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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Opinion

Entitlement or Customer Service?

Expectations of good customer service sometimes conflict with entitlement mindsets—especially as performance thresholds become ever-more robust. So, when Amazon Prime guarantees one-day delivery and doesn’t meet their commitment, are irritated customers acting entitled or are they justifiably upset? I maintain it’s the latter in most cases. The problem is that companies offering this type of […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Opinion

When reliable customer service suddenly goes awry

Oh, say it isn’t so! I’ve noticed some quality control issues lately that are totally out of sync with what I expect at Costco. And, Amazon seems to be exemplifying a corporate version of “the Peter Principle,” described in Investopedia as: “… an observation that the tendency in most organizational hierarchies, such as that of […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Leverage Opinion Social Media

Good customer service provides cornerstone of authentic marketing, reputation management

In this era of fake news and fast communication, company reputation is more vulnerable than ever to one negative headline or storyline. Strong customer service ratings over a substantial period of time can limit the damage, showing a pattern of competence and caring that supersedes isolated hits to a reputation. Building and maintaining a positive […]

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37 and Counting Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques General Marketing Leverage Opinion Social Media

Digital transformation sets the stage for 2020 customer experiences…and beyond

Customer experience futurist Blake Morgan addressed her thoughts on customer experience and digital transformation in a year-ending Forbes.com article. She emphasizes, “Digital transformation and customer experience go hand in hand. These 100 statistics show the growth and importance of digital transformation, its impact on customer experience and digital challenges and opportunities for the future.” According […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques General Marketing Leverage Opinion

Competition, employee expectations define 2020s ‘customer service’

Given my firm belief that customer service encompasses every element of company performance—including employee acknowledgment and respect—the coming decade will focus squarely on competition for the best treatment both of customers and employees. Companies dedicated to both will continue to grow. Companies ignoring either will find themselves looking up at their competitors. A November Forbes.com […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques General Marketing Leverage Opinion Social Media

Customer service will roar loud and clear in the coming decade

As technology and customer expectations evolve, so will customer service practices and commitments. Every indication points to increasing emphasis on keeping customers happy to keep the business going. Companies that go all in will survive and increasingly thrive. Those that don’t, even the ones that are “too big to fail,” face major loss of revenues […]

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37 and Counting Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Empowerment Techniques General Marketing Opinion

Downloading a whitepaper leads to email bombardment

I’ve talked about a version of this before. A purveyor gets you to connect based on reaching out for information, then won’t leave you alone. That can be bad “customer service” long before you become a customer. This past couple weeks, I’ve encountered an even more insidious form of this disease—daily emails. I simply downloaded […]