Leadership tried to create an empowerment culture.  They tried to develop an environment where, within certain parameters, individual team members could make a decision and feel confident that they would be supported by leadership. The reality was Read more

2024 Holiday Poem - 12/24/24


I sometimes hear it said That things have never been like this before. That challenges are unique, That stresses seem like more.   I sometimes hear it said That we're asked to do much more with less. That workloads are increasing, And we're resource-constrained at best.   And others often say That things are really very good. That they enjoy those Read more

Is Their Poor Planning Your Emergency? - 12/17/24


Have you ever heard the saying:  Your poor planning is not my emergency. I’ve heard it said often – not necessarily directly from one person to another.  More typical is that I hear it from the person having to drop everything and do something immediately because someone else didn’t think Read more

Empathy Examples for Everyday Situations - 12/10/24


I’ve often said that empathy is the single most important characteristic of people who are great at customer service.  If empathy is essentially “to understand the other person,” it helps so much to have that ability in order to specifically help someone.  To talk to what’s unique about them.  Read more

Tell Them Why You’re Giving Thanks - 12/3/24


Thank you! Merci! Danke! Doumo! Gracias! It seems like every language has a translation of Thank You.  Even though I only fluently speak English and speak Spanish, un poco, I – and probably most of you – have heard some or all of the translations of "Thank You” noted above.  Read more

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2015 Holiday Poem – 12/22/15 TOW

Posted on December 22, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


Run to the store
Quickly surf the net
Wrap up that report
And you’re not done yet.

Cancel a few meetings
Get the top jobs done
Simply making it through the day
Is the new definition of “won.”

It’s hectic and busy
As the year closes fast
It’s running at home and at work
Hoping nothing falls through the cracks.

At some point we should stop
And breathe in nature’s air
Slowly look all around us
At things for which we care.

Focus on what has import
In the grand scheme of things
And your mind won’t focus
On the tasks that work brings.

You’ll start to see people
You’ll focus on eyes and ears
You’ll seek to share smiles
As we close out the year.

You’ll look into others’ hearts
And know that there’s good
You’ll appreciate the little things
More than you thought that you could.

And by resetting the focus
On the most important
The other things become noise
We can more easily tune out.

It will give us energy as well
To direct toward good
And maybe, just maybe
Allow yourself to relax more than you thought that you should.

Allow yourself to relax – take care of yourself. It will make it easier to take care of others in 2016.

Happy Holidays!!

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Make 5 Minute Presentations to Co-workers – 11/3/15 TOW

Posted on November 3, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


My customer service consulting firm conducts many visioning workshops for clients. The workshops can address the Mission, Vision, Values, Core Beliefs, Statements of Desired Culture, and Definition of a GREAT Client Experience.

At the client’s request, two of this year’s Visioning workshops have incorporated something different and interesting. The Visioning work is necessary because these particular clients are growing, and with new staff and – at times – new functions, there is a lack of understanding that’s developing.

Who works in other divisions? What do they do as individuals? What do they do as a division? How do they impact me? How do I impact them?

Issues can arise because of a lack of understanding of others serving the same customer, others who are “my internal customer,” or those that “serve my department.” There’s miscommunication. There’s a customer being misdirected. There’s one department operating as normal without realizing they’re causing problems and customer complaints for another department.

As a part of these workshops, early on we have leaders of key departments or divisions make 5-minute presentations to others in the room. The presentation can be in any format and any level of formality desired – flexibility is offered to the presenter. However, the focus of the presentation has no flexibility. Every presentation has to answer this key question:

What does your division do for the customer?

If the presenter would like to present other information, they could provide information on services, functions, and/or benefits to the customer. Q&A follows, understanding of common customers and interrelationships are brought to light, and a movement toward a common vision can now begin.

It’s amazing what benefits can result in simple five minute presentations, Q&A, and seeing what everyone in the organization does framed around the customer.

Frame conversations around the customer. Make 5-minute presentations to co-workers.

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Learn How to Swim at a Young Age – 7/14/15 TOW

Posted on July 14, 2015 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment


When you’re 8 miles from the Canadian border in North Dakota, there’s not much reason to learn how to swim. As a child, you’re more concerned with shooting marbles, building a mini-igloo, and learning how to avoid frost bite.

That’s where and how I grew up, but as I grew older, and moved South, I wished I had learned to be a better swimmer. I wished that I had learned to breathe while doing freestyle. I wished I had learned to float instead of sink to the bottom like a rock.

The reason I wished I’d learned all these things at an early age is that – as I grew older – the fears of the water began to rise, and now the learning process was more about overcoming my mental outlook and fears than learning to refine swimming strokes. I wasn’t (and still today, am not) too old to learn, but it would have been SO MUCH EASIER to have learned swimming at an early age, and it would be so much more enjoyable to be at the pool today.

Maybe this is part of the reason I’m not a proponent of an approach with new hires in a business that is exclusively using on-the-job training. Most organizations have a mission, a vision, and core values. Many have customer service standards. Others have defined best practices for particular processes. Some organizations know what attributes of employees make some great and others more run-of-the-mill.

To assume that new employees will understand the mission, vision, values and standards naturally, to assume they’ll naturally conduct the work in the best manner possible, to assume that they’ll develop the attributes of the highest performing employees naturally is to set them up – and the company – for failure.

An organization with the intention of succeeding and thriving in a culture where employees drive high performance must be intentional about training their new staff on the “whys” of what they do, the expectations of their attitudes and mindsets, and the behaviors of those who excel.

Why? Because it is worlds easier to teach this to a new hire than to retrain and “rewire” a long-term employee.

Be intentional about training new hires to be stars for your company.

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