There are substantial benefits for companies that improve their customer service. The good news is you don’t need to spend a lot of money to start making improvements in your customer service. You can make customer service improvements starting today. Here are some specific suggestions to get you started. 1. Improve People Skills To deliver Amazing Service, people skills count. So a fast and high return way to improve customer service is to find ways to improve your team’s people skills. This might include bringing in a speaker or trainer. It could mean focusing on people skills topics at staff [...]
customer service tips
Our Amazing customer service resource for this week is a post at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur called: “60 Customer Service Tips for Entrepreneurs”. It was written by TPE’s Mike Michalowicz but actually consists of tips from dozens of bright people. Here are a few of my favorites: 4. Be You, Not a Script – Get off the script—LISTEN and respond to what’s really going on. -Shel Horowitz 7. Don’t Make ‘Em Wait – Never keep a customer on hold for more than 30 seconds. If you are going to need to leave them on hold for more than that amount [...]
Much of how we help people deliver better customer service is with examples. These are fun and useful because we all have them (since we’re all customers.) And sometimes it helps to look at examples of things we shouldn’t say to customers. That is, if we want them to keep coming back. So, here is my top 10 list of things you should never say to a customer: 1. “Now just calm down.” Is there ever a situation where this has the intended effect? I can just see it: “Oh thank you Mr. Customer Service Rep. for helping me realize [...]
It’s not always easy to keep a good attitude and a smiling face when we’re helping our customers. We all have many stressors that can get in the way of staying positive and friendly. It’s especially hard when customers are rude, inconsiderate or just plain ornery. Perhaps the hardest thing to do is to behave one way when we feel another. Acting upbeat when you’re feeling beat down is never easy. If I’m in a bad mood it’s natural to let that show through my actions. But I shouldn’t. Even though customers, co-workers and bosses will break this rule, we [...]
Sometimes people who focus on improving customer service forget that the lessons apply to everyone. This includes when we are customers. Here’s what I mean. Remember, the three requirements of an Amazing customer experience are: 1. Treat me well 2. Help me accomplish what I want 3. Offer me value As a customer if you routinely violate the first rule then you’re part of the problem. Being a customer does not give you permission to be rude, discourteous or less than civil. No matter who you are, the same standard applies to everyone: Treat everyone well. I see this in [...]
When discussing a recent national security issue, President Obama offered a useful lesson for anyone who works with customers. He focused his efforts on finding solutions rather than blame. And he took responsibility for moving toward a solution. Although the mistakes that happened were not his direct fault, he made it clear, national security was his responsibility. We should all remember this when we work with customers who have a complaint or a problem. Even though you didn’t cause the problem that led to the situation, if the customer has come to you, it’s now your responsibility. Make sure your [...]
Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: We choose our attitudes and our actions And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… In just about every customer service training session I do, I hear someone say this (or something like this): “It’s hard to be cheerful all the time because some customers make me so angry.” People who say this are often guilty of treating customers (and others) poorly because they feel bad. Their emotional state is negative and it comes out in everything they do. But when working with customers we shouldn’t act out how we feel, [...]
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 is fiction advertising, so we need to take it with a massive dose of skepticism. But though the message might be light on accuracy, the idea is a good one. What if they actually DID listen to their customers? What if they did engage customers [...]
Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service: Only ask for what you need And here are some additional thoughts on this topic… A big complaint customers often have is when companies waste their time asking for irrelevant and unneeded information. Here’s a good example of this. This company offers a handy resource (for no charge) to their readers. Then they ask for a lot of information that is not necessary at this stage of their sales cycle. (It might be nice to have this information but it is not necessary.) By doing this they put an obstacle between their [...]
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 to do the printing. What I found amazed me. Actually, what I DID NOT FIND amazed me. Nowhere did I find copy or printing prices on their web site. So I went to Google. (When all else fails, call on Google!) Still, I had no [...]
