Language, it seems, has become pretty casual in many customer service settings. I’ve had waiters refer to me as “man” and hear “no problem” from frontline employees, as well as their supervisors, in a variety of situations.

We can all think of alternatives to referring to a customer as “man” so I won’t belabor that, but what about “no problem” in response to a customer’s request or sign of appreciation.

Many participants who attend my seminars don’t immediately understand why saying “no problem” to a customer should be avoided. It’s understandable. Most people are comfortable with saying “no problem” rather than “you’re welcome” after receiving a request for service or compliment.

“No problem” really means “No problem for me.” It means “I did it because it did not cause me a problem. I served you because it did not interfere with me.” That is very different from “you’re welcome” which means “You are welcome to my service to you.”

Besides “you’re welcome” here are some other alternatives to saying “no problem” in response to a customer’s request for service or sign of appreciation:

• “My pleasure.”
• “Right away.”
• “Absolutely.”
• “Certainly.”
• “Of course.”
• “Definitely.”

Responses like these send a message that you are enthusiastic and genuinely interested. They demonstrate confidence and conviction. Responses like these convey a sense that you are engaged and truly want to serve the customer.

And the negative associations don’t end with “No problem.” The use of seemingly neutral words can also make a big difference.

Using a hotel example, imagine the employee is conveying to the guest when his or her hotel room will be available.

Consider the statements below. What differences do you see in them?

• “I will have a room ready for you in five minutes.”
• “I will have the room ready for you in five minutes.”
• “I will have your room ready for you in five minutes.”

Although only one word has been changed, each statement has a different emotional impact. The first conveys nothing definite: It could be any room, just as it could be anyone’s room. The second implies that at the least, a specific room has been allocated to the guest. But notice that control of it has not yet begun to pass. The third example says that not only has a room been identified but, in effect, it already belongs to the guest. The only issue remaining is how long it will take to have it ready.

Suppose you were the guest in the above scenario and the employee had said “a few minutes” instead of “five minutes.” What effect would that have had? From the employee’s point of view, very little. From the guest’s point of view, however, perhaps a lot. Five minutes is objective. It conditions the customer’s expectation of time and provides a clue to how proficient the experience will be.

Words convey meaning. Employees must be made aware of the (sometimes subtle and other times significant) impact that their choice of words has on how customers are made to feel (important or unimportant) and the positive impression they will remember—or the indifferent transaction they will soon forget.

How about you? What are some communication faux pas you regularly experience as a customer?

How much more effective would you be at expanding your presence on Twitter if your updates were not only seen as useful, interesting, relevant, or entertaining—but also stood out in a crowded Twitter stream as unique, refreshing, and memorable?

And I’m not just referring to your avatar. Sure, an interesting pose or graphic is going to draw attention initially but if there’s no personality in your bio or character in your Twitter stream, many won’t follow you back. So, beyond the shiny avatar there must be some memorable substance.

In his best-selling book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell introduced the concept of The Stickiness Factor. In essence, he identified the qualities that enabled ideas, concepts, products, etc. to be memorable or “sticky.” The Stickiness Factor is often generated by things that are unconventional, unexpected, and contrary to popular notion.

Later, brothers Chip and Dan Heath devoted an entire book titled Made to Stick to addressing the question: “What makes some ideas stick and others disappear?”

So how can the principles of “sticky” ideas and concepts be applied to Twitter in order to transform typical, bland, and ordinary tweets into “sticky” ones that are unique and memorable—and stand the best chance of being shared (or retweeted) on Twitter?

Studies of the brain have revealed certain traits or characteristics that contribute to something being memorable. Here are some of them:

• Sensory: involves the five senses
• Intensity: exaggerated, absurd, or outrageous
• Outstanding: remarkable, awe-inspiring
• Emotional: contains high-emotion
• Personal importance: interests us, personal significance
• Unexpected: surprises us in some way

By intentionally incorporating these characteristics into your Twitter updates, you will be creating unique and interesting posts that stand a better chance of being noticed in a crowded Twitter stream. And you also increase the odds of expanding your presence on Twitter by having your updates shared and remembered by others.

Here are seven ways that you can incorporate the above characteristics to create tweets that stick:

1.) Express genuine interest: This goes beyond the predictable, “Nice to meet you on Twitter. Have a nice day.” @DrMollieMarti does a great job of expressing genuine interest and conveying authenticity. As a result, she’s made many great connections on Twitter. Here’s an example of one of her updates that showcases her tendency to get real: @DrMollieMarti “Want to make a real difference? Make a continuous choice to be fully YOU, not who your social mask helps you pretend to be…”

2.) Offer sincere and specific compliments: When the opportunity presents itself, compliment others. From time to time on Twitter, you’ll see endorsements of others in the form of #FollowFriday recommendations, retweets, and other props. I’ll use @rmolden’s approach to #FollowFriday as an example. Every Friday on Twitter, users have a chance to recommend Twits they follow to their Twitter communities. The typical #FollowFriday update consists of a string of Twitter @names that are either preceded or followed by: #FollowFriday. What’s different about some of @rmolden’s #FollowFriday recommendations (and why they’re memorable to me) is that he tends to add a bit more substance. Here’s an example: @rmolden “I recommend #followfriday @suzannehih Engaging, positive, perceptive, housewife (with an edge) and theme-maker with a great site http://bit.ly/juX1C” Well done @rmolden.

3.) Share unique knowledge: Twitter offers access to a wealth of diverse backgrounds and expertise. The key is to offer unique knowledge that adds value. @guykawasaki has a reputation for sharing a steady stream of interesting articles from his Alltop website. Many of these posts are memorable for their substance. Others, like this one, are remembered (and retweeted) for their absurdity: @guykawasaki “Fried squirrel, anyone? Live off the land — in the city http://adjix.com/46ub” Another twit who adds value is @KevinZraly. He freely shares his expertise through interesting posts about wine that increase the wine knowledge of his followers. Here’s an example: @KevinZraly “As white wines age, they gain color. Red wines, on the other hand, lose color.” While Twitter users appreciate friendly twits, they value knowledgeable ones. And the more unique knowledge you can share, the more value you add to the Twitter experience for others.

4.) Convey authentic enthusiasm: Just check out Jen’s avatar: @JenChicago. To me, Jen personifies authentic enthusiasm. Love her avatar. Enjoy her updates. She’s a breath of fresh air whenever she surfaces in my Twitter stream. Here’s an example of an update that captures her authentic enthusiasm: @JenChicago “I just bought the song ‘Go Cubs Go’ from Amazon. I am SO Chicago.” You don’t have to live in Chicago to appreciate Jen’s authentic enthusiasm. She is genuinely filled with enthusiasm and authentically conveys this enthusiasm to others in a way that is unique, perhaps even singular, and matches her style and personality.

5.) Use appropriate humor: This doesn’t mean you have to be the life of the party. It does mean opening yourself to the comic relief that daily life provides and cultivating the ability to not take yourself too seriously. The funniest twit I know is @badbanana. His updates usually relate to current events. Here’s one that followed a recent stock market rally: @badbanana “There’s cautious optimism on Wall Street. Now stock brokers are only jumping out of first floor windows.” And another update that came the day after Earth Day: @badbanana “Sure enough, Al Gore came down the chimney last night and unplugged all of our appliances.” Unless you’re at home recovering from abdominal surgery, you should be following his updates.

6.) Provide pleasant surprises: #FollowFriday recommendations, retweets, and other forms of public recognition fall into this category. Also, some twits offer books and other prizes associated with trivia contests or other promotions. @JeffreySummers, for example, provides the book Tribes by Seth Godin to every 500th follower he receives.

7.) Deliver service heroics: A few weeks ago, I posted this blog about how @ComcastBill delivered service heroics. The illustration was even picked up by the national media and provided Comcast with some positive customer service recognition—not something you generally associate with cable service providers.

At the time of this writing I was following about 1,500 people. With more than eight million users now on Twitter, I’ve only “met” a fraction of them. Everyone reading this post can think of people from your own Twitter communities whose updates are memorable. The fact that you can recall these people, out of the hundreds or thousands you may follow, illustrates my point: memorable twits share sticky tweets.

By Steve Curtin (@enthused)

Have you ever missed an opportunity to provide a compliment? Perhaps viewing it as optional? I have. And when I do, it’s usually my wife who points it out. Maybe I’ve overlooked her new haircut or the way she keeps a household of six on track. It’s easy to become complacent in this area and, instead of communicating appreciation, convey indifference or apathy.

We do the same with customers. One statistic I read suggested that 68 percent of customers quit doing business with a company due to perceived indifference towards them as customers.

The author Leo Buscaglia wrote, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”

You may be thinking that “…have the potential to turn a life around” sounds a bit dramatic. If, for example, you work in the retail industry and miss an opportunity to compliment a customer on her choice of handbags, life goes on. But consider the field of healthcare and the positive effects that compliments have on patients.

Earlier today I was reading the book, Love Your Patients by Scott Louis Diering, M.D. and came across the following passage:

“One of the nicest gifts we can give anyone is a compliment. A compliment does not cost us anything, is easy to prepare, and shows our patients that we have taken the time to recognize them as special.

For example, when someone is in pain, it is nice to recognize their tolerance. We can say, “You must be very strong to tolerate that!” Or, “You are better than I am, I would be crying!” Or, “You could give lessons on how to manage pain!” Our compliments show our admiration for their pain tolerance.

We can compliment our patients for anything, but compliments about their own healthy behaviors are always good. For example, we can compliment them on their recall for their medical history, their blood sugar log, or their initiative to come in to see us.

Further, praising our patient’s healthy behaviors is a reinforcer for those behaviors. If we reinforce something, it is more likely to occur in the future. And, if we ignore their good behaviors, those good behaviors are less likely to occur again.”

Complimenting customers or patients will help to make the personal customer service you provide more memorable. But remember that co-workers are customers too. They deserve the same type of affirmation and recognition. For more on the topic of recognition, read this light-hearted post titled, Effective recognition is not pi in the sky!

So, while the opportunity to offer a sincere and specific compliment may not present itself during every customer service interaction, just be on the lookout for those opportunities to genuinely recognize the customers you serve.

They will feel better and so will you. As the author J.M. Barrie observed, “Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.”

Twitter is the social networking service that has revolutionized the way people communicate online. Twitter allows twits (users) to send out tweets (messages) to their followers (those minions who opted to follow updates from the sender). These updates are limited to no more than 140 characters in length. Tweets can be sent via computer, cell phone, or handheld device.

Lately, Twitter has become known for its Fail Whale graphic (pictured) and accompanying message, “Twitter is over capacity. Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again.”

Many disgruntled users vent their frustrations by sending terse missives such as: “Someone broke twitter again – that bloody fail whale needs a harpoon!” or “Dammit the dreaded Fail Whale is rearing it’s ugly head again…what’s going on people???” And these are the nice ones…

While I consider myself an advocate of the customer with a low tolerance for service failures, I’d make an exception in Twitter’s case. Here’s why:

Twitter is evolving. It was only launched in March 2006 and, after a period of incremental growth, its usage has grown dramatically. From February 2008 to February 2009 Twitter grew 1,382 percent and currently has more than 8 million unique users in the U.S. Facebook, by comparison, grew only 228 percent over the same period. Want to read more? Here’s the post by Adam Ostrow (@adamostrow in Twitterland).

Don’t get me wrong. I too am frustrated when I see the Fail Whale. That’s to be expected. I do recognize, however, that popularity is a double-edged sword: both attractive to many and, at the same time, crowded.

Twitter is extremely popular and has been thrust into the mainstream media recently with the competition between Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) and CNN (@cnnbrk) to see who could be the first to attract one million followers on Twitter and Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) exposing Twitter to her 20 million viewers.

And it’s crowded. Just last week I read a Sprint advertisement in the Wall Street Journal that quoted these statistics: “29,997 people just twittered on Twitter for the first time today (and) 9,002 people just twittered on Twitter for the fifth time today”

There is a restaurant consultant on Twitter named Jeffrey Summers (@JeffreySummers). He makes his living by helping restaurateurs to fill the seats in their restaurants. Most of us have a favorite restaurant and, chances are, your favorite restaurant is attractive to many others as well. Because it’s popular, it’s crowded. Just like Twitter.

You wouldn’t throw your hands up in frustration in front of the hostess at your favorite restaurant and say, “Geesh! What’s it take to get a table in this wildly popular restaurant?” You would understand the reason for the wait and probably just get a drink at the bar and relax.

So the next time you see the Fail Whale, consider the restaurant analogy. Be grateful that you’re associated with Twitter’s emerging technology with its untold potential. Be thankful for the knowledge you’ve gained (perhaps from one of @guykawasaki’s Alltop links) or music you’ve received (maybe from @sharonhayes or @DJDaveM). And be appreciative of the many relationships that you have established, both personally and professionally.

Then, if you’re still frustrated, get a drink and relax. ; )

By Steve Curtin (@enthused)

I was reading the book Revolutionize Your Customer Experience by Colin Shaw and came across the following excerpt from Duane Francis, CEO, Mid-Columbia Medical Center, The Dalles, OR:

“We want to create a non-institutional environment where patients can feel more like individuals and valued as a whole human being, rather than just a diagnosis in bed three, or the injury in bed two, and being treated as a transaction. Therefore we have created an environment that is susceptible to healing. For example, we use a lot of water features in our facility. We have a waterfall in an open-air atrium: there is open-air access from all of the floors of our hospital, where you can hear the sound of cascading water. We also use salt-water aquariums because we know it creates a soothing and calming environment. We have fully stocked kitchens on every patient floor where we invite the volunteers, loved ones, or community members to come in and bake cookies or fresh baked bread because the smells wafting down the hall create a “homey” environment and a sense and feeling that is not stressful, and is actually designed to reduce stress. We spend a lot of time on those environment issues, what the patients see, taste, touch, and smell.”

Mid-Columbia Medical Center is well on its way to providing patients with memorable customer experiences. Consider its focus on the sense of smell (e.g., baked cookies or fresh baked bread) alone:

Memories, imagination, and associations are more readily reached through the sense of smell than through any other channel. In humans there are four genes for vision, whereas there are 1,000 allocated to scent, which means we have the ability to differentiate more than 10,000 odors. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, 75 percent of all emotions we generate are due to what we smell.

The results are amazing. Overall length of stay has steadily declined even though the level of average illness that Mid-Columbia Medical Center sees with its patients has gone steadily up. They are able to admit patients and treat them in a shorter amount of time. In essence, they are healing faster.

Here are two separate stories I received this week that share a common theme: restaurateurs who made meaning by expressing genuine interest, conveying authentic enthusiasm, and providing pleasant surprises. Those who practice these memorable customer service behaviors cannot help but succeed—even in a fragile economy.

Lynn from Kansas writes:

“When I went to pick up my taxes this morning in Paola, I parked in front of one of my favorite restaurants—Beethoven’s 9th—across the street from my accountant. It’s a fantastic German restaurant run by a German couple and their son. It was only 9:30am, and they don’t open until 11:00am.

I was making a call on my cell phone in the car when the restaurant owner came out and herded me into the restaurant. We talked as they made breakfast (no, they don’t open for breakfast, but that’s what I got!) and we had the whole restaurant to ourselves! What a pleasant surprise!

On top of that, they never gave me a bill to pay, so I left double the price of what I thought the breakfast would cost, as a “tip.” What wonderful people they are!”

Erin from Colorado writes:

“On Saturday, Fran and I went out to breakfast at a little restaurant that we frequent—the Country Road Café in Kittredge (highly recommend if you’re ever out this way!). It’s known far and wide in Evergreen, Morrison, and beyond, for its incredible food and is always packed.

While we were there Saturday, the owner, Mark, was out serving tables and topping everyone off with coffee, being very attentive to diners’ needs. He and his waiters kept coming by our table to try and top my coffee off, so finally I said, “Thanks, but no thanks, I’m pregnant, so I’m just trying to stick with one!” He seemed a little embarrassed, but said sorry and then something clever and walked away.

A few minutes later, he came back, and proceeded to tell us that he couldn’t believe he didn’t tell me congrats—and also told us about how much he enjoyed being a father. Later, as we got ready to pay our bill, it was marked, “No charge, congrats!”

Fran and I already loved this place, but we’ll be sure to continue going back after that kind of service and attention – and we’ll definitely share our great customer service story. And in this economy, we know a free meal means more, both to him (since people aren’t dining out as much) and to us, so it was an especially nice gesture.”

Guy Kawasaki in his book, The Art of the Start, describes why some succeed in business while others fail. He suggests that those who succeed in business set out to “make meaning, not money.” And contends, “Those who set out to make money, will not make meaning or money.”

These restaurateurs are out to make meaning. And their businesses, clientele, and reputations reflect that.

In today’s mail I received a marketing letter from a Denver-based accounting firm eager to expand its clientele. I’d say that I have received a letter from this firm every 2 or 3 months for the past four years and usually toss them in the trash unopened. Convicted by this waste, I called the firm this afternoon and politely asked to be removed from its database.

The irony is that four years ago, after receiving one of the first marketing letters from this firm, I called one of the CPAs listed to determine whether or not my situation was a fit for his accounting firm. When I phoned, the call was answered by a pleasant receptionist and went something like this (I’ve chosen to use fictitious names but the story is absolutely true):

Receptionist: “Good afternoon. Thank you for calling XYZ Accounting Solutions. How may I help you?”

(So far, so good.)

Me: “Hello. I’m calling to speak with one of your CPAs, Tim Smith. Is he available?”

Receptionist: “I’m sorry but the partners don’t accept phone calls without an appointment. Would you like to schedule an appointment with Mr. Smith through me at this time?”

(Wrong answer.)

Me: “No thank you.”

Later that week, I connected with a CPA at a competing firm (who accepts phone calls without an appointment). He and I discussed my accounting situation, determined that we were a good fit, and he’s been doing my personal and business accounting ever since.

My situation isn’t terribly complex. Even so, between quarterly and annual returns, he’s billing me over $1,000 each year. If you’re keeping track, that’s around $4,000 in accounting fees that the original firm forfeited based on its handling of my original phone inquiry. And that’s just me!

I know, I know…conventional time management theory suggests that busy executives should have their calls screened in order to increase their personal productivity…yadda, yadda, yadda… But it comes down to this: “Whose time is more important, yours or your customer’s?”

If you answered “Mine” (as in your time) then I would submit that you probably don’t have many customers and, if you do, you either work for a government entity, utility company, or some other monopoly. If you answered “My customer’s” (as in your customer’s time) and currently take your own calls, then you’re way ahead of the game and likely see the results in your own business.

If, however, you answered “My customer’s” (as in your customer’s time) and your calls are currently being screened, then you have a choice to make. Choose wisely. The stakes may be much higher than you think.