Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Customer service is becoming the dominant driver in businesses across all categories. And more and more companies are investing in customer service training programs. But what should a customer service training program look like? Whether you are developing the program internally for your company, or contracting an outside training firm to build and ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
Here's a scenario that plays out a million times a day all around the world: A customer walks up to an associate, clerk, receptionist who is stone-faced, dispassionate and disinterested. There is no smile, no eye contact - no human connection at all. The would-be service provider deals with the customer ...
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Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Over the last fifteen years I have written several articles about the Brampton-based Mandarin Restaurant chain, and their remarkably consistent customer service. (Here are two from this blog April 18, 2009 , October 14, 2007 ) In all of my travels to all of the traditional 'best in class' organizations - ...
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Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Overall the Sheraton chain does pretty good. The people are consistently pleasant and helpful, and their hotels are appointed appropriately to their upscale positioning. They have a few reservation processes, though, that need work.
One, which I mentioned a few months back, has to do with who takes the res. When ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 30th, 2010
I continue to be astounded at how many companies just can't seem to grasp how important service recovery is. It's not like this is a new concept. Here's a great 1982 story written for the Globe & Mail by Ellen Roseman (now with The Toronto Star) about Canadian Car Rental legend, Ted Tilden and ...
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Sunday, August 29th, 2010
Spanish Banking giant Santander had 245,000 complaints last year - almost 1,300 complaints ever single day. I've been following the regular news stories about this company's performance for quite a while now, and am not entirely sure how they have managed to stay in business this long. By all accounts, the ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
I'm pretty sure I've just missed it. I'm not trying to be cute here - the TTC Customer Service Advisor Panel did an outstanding job in their recent report, and I would be really surprised if this was something they left out. But I just can't seem to find it.
They identified a ...
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Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
For anyone who is truly interested in customer service, there is a wonderful case study that has been unfolding this year in Toronto, Canada. The city’s transit commission (TTC) came under intense fire and scrutiny for its customer service levels. The moment of truth was defined by a passenger’s photograph-gone-viral ...
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Monday, August 23rd, 2010
A long awaited report was just released on how to improve the customer service in the Toronto Transit Commission. The CBC report suggests that it is going to be 'costly - a surefire topic of debate.
My question is, how 'costly' will it really be? Assuming that customer service is an ...
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Wednesday, August 18th, 2010
Telephone tech support is one of the most challenging and underrated occupations out there. Doing it well means more than just being good with the technical stuff, you also have to be an outstanding customer service provider. Here are 5 'must haves' for tech support customer service:
1. Patience
You are dealing ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
It wasn't really that long ago that Dell was the darling of the high tech industry. It was the juggernaut of the personal computing world. They sold a ton of computers. Unfortunately, they neglected one important thing - customer service. All you have to do is Google "Dell sucks" and ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
Different retail companies have different customer service training elements, but here are five that need to be in every program:
1. Greet customers warmly and sincerely
(Forget about the ancient 10-feet-ten-seconds rule, though. We'll talk about that in another post)
2. SMILE!
Seriously, if you aren't comfortable smiling at people, get out of retail. ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
How can you tell when customer service is a primary focus for a company? One way is to look at their advertising. Although they may not be able to always deliver in real life, the marketing will usually tell you what they are striving for. Here's a few great customer service ...
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Over the last twenty years of training and consulting on customer service, I have heard some amazing stories. Time to get some of them in writing! So here's the deal. Post a comment on this blog post with either a horrible customer service experience you've had, or an amazing one. ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Anyone who flies has seen it: That narcissistic passenger who believes that the rules are for everyone else - but not him (her). According to a CBS news story today, a particularly unpleasant one was the last straw for a Jet Blue employee who opened the emergency door (while the plane was ...
Posted in Customer Service | 4 Comments »
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Golf Town Kanata Customer Service Score: D-
I went into Golf Town in Kanata yesterday, and had an experience I can only describe as...odd.
It started well. I walked in the door and past three associates, all who greeted me with smiles. I proceeded to the back where the service desk was ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Some companies are doing it right - Sears, Zappos, Thrifty Car Rental - to name a few. They seem to understand the nature of social media, and how to leverage it to create positive customer experiences. There are many, many more, however, who think they are cleverly using social media, ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
Friday, August 6th, 2010
I was speaking to a large group a few weeks ago about why customer service has taken the forefront as a primary business focus. I outlined the changes in the business landscape over the last ten years, and how the voice of the customer has gone from a whimper to a ...
Posted in Customer Service | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
You can't call it a customer service department if:
You are charging extra for customer service. What is Spirit Airlines thinking?? http://ow.ly/2kRr7
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Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010
You can't call it a 'Customer Service Department' if: It isn't accessible when your customers want to talk with you
You can't call it a 'Customer Service Department' if: No-one has the authority to fix things
You can't call it a 'Customer Service Department' if: The people working in it haven't been ...
Posted in Customer Service | 1 Comment »
