Below are blog posts, articles and tips focused on customer service and experience. To view just the articles (typically longer than a blog post), click here.
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Being Off Duty Doesn’t Mean You Aren’t Responsible for Customer Service (and More)
This may start out to sound like a rant, but it isn’t. It’s simply the set up for the customer service lesson to be learned.
I’m at an airport, working my way through the security line for about fifteen minutes. During this time , a number of flight attendants and airline personnel went ahead of me and everyone else, cutting in front of paying passengers to get through the metal detectors and x-ray machines. What I noticed is that most of these airline employees didn’t smile or talk to the passengers as they cut in front of them. Some of the passengers were obviously put off by this. I was thinking to myself. There has to be a better way. Read More »
Five Ways to Create a Customer Service Culture
The reason an organization can deliver good or bad customer service comes down to one thing; what is happening on the inside of that organization. To sum it up in one word: culture. Read More »
Customer Service Recovery Can Show How Good You Are
Recently I had the pleasure of having lunch with Julia Carcamo (VP of Brand Marketing) and Jim White (VP of Guest Satisfaction) of Isle of Capri Casino’s. We had a great discussion about customer service. They shared a true story about a problem that happened at one of their casinos, and there’s a lesson to be learned about how the team managed the guest experience. Read More »
Top Ten Customer Service Strategies for the New Year
1. Be better than average. Amazing companies don’t always deliver “Wow!” type experiences. No, they are just a little better than average – all of the time. All of the time is the secret. Anyone can be good or great once in a while. It’s the consistency that makes them amazing. Read More »
Customer Service Systems Start with People
Companies care very much about the system that supports their customer service. This is typically an automated process or software program that helps companies deliver their customer service experience. For example, CRM software (customer relationship management) can help a company personalize their customer’s experience. A well designed website creates a customer friendly experience. My friend, Vala Afshar of Enterasys Networks has amazing technology that allows electronic components to communicate with other electronic components (using social media), all for the benefit of the customer. All of these systems are important and necessary. They all help deliver and upgrade the customer’s experience. Read More »
Secret to Amazing Customer Service: Be Better than Average
Your secret weapon is customer service. Wait! It’s not a secret anymore. Just about every company I do business with claims they deliver customer service. My experience as I look back over just the last year is that for many companies it is their goal, yet not their reality. Read More »
Details Matter, Customers Need to Know and Care about Them
In the past I’ve written that you should find out what you do differently than your competition and exploit it. When I work with clients on what makes them different, we usually look at the big opportunities. However, sometimes it’s not the big differentiators that make the difference. It’s the small details. Read More »
Creative Problem Solving Can Lead to Amazing Customer Service
The story you’re about to read is a five-star, scale of one to ten – give them an eleven – amazing customer service story.
First, some background. It’s obvious we’re in a tough economy, but somehow there are businesses that continue to charge higher prices than their competition. Department stores like Nordstrom’s and Neiman Marcus are not known for bargain prices, yet even in these tough economic times, they pack their stores with buying customers. A fancy upscale restaurant somehow always seems to be busy. How do they do it? Their value proposition is simple. Combine a quality product with excellent customer service. Focus on those two areas and a business can increase their chances of success, regardless of the economy and competition. Read More »
Do You Know the Power of Your Customers?
Back in the 1990’s the White House Office of Consumer Affairs commissioned a study on customer service. One of the interesting statistics revealed was that an unhappy customer might tell twenty or more people about the problem they had with a company. Since that time, many studies have confirmed that simple statistic is true. However, in today’s world, twenty people may be a grossly underestimated number, at least for some unhappy customers. Read More »
How to Receive Customer Service
So, you want great customer service? You want to be treated with respect. You want your complaint resolved. You just want what is right – a good customer service experience.
For this short article let’s take a different approach. Rather than writing about how to deliver great customer service, I’m going to write about how to get great customer service. Read More »
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