customer service standards

Tata Indicom rolls out customer service standards

March 9, 2010

Recently we reported on the president of Brazil’s decree that companies operating in his country will meet certain standards in how they deal with customers. While I’m not a fan of increasing government regulation I like the idea of making customer service standards a big deal. That’s what Tata Indicom has done. Even better, they’re [...]

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Use customer service standards to engage customers and employees

February 24, 2010

A while ago I was engaged to do a customer service seminar for a city. One of the things they wanted to talk about was establishing customer service standards. So I began a search for other cities that had already established customer service standards to see what their experience had been. My first search in [...]

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What promise do you make to your customers?

February 2, 2010

One of the foundations of Amazing Service is to create and publish customer service standards (or promises). When you do this we call it your Customer Experience Promise. It tells people what to expect when they do business with you. It tells them how you’ll be treated, among other things. This list of promises should [...]

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Do what your marketing says you will

December 8, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Do what your marketing says you will And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… A few weeks ago I traded in my old iPod for the new Touch 3G.  To keep it clean and like new, I bought a case for it from a company [...]

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Plant your flag

December 4, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Plant your flag And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… Planting your flag means to take a position and defend it. In the world of Amazing Customer Service it means you create your vision of customer service and make it happen. Do this by making [...]

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100 things restaurant staffers should never do (plus 1 more)

November 5, 2009

Last week Bruce Buschel wrote an amusingly useful piece in the New York Times on what restaurant employees should and should not do. It has been popular. A search on Google now shows 124,000 links for the title of this article. This thrills me because the Buschel made some fine points. He offers excellent advice [...]

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3 ways to improve your online customer feedback

October 2, 2009

“If you make customers unhappy in the real world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”

-Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com

The days of ducking down and hoping nobody will notice when things go awry are over. These days, if customers get a bad

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Customer Retention Tip: Tell your customers what to expect

August 20, 2009

You might call it a brand promise. You might call it your Customer Service Standards. Some companies call it a brand message or promise. I call it your Customer Experience Promise. What you call it is not as important as what you do with it. Use it to tell your story. It tells people why [...]

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How to make the most of Customer Service Week 2009

August 19, 2009

Very soon (46  days to be exact) we will begin Customer Service Week. This is an opportune time for you to show your customers and employees how important customer service is to you and your organization. And to make the most of it, you should get started now. My first suggestion is to go to [...]

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What are you really doing for your customers?

August 4, 2009

We hear a lot about customer experience and going the extra mile for our customers. And these are good things. Every employee in every business should pay attention to these. But it’s not just the employees who are responsible for this. Management has to lead the charge. If you want more loyal customers, the kind [...]

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Know your company’s customer service standards or create your own

July 6, 2009

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Know your company’s customer service standards or create your own. And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… If you have customers you should have customer service standards. No exceptions. Standards help everyone communicate and understand. They tell customers what to expect when they do business [...]

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Make a Promise to Your Customers…Then Keep It!

February 25, 2009

A foundation of Amazing Service is making a promise to your customers.  I call this your Unified Message but people call it many different things. Recently I saw a video produced by Jiffy Lube in which their president discusses the three promises they make to their customers. This is a step in the right direction. [...]

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Why Slogans are Worthless (and What You Should Use Instead)

December 15, 2008

Slogans are worthless as a marketing tool. It’s not their fault. It’s because we’re asking them to do something they’re not built to do. It’s like trying to win the Daytona 500 with a Yugo. The poor thing just doesn’t have the horsepower (or any other capabilities) to do the job. The same is true [...]

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Six Steps to More Loyal Customers

July 29, 2008

We all know it’s important to have loyal customers. But do you know how important it is? A study by Bain & Company suggests that a 5% increase in customer loyalty can improve profitability by anywhere from 25% to 95%. It shows us there are big opportunities available for owners and managers who are willing [...]

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Four Things Airlines Can Do to Improve Customer Service

February 3, 2008

Poor customer service from airlines is legendary. It’s cliche. It’s so common that when we do get great service we feel like we’ve won the lottery, if only for a moment. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sure, airlines have big challenges that can be obstacles to providing great customer service. So do [...]

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Any Business Can Deliver a Great Customer Experience

November 22, 2007

Remember the old motels where you drive up and park in front of your room? A few years ago, my wife and I had the pleasure of staying in one of these because the nice, new hotel we had planned to stay in had lost our reservation. The first thing that caught my attention at [...]

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