I’ve read your stories, comments, and pleas for help, and summarized them into 88 ways companies can make the naughty list. As you read these, you’ll chuckle knowingly at some, wince at some, and nod your head in agreement at nearly all of them. But as you read, I’d like you to use this list as a checklist for your own business. Think about each of these 88 behaviors and ask yourself, “Do we do this at any level?”

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 said something else. The person doing the inscription thought the “P” was an “F”. (I’ll let you figure out what the ring said.)

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 for this.

Me: “Hi, [pizza place].”

Customer: “Hi, it says you have a nine inch small pizza. How big is that?”

In 2009, Dave Carroll (a professional musician from Nova Scotia, Canada) engaged a massive worldwide audience to share his customer service story about United Airlines. Using YouTube.com to deliver his message, he wrote and performed a song that has made an impact.  Some people estimate 100 million people saw his video.

You see, United Airline broke his $3500 guitar then rejected his request that they pay for it. But after his video went viral United changed their corporate mind and offered to reimburse him.  (You can see the video below.)

If you’ve been paying attention, you know things have changed in the world of business. As customers, we are smarter than ever. We know we have more options. We know we deserve to do business with companies that help us accomplish our goals.

And we understand it’s okay to expect companies that will work WITH us as partners rather than adversaries.

Companies that ignore this will

A lot of companies make their employees use scripts as they work with their customers. This is a major pet peeve of mine. Rather than keeping customers I believe it drives them away. When I know the person I’m talking with is working from a script, I question how able they are to help me. Because life does not conform to a script.

So if you use scripts and your customer deviates from it, then your employee is

One of my favorite movies is a Bill Murray classic: Groundhog Day. I’ll watch anything with Bill Murray but the value of this movie goes far beyond its actors. The real power of this movie is the message we take from it. Plenty of people have written about what the movie means to them. Here are the lessons I see in this movie:

• Do your best

• Be your best

• Use your best to help others

When the main character, Phil Connors, began using his time to improve himself and to help others, he began to have better, happier days. Even though he was still stuck in a time loop on the same day, he made it work by learning new skills, meeting people and letting his true personality and spirit come out.

Logically we know when customers complain, they’re giving us useful information. But emotionally we don’t like to hear it. Especially since some customers tend to be a little rough about how they deliver their feedback. And employees get tired of being beat up by customers, all the while knowing nothing will be done to prevent future complaints of the same kind.

But Frank’s boss (above) got it

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Don’t go overboard for your customers.

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

This might sound contrary to what we’re all about here in the land of Amazing Service. But it’s not. Because if you go too far in trying to serve your customers, you can actually drive them away.

Okay, it’s Friday morning, a few days before Labor Day. If you’re in the USA and you’re working today, you are probably in the minority. So here’s a little bonus for being in the office today. I admit it has little to do with customer service improvement but it’s darn funny. And it involves a customer (sort of).

Enjoy!

(From: NotAlwaysRight.com)

(A teen approaches my cash register very slowly.)

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

A powerful way to increase customer loyalty is to give your customers a positive and memorable experience. Some days it’s easy. Just be nice, attentive, listen well and be helpful. But other times you might break out of your comfort zone and give your customers something they’ve never seen before.

This Ford dealer clearly went beyond the usual and expected when they decided to treat their customers to the “A-B-C’s of the Ford Focus”.

It’s not something every business would do. And it might even annoy some customers. But you have to give them credit for trying.