Customer Perspective

Enough about me, let’s talk about me.

April 26, 2010

Several times a year I get a CD from a well-known PR consultant. She is a very aggressive and consistent promoter of her business. She has done a good job making herself well-known in her niche. But, when I listen to her CD I often resist her message. Not because of its quality. She has [...]

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How do your customers see your business?

April 6, 2010

I have to admit, I don’t read a lot of blogs. There are less than 20 I read on a regular basis. But one blog I watch regularly is written by Guy Kawasaki. I like Guy’s blog partly because you never know what he’s going to write about. For example, earlier this year, Guy wrote [...]

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Forget revenue. Focus on serving your customers well.

April 5, 2010

Earlier this year I was talking with a business owner about his company’s business planning. He had spent a fair amount of time looking ahead and thinking about the revenue he wanted his company to produce this year. Planning like this is good when it helps us focus on the things that make our business [...]

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Customer service tip: Don’t insult your customers

March 16, 2010

Don’t insult your customers. I know this sounds pretty obvious. Why would any of us insult our customers on purpose? But it happens more than we realize. Here’s a recent example. I’m ordering a sandwich at my favorite sub shop. As I’m chatting with the sub-maker, the co-owner walks over. She notices that I’ve had [...]

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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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In Customer Service the Little Things are Big

February 17, 2010

Little things make all the difference in customer service. They can contribute to a positive and memorable experience. They can ruin an otherwise decent situation. An otherwise completely average encounter can turn into a source of endless referrals by adding a little thing or two. I’ve had a few recent examples: At my favorite sandwich [...]

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How to guarantee your customers come back

February 12, 2010

Sometimes you can keep customers coming back by sending them away. After the holidays, one of our readers sent me a customer service story that explains why he will continue to be a loyal Best Buy customer. He and his wife were buying a product that needed an accessory to make it work. So they [...]

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Never to part (with your customers)

February 11, 2010

In the movie, License to Wed, there’s a funny scene that offers a useful customer service lesson.  A reluctant groom stops in a jewelry store to pickup the rings for his wedding. As he looks at his ring he notices something wrong with the inscription. It was supposed to say: “Never to Part” Instead it [...]

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Is your luggage getting treated better by airlines?

February 9, 2010

As customers, we understand prices on most things we buy tend to go up over time. It’s part of the cost of doing business so we accept it without much fuss. But if we feel we’re not getting treated fairly, then there could be problems. Are we paying more because we’re getting more in return? [...]

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Is customer service a basic right?

February 9, 2010

In 2008, the president of Brazil signed a decree (number 6.523) that defines customer service standards for companies operating in that country. According to Michael Maoz, of Gartner.com this is not necessarily is a good thing. He does not believe it will improve how Brazilian customers are treated. Whether it works or not, I like [...]

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Recipe for a great customer experience

February 8, 2010

Recently, at our weekly breakfast club meeting we were treated to one of the better dining experiences I have had in a long time. It didn’t happen because the food was spectacular. It wasn’t. It wasn’t because the restaurant team did everything right. They didn’t. And it’s not that our server was overly funny or [...]

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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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Remember the basics

February 1, 2010

Lunch at one of my regular restaurants recently reminded me how often servers forget the basics. Less than 10% of them (in my experience) tell customers what the daily special or soup du jour is.  If I want to know, I have to ask them when they show up to take our order. That’s like [...]

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Is your product made by your customers?

January 5, 2010

I’m usually not a fan of ad campaigns. But I do like Microsoft’s new ad campaign for Windows 7, “Made by me”. It features people (average, ordinary Windows users, we are supposed to believe) who talk about how Windows 7 has the features they want, because they TOLD Microsoft they wanted them. Of course, this [...]

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Don’t hide important information

December 30, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Don’t hide important information And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… I had a document to print and I wanted it spiral bound for easier reading. So I pointed my web browser to Fedex Kinko’s to get pricing before I went to their nearby store [...]

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See things from your customer’s view

November 18, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: See things from your customer’s view And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… Every Saturday a bunch of us have breakfast at a local restaurant. We always ask for separate checks. This makes it easier when we pay. And, unless we have our regular server, [...]

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