This is a follow-up to my People who need people post. As the previous post addressed the need for real, live people in the customer service mix versus all-digital, this one discusses the digital versus hard-copy issue. For those firmly committed to all-digital, all the time, good luck. You’re gonna need it. My recent technology […]
Category: Empowerment Techniques
In the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl, star Barbra Streisand introduced the song “People.” In part, the lyrics went, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” From live phone customer service support to grocery checkout, increasingly the default is to push everything to technology: email, chatbots, text, grocery scanners. When it […]
Lafayette, Colorado’s Bob L. Burger Recreation Center is the best community fitness facility I’ve visited in 45 years. And I’ve had some type of fitness membership—from private clubs to community rec centers and everything in between—during that entire time. The delightful customer service experience was even more impactful given the current trend toward stupid, inattentive, […]
As Mark Lusky Communications celebrates 40 years in business and the fourth anniversary of the happycurmudgeon.com Customer Service blog, we pause to honor the evolution of the international B Corp movement, and one of B Lab’s Global Stewards, thought leader Jared Meyers. He founded Legacy Vacation Resorts (B Corp); is a Co-Founder of Florida for […]
Near-term, commerce will see marketing and customer service conjoin—defined as “to join together (things, such as separate entities) for a common purpose.” Ultimately, I believe the two will conflate—viewed as combining two or more ideas into one. It’s kind of like the difference between a strategic partnership, where two companies work together toward a common […]
Companies continue to think they can BS and bluster their way through our human instincts and convince us of their customer service excellence—no matter what’s really happening. A recent article by ZDnet contributor Chris Matyszczyk illustrates the point poignantly when addressing one of the most important stakeholders deserving solid customer service—employees themselves. This interesting story […]
Everything that goes into good customer service is being tested by the Great Resignation. Adequate staffing, training, and employee engagement and longevity are among the most stressed areas. It’s hard—if not impossible—to provide top-notch customer service when there aren’t enough well-trained, seasoned, and motivated company employees in place to do the job. Adequate staffing is […]
How will the “Great Resignation” impact customer service? With so many people quitting present jobs and searching for new opportunities (including changing industries and entrepreneurism), existing company resources are being stressed and strained. Moving forward, this will adversely impact the ability of companies to maintain and/or improve customer service levels and commitments. Customer service is […]
It’s “survival of the fittest” vs. “fill shelves with anything available.” On one hand, the most fit product manufacturers, in some cases at least, will be the ones best able to keep supplies on hand during the supply chain crisis. They think ahead. They figure out solutions. They overcome obstacles. On the other hand, empty […]
Supply chain disruptions increasingly are leading to bare shelves. In turn, many of those great products are out of stock—leading to disgruntled, frustrated customers. Many of those customers are now crying “bad customer service” as a result, and blaming those closest to the issue—retail front line workers. Business Insider freelance writer Elle Hardy interviewed one […]
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