By: Myra Golden (submitted by Carmen Gass)

As I prepare for a workshop for a new client in Upstate New York, let me give you three things you can do to help your team get angry customers to back down, techniques right out of my
De-escalation Training.

One. Coach Your Team to Acknowledge Customer Concern

When staff acknowledges how hard things are for customers, they can foster rapport and make connections. Acknowledging concern links the communication chain with customers and makes it easier for employees to create calm, reframe conversations, and move interactions toward closure. Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken, submitted by Carmen Gass

If you had to have surgery, would you rather go to the most skilled surgeon or the nicest surgeon?

I was at a party the other night and someone I met shared his opinion of the difference between a good doctor and a great doctor. A good doctor makes you well. A great doctor makes you well and calls you the next day to see how you’re doing.

I thought about that all weekend. My new friend was saying that good is doing what you are expected to do. If you’re a surgeon, you make people well. However, great is the addition of a better customer experience. In the case of the surgeon, it’s skill plus bedside manner.
Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken (submitted by Carmen Gass)

In our customer service training workshops, we have an exercise that introduces a concept called The Five Levels of Service. The levels advance from Unacceptable to Basic to Good to World Class to Trademark. Any company should be happy with World Class, which is when the company is consistently and predictably delivering a level of service that gets customers to come back. Very few companies can get to Trademark levels of service. This happens when a company or brand is referred to in a way that positions them as one of the best at what they do. Most often, it is a comparison. For example, people might say, “They are the Cadillac of their industry.” Obviously, that is a powerful complement for both the company and for Cadillac.

Along those same lines, I was talking with a client who said, “We want to Chick-fil-A our customers.” Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken [Submitted by Carmen Gass]

At a recent conference, I enjoyed an interview with a business owner who shared some of his customer service philosophies. His name is Jake, and he is a very smart guy. He taught several
lessons that day, but the one that stood out was how he handles angry customers. Specifically, it was a lesson he called Don’t Smell the Milk.

Early in Jake’s career, he worked at a grocery store. His manager taught him how to respond to a disgruntled customer. The example he used had to do with a customer who wanted to return a spoiled carton of milk. Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken (submitted by Carmen Gass)

I don’t know if it’s true, but it doesn’t matter. This is a great story with a great lesson.

Michelangelo was standing on his scaffold as he worked on painting a tiny leaf on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A colleague looked up from far below and shouted, “Why are you so concerned about painting that little leaf? Nobody from this distance will ever know.”

Michelangelo responded, “I will know!”

The point is that the smallest details matter. Even if they don’t matter to the customer, they should still matter to you. It’s a sense of pride, dedication, and discipline that you care enough not to cut corners, take shortcuts or gloss over details.
Read more here.

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

How many times has a customer service rep broken their promise to you?
* Failed to call you back.
* Failed to send you something.
* Failed to fix a problem.

It’s frustrating. A broken promise makes you question why you’re doing business with that company.

You can earn your customers’ trust by doing what you say you will do.
* Respond to customers when you say you’ll respond.
* Send what you promise to send.
* Fix problems you promise to fix.

It’s not as easy as it seems. People have a way of convincing themselves it’s okay to break promises.
* I was busy.
* I forgot.
* Someone else dropped the ball.

Imaging hearing those excuses as a customer. None of them are okay. You can stand out by being dependable, solid, and trustworthy.

By: Jeremy Watkin, submitted by Carmen Gass

I’ve never really considered myself a “reptile person.” On those occasions where I’ve encountered snakes while hiking or working in the yard, I always jump clear out of my shoes in
complete fright.

It was Christmas of 2020 when my son made us a reptile family by welcoming a corn snake named “Mouse” into our home. Oh, and her favorite food is mice so it’s a fitting name. She was about a year old and two feet long at the time but has since doubled in size.

She actually has a great temperament, often content to gently wrap herself around a willing arm for an unspecified amount of time. And as far as pets go, a snake is incredibly low maintenance, eating and going to the bathroom about once a week. It’s all still a bit creepy though, but we’re adapting. Read more here.

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

It’s a busy day and your next customer has been waiting for awhile. What should you say to acknowledge the delay?
* “I’m sorry for the wait.”
* “Thank you for waiting.”
* Nothing.

The surprising choice is “Thank you for waiting.”

** Thank customers for minor service failures**
————————————————————
Small issues, such as a delay, can damage a customer’s
self-esteem.

They make people feel disrespected or less valued. The key to service recovery in these situations is to restore a customer’s self-esteem and make them feel better again.

“I’m sorry” can be effective, but thanking the customer can work even better!

Here are some examples:
* Restaurant: “Thank you for your patience while we prepare your table.”
* Retail: “Thank you for waiting while I helped that customer.”
* Coffee shop: “Thank you for letting me know we’re out of creamer.”

I often use this technique when Customer Service Tip of the Week subscribers point out a typo or another small error in these weekly newsletters.

“Thanks for spotting that typo,” I’ll write. “I appreciate you letting me know about it so I can fix it!”

There is one caveat. Saying “thank you” only works well for minor service failures. Big issues still deserve an apology.

By: Leslie O’Flahavan [submitted by Carmen Gass]

Whether your customer should’ve read your policy but didn’t or tried to read your policy but couldn’t understand it, the outcome is the same. Explaining and enforcing the policy has become Customer Service’s duty. Customer Service didn’t create the policy, but when it comes to getting the customer to accept the policy, we find ourselves on the front line.
Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken (submitted by Carmen Gass)

We just released our annual customer service research where we surveyed more than 1,000 consumers and asked what customer service experiences are most likely to cause you to come back. The top answers belong together: helpful and friendly.

That seems pretty simple. All a typical customer wants is for someone to be nice to them, with a willingness to take care of them. How hard can that be? It seems like it’s just common sense, right? Yet we all have the customer service horror stories that are the exact opposite of people being helpful and friendly. Read more here.

By: Shep Hyken (submitted by Carmen Gass)

I recently received a note from my friend and Shepard Letter subscriber, Michael Staenberg. He commented on the recent Never, Never, Never Be Late article and sent a list of what he referred to as Things that Require Zero Talent. At the top of the list was being on time.

I’ve seen lists like this before. They include being on time, having a good work ethic and a positive attitude, doing more than expected, and more.

I did a little research and found similar lists that included all those mentioned above and others including being coachable, smiling, saying please and thank you, being nice, doing what you
say, etc. Read more here.

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

“How was everything?”

The hotel associate asked this standard question as I was checking out. Most guests probably say, “fine” without even thinking, but I had some constructive feedback to share.

Yet I hesitated. Three other hotel employees had ignored the feedback I gave them throughout my stay. Would this fourth employee do the same?

I decided to test the waters. “It was just okay,” I said. Adding, “The room was nice.”

My response barely registered. “Okay, well, you’re all set!” replied the employee, a bit too dismissively. Read more here.

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

The way you answer the phone creates an instant first impression. This week’s tip might be easy to use on your first call of the day, but what about your 50th?

** Answer the Phone with Enthusiasm**
————————————————————
We create a first impression when we answer the phone, so it’s important to give a warm and pleasant greeting each and every time. The challenge is we’re human. Sometimes, we’re distracted. Other times, we’re just having a bad day. And, occasionally, a co-worker decides to reheat fish in the microwave.

Here are a few tricks to try:
* Put a mirror near your phone so you can see yourself smile
* Create a list of different phone greetings so you can mix it up a bit
* Pause and take a deep breath to clear your mind before answering

By: Shep Hyken (submitted by Carmen Gass)

Never being late … that’s not realistic. It’s going to happen. It’s not a question of if. It’s when.

But you might say, “It’s not my fault!” And maybe it’s not. For example, you may be driving to a lunch meeting, and a car accident shuts down the highway making you. And it’s not just about arriving late to a commitment. It could be a delay in shipping a product. Maybe a customer orders something three days before Christmas. You ship it out that day, but the backup at the
post office causes a delay. Or perhaps there is a supply issue, and you can’t get the parts to manufacture your products.

None of these scenarios are your fault, but the customer doesn’t always see it that way. All the customer knows is that you were late. Read more here.

By: Myra Golden (submitted by Carmen Gass)

Looking for helpful tips regarding de-escalating with customers?
Discussion topics include:

— How do you empower employees to be confident when de-escalating?
— How do you handle the customer who asks for a supervisors right out of the gate?
— What are some warning signs that a call will be escalated?

These questions and more are answered here.

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

“It just takes a lot of effort to get things done.”

A friend recently shared these frustrations. She had worked in sales at her company for the past six years. It had a good product and she was successful, but something was gnawing at
her.

My friend explained that it was becoming increasingly difficult to hit her sales targets. The challenge wasn’t a new competitor, shifting market conditions, or even the pandemic.

The biggest issue was a lack of internal customer service.

My friend increasingly spent time and effort navigating corporate bureaucracy, waiting for results, and following-up with other departments to make sure they didn’t drop the ball. Continue reading here.