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Is This Good Customer Service? - 9/29/26


A friend of mine reached out to me recently as she waited for the electrical technician to show up at her house to do some minor repairs.  She had never worked with this company before, but they sent a text about the tech who was soon to arrive. The message Read more

Ownership when Fixing Others’ Errors - 9/22/26


We were conducting training with a client recently, and one of the participants, Jackie, is in a role in his organization where he goes out to the customer site to investigate issues, address customer complaints, and fix problems.  While he’s at the site, he often gets an earful from Read more

Why “No” is So Important - 9/15/26


The employee told the caller: “I don’t think that is possible.” The customer eventually hung up, and redialed to ask a different employee the same question. The employee responded to the customer: “That’s probably not the best way to do it.”  Then, the customer kept asking question after question, arguing Read more

It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” - 9/8/26


During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to Read more

It Shouldn’t Make a Difference, But… - 9/1/26


We have this conversation with lots of our sports clients, but the principles apply across all different industries.  Too many service representatives view a conversation with a customer as a transaction.  Just get him off the phone as quickly as possible.  The customer is Joe Public, not Joseph Pendergrass.  Read more

Use What the Customer Gives You - 8/25/26


Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so. The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, Read more

How Better Customer Service is Better for You - 8/18/26


Oftentimes, we have employees in training or workshops who really want to understand what’s in it for them to deliver better customer service.  How does the employee benefit from a better customer experience? Noted below are 5 different aspects of a great experience desired by the customer.  What if... The customer Read more

Manage New Customer Expectations - 8/11/26


The fan had never been to a motorsports event before, but they had been to concerts.  They had been to big conferences.  At those other events, they could park right next to the venue, many of the activities were indoors, and weather was a non-issue.  So, they were not Read more

Complement Empathy with Action - 8/4/26


A man falls into a hole, and he can’t get out.  He starts yelling for help, and a doctor walks by and looks down the hole.  The man in the hole yells to the doctor “Please help me.  I’ve fallen into this hole!”  And the doctor takes out a Read more

My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26


I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an Read more

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It’s Not “You,” It’s “I” – 9/8/26

Posted on September 8, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

During a business writing course that I took years ago, the instructor had us write an e-mail.  I can’t recall if it was written to a co-worker or customer, but after writing this e-mail, she had us count every “I” and “You.”  We talked about how we need to weight the mix of I/You so the focus was more on You and less on the I.  We needed to make sure that the e-mail’s audience felt like we were focused on them more than ourselves.  Feel that we’re more concerned with sharing information with them, helping them to get their needs met, instead of talking about everything we were doing or focusing on ourselves.

Obviously, the topic at hand can impact what that mix of I and You should be, but her point was really more about the feeling that the reader was taking away from the document.  She wanted the reader to feel like they were important, they were the priority.

The people who are great at customer service know how to use an “I.”  When they’re ending a call with the customer, they ask: Is there anything else I can do to help?

When they’re leaving a planning meeting, they state: Please let me know how I can best support this project.

When there is a complaint, they’ll say: I’m so sorry to hear about the situation.

It’s always best when you’re serving others to use terminology that conveys a focus on that other person.  It’s equally important to use the “I” verbiage when you are conveying your interest in helping, when you are seeking to support the team, when you’re taking responsibility for an issue.

Be conscious of the use of You and I to deliver the right tone in your customer and team conversations.

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Use What the Customer Gives You – 8/25/26

Posted on August 25, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Scenario #1: The customer sent an e-mail to the general inbox at the company.  The message noted that the customer needed to get a family member added to their account, but they couldn’t tell from the website how to do so.

The next morning an employee opened up the e-mail, got the customer’s e-mail address, and created a new message.  The employee thanked the customer for the e-mail, stated that they understood the customer needed some help, and asked what they needed help doing.

Scenario #2: A customer called a pet store asking if they had an item in stock.  The employee said: “We are out of stock, and we just got a shipment in, but I’m not sure when they’ll be unloaded.”

While the customer was still on the phone, the employee could be heard talking to their manager about the shipment.  The manager got on the phone and said: “How can I help you?”

Good v. Great Customer Service

These two scenarios highlight a difference between good and great customer service.  In neither situation was the service bad.  However, in Scenario #1, the customer was explicit about their need, but the response was generic.  Therefore, the customer would have to reiterate their need and wait on the response.  The employee could have done some research, provided an answer in the e-mail, and offered additional information or a follow-up phone call, if needed.

In the second Scenario, the customer was explicit with their question, and the manager was involved in the conversation with one of his employees, but the manager got on the phone with a question that implied they knew nothing about the situation.  Therefore, the customer would have to reiterate their question and wait on the response.

There are customer service handoffs and transitions.  It might be from a generic inbox to an individual representative.  It might be from an employee to a co-worker.  But frustration can occur when the customer took time to convey the specifics, and it’s as if the specifics were ignored.  That they’d have to restate what they already shared.  That their voice wasn’t heard.

Go from good to great by sharing and acting on the information the customer has already given.

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My 8-Minute Visit at the DMV- 7/28/26

Posted on July 28, 2026 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

I needed to get a Real ID, which in North Carolina facilitates airline travel and other identity verifications.  My wife suggested I go to one particular DMV that was a LONG way away from home, but where she had experienced great customer service.  I was lucky to find an appointment online and decided to go that route instead of showing up and hoping for the best at some other office.

When I pulled into the parking lot, there was only one space available.  When I walked in, I was confused.  The waiting area was nearly full, and immediately to my right there was a police officer who was doing some kind of administrative task with some of the customers.  I waited for a second wondering if he was working with the DMV.  It turns out that he was with the Highway Patrol, a group that shared the space with the DMV, and many (or most) of the people there were waiting to talk with the law enforcement staff.

So, I went around the corner to the other side of the waiting room, and the DMV office was there.  An employee immediately walked by and said “somebody will be with you shortly.”  A few seconds later, a gentleman walked up and asked me for my appointment number or my phone number to confirm the appointment.  Still standing, he tapped a few buttons on his computer screen, printed out a number for me, and told me to wait in one of the seats in the lobby.  He twice said somebody would be calling me “very soon” to one of the numbered windows, and he pointed behind him at the windows.

After sitting for less than 10 seconds, they called my number and asked me to go to Window #5.  The lady confirmed why I was there and asked me for my identification documents.  She told me when and why to sign the keypad multiple times.  She then told me to put my back against the wall and look straight at the camera to have my picture taken for the ID.

She said “look to your left at the screen, and you’ll see the photo.”  And there I was in all of my closed-eyes glory.  She apologized for taking the picture too quickly, and she took it again.  I told her I was going to be going on a trip and asked if she thought I would get the Real ID before then, and she said she hoped so, but – just in case – she instructed me to bring certain documents with me to the airport.

From the moment I walked into the DMV to the moment I pulled out of the parking lot, it was less than 8 minutes.

Negative reputations which many businesses (like the DMV) have are often well-deserved.  But great processes, communications, instructions, attitudes, and systems, can slowly turn the reputation around – at least for certain locations.

If the DMV can deliver a great customer experience, we can all deliver a great customer experience.

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