Heather Wilde, CTO at Roceteer, wrote an article in Inc. Magazine entitled, “What Working at a Call Center Taught Me About Customer Service…The customer may not always be right, but you can certainly treat them better.” The essence of her advice to customer service departments and reps is to act more like caring, concerned moms […]
While Costco was listed first on my top mom and pop kudos list, there are many companies out there with similar attitudes and aptitudes. These companies, smaller in scope than Costco, come up just as large when it comes to taking care of customers/clients. I’ve already recognized these three in previous posts. I’m bringing them […]
Amid COVID-19 retail carnage, Costco is managing to weather the storm well so far according to recent stock reports and recommendations. Its legendary customer service likely is leading the pack of positives. Whether or not such pandemic-related policies as mandatory masks and special hours from 9-10 AM Monday-Friday for seniors and shoppers with disabilities or […]
Centuries ago, the customer service “universe” existed of how far you could walk to do business. While choices were fewer, so were complications. Today, customer service challenges exist across the globe. When the company and customer base are relatively small, ability to be agile and make improvements quickly can be fairly robust. In part […]
There’s been a lot of talk about over-communicating with customers during COVID to make sure they know they’re acknowledged and cared about. However, there are definite exceptions—in this case it involves a prospect but the same principles apply to existing customers. A few weeks back, I checked into Inogen, a portable oxygen concentrator company just […]
As important as providing and documenting great customer service is, discovering and acting upon customer dissatisfaction may be even more important. According to a recent business2community.com article: “Customer complaints provide valuable data…There are more of these than you may realize. A study by 1st Financial Training Services found that 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain, however, 91% […]
Hopefully, one of the most enduring COVID-19 crisis legacies will be a corporate culture where customer service reps offer an open hand to help versus a clenched fist. For far too long, corporate America has largely embraced the clenched-fist policy, in which customer service is provided in as small increments as absolutely necessary. In many […]
Have you gone out of your way to provide more compassionate and caring customer service during the COVID-19 crisis? If so, those efforts can become a cornerstone of customer loyalty and buying. In addition to those who already know, tell the rest of the world about it! This is a case where prior “good acts” […]
Industries ranging from telecom to travel are experiencing the downside of exaggerated marketing claims unsupported by performance. An ad touting lightning-fast 5G connections offers disappointment when customers learn that it’s available so far only in certain areas with certain cellphones. Airlines boasting terrific accommodations are almost doomed to disappoint when travelers wind up stuffed to […]
Essentially, treating people well and keeping them happy is substantially about treating others the way you want to be treated. Putting together and maintaining a system that will do this reliably across all customer service audiences in a rapidly expanding marketplace is the biggest challenge. Where to start? By understanding that the most successful customer […]
