Are Your Customers Just Getting Used to Bad Service?

Have your customers developed experiential calluses? Sometimes, customers stick with a business despite poor customer service because they’re simply used to it, and it’s easier to put up with the pain than to deal with the hassle of switching. That can work for a company in the short term, but ultimately, competitors will see opportunities,…

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Leaders Define the Culture

Leadership defines company culture. Employees look to leadership as role models, so the way leadership treats customers affects how employees will treat customers, too. So if you’re a leader, at any level, in your business, it’s your responsibility to set the standard for how you want your people to act. In this week’s video, I…

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Take Care of ALL Your Customers

Which customers do you want to keep doing business with? We often look at some customers as better than others. Maybe they do business with us more often, or they spend more when they buy, or maybe they’re just easier to do business with, in general. Your most loyal customers might have emotional connections with…

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Operationalizing a Customer Service Culture

Building the ideal corporate culture doesn’t happen by chance. If you are a leader of a company or organization and you want to instill a customer service culture, how do you make it happen? To become a customer-centric company requires first building an employee-centric workplace. If you want your customers to be amazed—and loyal, and refer their family…

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Keep Open Communication to Keep Customers

Sometimes customers just…disappear. One day they were doing business with you, and everything seemed great, but then they just stopped coming. We always assume that if a customer is unhappy or has a bad experience, they’ll tell us. And some do! But many don’t. When they’re not happy, they just go somewhere else. If you…

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Don’t Just Pay It Forward—Amaze It Forward!

You’ve probably heard of the concept of “paying it forward.” The good news is, it applies to being amazing, too! The next time someone provides you an amazing customer experience, try “amazing it forward.” Let them know how much you appreciate them, and that you hope they’ll do the same for someone else who provides…

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Try Creative Problem Solving

So you found a solution to your customer’s problem. But did you come up with the best solution? It’s easy to get hung up on the first idea we come up with. But the best customer experience requires creative problem solving. Consider all potential solutions, and you’ll have confidence that you gave yourself and the…

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An Incredible Brand Promise

I recently gave a presentation at River Valley Bank, which is changing its name to Incredible Bank. My experience there was a great example of creating a brand promise. It’s right there in the name: Incredible Bank. You know right away what kind of customer experience they’re looking to create. I got to learn more…

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Do You Do the Right Thing?

Sometimes people go above and beyond in customer service, to do more than would be expected. They do it because, in their minds, it’s the right thing to do. One of my readers recently sent me a note that described a situation just like this, where someone provided him service above and beyond the call…

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Do You Act Your Core Values?

Lots of people talk about core values. But are you acting on your core values? If you’re just writing them down without acting on them, it’s just a writing assignment. For core values to really work, you have to understand and consider how they tie into your daily behavior, filtering (to use a great metaphor…

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