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Seamlessness - Why the Customer Thanked You - 6/23/26


This doesn’t happen enough nowadays, but the employee received a long thank you e-mail from the customer.  A financial services account manager had taken care of the client during a period of time that was stressful for the customer. Life was unexpectedly changing quickly, and personal emotions, additional financial responsibilities, Read more

When to Avoid the Escalation - 6/16/26


The customer calls with a complaint, and the easy thing to do is to escalate it to your supervisor. That may also be the right thing to do, but how do you know when to avoid the escalation? Why You Would Escalate The first thing to consider is why you would Read more

Let’s be Clear on Clarity - 6/9/26


When trying to manage expectations, it’s vital to be clear with the customer.  But what specifically does it mean to be “clear?” Clarity is in the eyes and ears of the beholder, so what may be clear to one customer may be unclear to another.  However, there are some basic Read more

Allow Yourself to Solve a Couple Puzzles Every Day - 6/2/26


Frank had never been a dog owner before, and when he first got Bosco at the shelter, Frank didn't really know what he was doing.  He would try to be a good parent - feed the dog, play with it, take it on walks - but he was doing Read more

Improve with a Purpose - 5/26/26


If you’re reading these customer service tips, you likely want to get better.  You want an idea, a technique, a reinforcement, or a question that helps you improve. But why improve? At some point you may waver on the commitment to improve, because it can take effort, introspection, time, and change.  Read more

Reciprocate the Thanks - 5/19/26


Jasmine had a great experience with the company, and the company sent her a link to provide an online evaluation following the visit.  So, she clicked the link, gave a rating, and made a comment about her experience. The company monitored their online reviews, saw the positive response, and replied Read more

Don’t Skip the Recap - 5/12/26


The playoff hockey game goes on for almost 3 hours.  There’s non-stop action, with plenty of penalties and takeaways and hits against the boards…and a few goals, as well. You didn’t get to watch the whole game because you had other plans, but you wanted to know what happened.  So, Read more

Finalize the Solution with the 6 Step Checklist - 5/5/26


In last week’s Tip, we showed why and how to Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue.  We noted the importance of taking 15 seconds to mentally walk through the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How to feel confident that you know what’s needed to fix Read more

Use the 6 Step Checklist before Resolving the Issue - 4/28/26


We talk about trying to resolve the issue right the first time, sharing the technique on how to manage the conversation to get clarity on the real issue, need, or goal, and confirming your understanding before moving forward. But what are you trying to clarify?  What are you trying to Read more

Use the Customer’s Words - 4/21/26


The customer is describing a problem on what they call their “computer.” They mentioned that the “screen” doesn’t “move from one page to the other.” They say that the “website’s name is typed at the top,” and it says sample.com with a “line, and then it says ‘home’ after Read more

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A Tale of Two Minutes and Two Employees – 8/20/13 TOW

Posted on August 20, 2013 in Customer Service Tip of the Week Please leave a comment

Needing a water filter for my fridge, I walked into a home improvement store. Now this is a chain that I’ve been in probably over 100 times, but this particular store was new to me – it was on my way home – so out of convenience, I stopped.

As I entered the store, there was an employee (think “Wal-Mart greeter”) about 15 feet ahead of me standing by herself. She didn’t look my way or smile – in other words, the greeter didn’t greet. I didn’t know where to get the filter, so I walked up to her and initiated the conversation. I told her what I needed, and as she was pausing/thinking, I noticed the Appliances section at end of store. “Is it down there?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s where they are.” She didn’t say anything else, so I thanked her and moved on. Now keep in mind that this is an ENORMOUS store, and the Appliances section had to be a good 4000-5000 square feet, so the search process took a while once I got there.

Now juxtapose that experience to my experience with the cashier. As I walked up, he was smiling with the couple that was ahead of me in line. He greeted me pleasantly, smiled the whole time we talked, took the gift card I was using for the purchase saying “That’s great that you get to use a gift card!” and closed by asking if there was anything else he could do and inviting me to come again.

Despite only being with the two employees a total of about two minutes, one can draw several conclusions:

  • This store doesn’t put much weight on customer service-orientation when hiring; if so, the greeter would not have been hired.
  • The level of customer service is based too much on which employee is helping you as opposed to an organization intentionally trying to create a culture of customer service.
  • Store management is not customer service-focused; if they were, they wouldn’t have put a “greeter” with that demeanor up front.
  • They have not conducted (and/or reinforced) effective customer service training (the greeter wasn’t specific on where I should go in the Appliances section, she didn’t offer to walk me there, she didn’t have positive body language, didn’t open, and didn’t close the conversation).

You can tell a lot about an organization in two minutes with two employees, so compare yourself to co-workers in terms of how you address customers.

Learn from your differences to improve your customer service.

 


Zappos Customer Service – Measure to Make it Great

Posted on November 28, 2012 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service Please leave a comment

Want some shoes? Want some great customer service? Many people who answer “yes” to these questions, head to Zappos.com. And although Zappos has a reputation for great customer service, its customer service reputation is not built on hype (although I’m sure there’s some of that) and subjective self-evaluations.

Sustaining great customer service is built on sound business practices, data, decision-making, and a focus on continuous improvement.

In the article A Zappos Lesson in Customer Service Metrics, CRM blogger Ashley Furness details some of the metrics Zappos uses to measure customer service success. Here are four metrics on which a customer service representative’s performance is measured:

  • “Did the agent try twice to make a personal emotional connection?
  • Did they keep the rapport going after the customer responded to their attempt?
  • Did they address unstated needs?
  • Did they provide a “wow experience?”

If you dig deep into why they’re measured, you see that the first three metrics suggest that creating and sustaining a personal connection is important, emotion is important, and being inquisitive is important.

The fourth metric about the “WOW experience” is more difficult to measure. We created a podcast episode on the WOW experience because a WOW experience is not easy to create each time, but it is something that can be somewhat planned. And the WOW experience is also customer-dependent – what might WOW one customer might not WOW the next.

So focus on the first three metrics, and ask yourself, do you create personal connections with customers? Do you sustain them throughout the conversation? Do you see or feel emotion from the customer? And are you asking enough questions to identify and address unstated needs?

Design the WOW, but make sure you consistently deliver on these other keys to customer service success.

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/


How to Increase Customer Loyalty Without Becoming Disney or Zappos

Posted on December 14, 2011 in Business Advice, World of Customer Service 1 Comment

A recent study highlighted in the Sacramento Bee (Good Customer Service is Key to Capturing Holiday Shoppers) addressed the impact of customer service on customer loyalty (or disloyalty). Results included:

· 29% stopped shopping at retail stores because of a bad shopping experience

· 71% avoid certain brick-and-mortar retail stores due to unhelpful/unfriendly employees

· 41% stop patronizing a business because of long lines or long wait time.

So it’s about the experience, the people, the processes.

But what’s even more interesting about the results is this conclusion – to improve retention, simply address the reasons why people leave.

While many organizations focus on creating the “WOW” experience or transforming your employees into Disney “Cast Members” or creating a Zappos culture, what is more tangible and provides more bang for the buck is finding out why customers leave.

So research. Interview former customers, or ask current ones why they’d leave. Know why they’d go, eliminate those loss reasons, and watch sales grow.

To become great at customer loyalty, increase your knowledge of why they’d leave…and act on it.

Read our New Book – “Ask Yourself…Am I GREAT at Customer Service?” http://www.amigreatat.com/

Listen to our latest podcast episode of “Stepping Up Service” on The MESH Network at http://themesh.tv/stepping-up-service/

Interested in improving your company’s customer service? See more at our new website! http://www.cssamerica.com/


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