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Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Opinion Social Media

Communications channels need to back up customer service reps

I got a reminder last week about the importance of “training” communications channels right along with reps to accurately inform and educate. The matter seemed to be simple: I wanted to donate an old flat-screen TV. After a couple hours calling around, based on website-based policies for such items, I learned that many communications either […]

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Business Development Customer Service General Marketing Opinion Tips

As top-notch customer service demand rises, does supply have to fall?

Forbes Senior Contributor Micah Solomon addresses a great question about customer service standards falling as a company scales up operations. He notes: “Is such lowering of standards irreversible, the inevitable status quo as a company continues to scale? Decidedly not—if you relentlessly resharpen your focus and tenaciously stick to your guns once again in only […]

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Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Kudon'ts Opinion

Starry snafu highlights why misleading customer service is worse than none at all

Customer service representations that don’t hold up to actual performance are worse than no customer service at all. My Nextdoor post last week addresses my frustrating “Starry Snafu” experience:  “As a backup to CenturyLink Internet/landline, which I’ve had nearly 5 years, I ordered Starry on a trial basis. When I put in the order, I […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Kudon'ts Opinion

Incessant advertising is another over-communication mistake

I can die a happy person if I never see another Golo or American Home Shield TV commercial come up on the screen. Make no mistake, I actually checked them both out initially. Golo offers a regimen to battle insulin resistance and American Home Shield covers home repairs. In fact, I initially found the American […]

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General Marketing Opinion

And the beatdown goes on…

Two unrelated social media posts show how deep and wide intrusive, over-communicating customer service platforms can get. One states, “I recently bought Royals tickets for a team outing and I’ve literally had to unsubscribe from 8 different Royals email lists already.” Another points out, “Once you donate…you can expect to be bombarded with robocalling pleas […]

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Business Development Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Opinion

T-Mobile goes overboard in ‘customer service’ communications

One end of the pendulum to the other: From not communicating enough with customers to deluging them with confirmations, reminders, requests, survey questions, and directives via automated platforms and conversations. Clear, consistent communication is one thing. This is getting very noisy and annoying. While most customers can control the level of information provided to some […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service General Marketing Opinion

Bait-and-switch prospecting taints customer service expectations

When a company courting you starts out with a bait-and-switch pitch to get your business, chances are excellent that their customer service leaves much to be desired as well. It’s the epitome of inaccurate and incomplete information. I recently came upon a new and somewhat compelling nutritional program article. Interested, I filled out a profile […]

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Customer Service Empowerment Techniques Leverage Opinion

When you’re stuck with a company providing bad customer service

When a retailer or restaurant provides bad customer service, there generally are other choices. You can simply leave one and try another. But, what do you do when the company providing bad customer service is the only game in town (e.g., telecom provider)? Or, you have a lender (e.g., mortgage loan) that you can’t just […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Opinion

Inaccurate, incomplete customer service answers bewilder consumers

In an increasingly complex world deluged with communication overload, it’s more important than ever for customer service reps to provide accurate and complete information. Unfortunately, it’s ever-more-challenging to do this, especially when the issues involved are emergent and/or complex in their own right. Pandemic-triggered efforts to relieve both personal and business suffering have provided huge […]

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Cultivating Positive Relationships Customer Service Opinion

Customer caring success grounded in traditional tactics

Call it what you want, customer care, customer service, customer experience—the basics are still grounded in traditional tactics that worked hundreds of years ago. Today’s discussions, offerings and latest shiny tech toys are all variations on the same themes we’ve always cited as keys to success. According to astutesolutions.com: “78% of consumers said their customer service […]