Blog

Your Klout score is irrelevant

It amazes me how many social media and customer service pundits gush about the need to master web-based social customer service along the periphery, even as basic frontline customer service quality languishes. Best Buy, XFINITY (formerly Comcast), and AT&T are great examples of companies who aspire to garner reputations as

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No fear

I recently discovered that at least one employee at my local supermarket has no fear of consequences for his behavior at work. The King Soopers employee who bagged my two gallons of milk and bottle of Mr. Bubble (don’t judge me…) said, “Damn! I’d need this whole bottle for my

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Individual customers are irreplaceable

Earlier this month during a presentation, a participant posed the following question: “What difference does it make if one customer leaves dissatisfied when there’s a line of customers waiting to take his place?” Having worked in high-volume environments in New York City and Orlando, I’ve detected this sentiment—if not heard

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Uncommon Service

I read a lot of business books—many of which pertain to customer service. When so many customer service books offer readers the equivalent of a simplistic 5-step approach to improving customer service that produces the acronym: S.M.I.L.E., Uncommon Service is a refreshing change. Rather than patronizing readers with predictable stories

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Let me see what I can do…

This is the final post in a series that has identified 10 different customer service advantages that have emerged from my analysis of customer satisfaction data. Maybe you have capitalized on one or more of these advantages in your own business? The tenth advantage is to recognize that exceptions require

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Customers: Fleeting transactions or long-term partners?

This post is the ninth in a series that will identify 10 different customer service advantages that have emerged from my analysis of customer satisfaction data. Maybe you have capitalized on one or more of these advantages in your own business? The ninth advantage is to see customers as partners.

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Enough!

If you want to find out just how bad customer service is, go buy something. It hardly even matters where you go, who you call, or which website you visit. Sure, there are exceptions—those fabled companies that spring to mind when one thinks about legendary customer service: Zappos, Disney, L.L.Bean,

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You’re not entitled to a tip

Tipping is a form of recognition—a way for customers to say, “Thank you” to service providers. Tipping, in most settings, is voluntary and left to the customer’s discretion. Even so, many restaurant servers feel entitled to 15 percent or more from every table they wait on. Likewise, bellmen and skycaps

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Service is a verb

This post is the eighth in a series that will identify 10 different customer service advantages that have emerged from my analysis of customer satisfaction data. Maybe you have capitalized on one or more of these advantages in your own business? The eighth advantage is to consider service a verb.

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The Revelation Conversation

The Revelation Conversation is Here!