communication

Misunderstanding is the natural state of our communication

March 26, 2010

A while back I attended a seminar geared toward helping us manage change better in our organizations. One of the many things worth remembering from that day is a phrase from Larry Wilson: The natural state of communication is misunderstanding. At first I didn’t understand what Larry meant. Lucky for me he continued to explain. [...]

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Connect with your customers on their terms

February 25, 2010

Last night I had a fun (and lengthy) text conversation with one of my nieces. She’s in college and 5 hours away so we don’t see her as much as we’d like. And being a busy college kid, phone conversations with her are not very common. In fact, our “kids” (12 nieces and nephews) are [...]

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Never assume everything is clear to your customer

February 5, 2010

Communication is the surest path to delivering Amazing service to our customers. But it’s often harder than we realize to be on the same page with our customers. Here’s a funny (and true) example of how something can seem so clear to an employee but not their customers. Thanks to the good people at NotAlwaysRight.com [...]

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Always close the loop

February 4, 2010

Recently I submitted a help ticket to a company about a problem with their product. It was not a critical issue but one that needed fixing. After reviewing the issue they marked it as “resolved”. But they never told me it was resolved. And they didn’t tell me how to apply the fix. So, from [...]

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Customer retention tip: Be easy to talk to

December 11, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Be easy to talk to And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… As a customer it’s frustrating enough when we get bad service. Too often we get less than we expect or want. So when we have a customer experience that thrills us, we usually [...]

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Be aware of language differences

December 10, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Be aware of language differences And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… A friend of mine who grew up in New York City shared with me his first coffee experience in mild-mannered Minnesota. In a popular coffee shop near his home he asked for a [...]

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Social media rescues customers before company does

December 3, 2009

Yesterday evening my anti-virus software went crazy. It started finding viruses all over my netbook. After several hours of banging my head against our kitchen table, with no success in cleaning up the problem, I turned to my good friend Google for help. There I discovered (to my great relief) that there was no virus [...]

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Educate your customers

November 16, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Educate your customers And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… If you offer quality products and services you probably have a well-run business. And to your customers, you make things look easy. This is good and necessary to be successful. But there’s also a downside. [...]

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Don’t assume anything

November 13, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Don’t assume anything And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… As we help our customers it’s easy to fall into the trap of assuming we know what they want. It’s even easier, if we have a good relationship with them. But when we assume, we’re [...]

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For better customer service, pretend you’re an eye doctor

November 12, 2009

Think of the last time you had your eyes examined. At some point, your eye doctor (or optometrist) probably asked you to read some letters on an eye chart. If you wear glasses or contacts, you got to look through a lot of different lenses. This typically involves you comparing two different lenses against each [...]

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Know your customer

November 5, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Know your customer. And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… Sitting in my favorite coffee shop recently I noticed a man in a white shirt and tie (carrying a briefcase) walk up to the counter. He looked like a salesman. Rather than order something, he [...]

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It’s not about the donuts

November 3, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes business people make is thinking they know what their customers want, but not really knowing. This is easy to do. And it happens more often than we like to admit.

A few years ago, Krispy Kreme stormed the the Minneapolis-St. Paul area like a blizzard in February. Their little donut factories

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Do you really know what your customers want?

October 20, 2009

One of the biggest challenges any business organization faces is knowing what their customers want. It’s arguably the most important, most difficult and yet most ignored information in our organizations. It’s important because we cannot give our customers what they want (or how they want it) if we don’t know. And guessing doesn’t count. Yet [...]

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Customer Service Quote for October 9, 2009

October 9, 2009

When you start viewing your customers as interruptions, you’re going to have problems. -Kate Zabriskie Author of: The Customer Connection: Twenty Essential Communication Skills for Giving Better Service

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Customer service quote for September 4, 2009

September 4, 2009

When a Japanese manufacturer was asked by his North American counterpart, “What is the best language in which to do business?” the man responded: “My customer’s language”. -Leonard I. Sweet

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Customer Service Quote for July 1, 2009

July 1, 2009

The first step to success in any business is to ask your customers what they want. -Kevin Stirtz Author of: More Loyal Customers: 21 Real World Lessons to Keep Your Customers Coming Back

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