Impeccable Customer Service Tip #777

“Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you.”

–Mark Cuban

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #776

As a leader, it’s important to remember the basics: your people need working phones, comfortable and inviting work spaces, business cards that look & feel professional, back-end support, and whatever else is necessary to perform their jobs in a professional manner. You can’t expect your people to succeed, remain engaged, and feel confident with customers if they’re not consistently being provided with these basic tools. Remarkable employee experiences lead to remarkable customer experiences.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #775

When the ball gets dropped (and it will), what is that customer hoping for in that moment? Resolution. Not justification, not finger-pointing, not hesitation, not excuses, not interrogation, not even promises of future betterment. First and foremost, they just want you to make it right.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #774

Ever notice and/or hear about the personal interests of your clients? This type of “low-hanging fruit” is all around us. It’s up to us to be aware of these things, take note, and act on them when appropriate. In this noisy world, what are you doing to build relationships and remain top-of-mind with your clients via personalized gifts and thoughtful information sharing? Care cannot be declared … it must be demonstrated, and personalization is a great way to do that.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #773

“I got stuck behind a school bus,” “Traffic was crazy this morning,” “You know, your building isn’t so easy to find,” “My dog ate my alarm clock,” “Kid issues made me late,” “Parking was a bear,” “You wouldn’t believe the route my navigation system took me along this afternoon.”

Give yourself extra time for the unforeseen and you’ll be making far fewer excuses with clients. Few things demonstrate care and respect as much as honoring one’s time. (Oh, and bring a book — that client you’re meeting might be running behind … but that’s not your concern.)

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #772

“Telling frontline reps to exceed customers’ expectations is apt to yield confusion, wasted time and effort, and costly giveaways. Telling them to ‘make it easy’ [for customers] gives them a solid foundation for action.”

–Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman & Nicholas Toman, Harvard Business Review

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #771

It’s been reported that callers under 65 years of age prefer a casual demeanor over a formal one, when calling into your company. I’m not suggesting that you put your feet up on the desk, but It might be a good idea to loosen that tie a tad and just be yourself.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #770

If you’ve found yourself saying, “Good people are hard to find,” take a close look at your hiring process. Perhaps it could use a refresh.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #769

Don’t allow your firm to become thought of as just another company that’s doing nothing more than paying lip service to customer care. Instead, aspire to become the model for it, in — and even outside of — your industry.

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Impeccable Customer Service Tip #768

When e-mailing customers/clients always double-check the recipient box before hitting send.

• Are you addressing that e-mail to the right “Steve?”
• Did you really mean to Reply All?
• Is there someone who should be cc’d on this message?
• Did you really want all recipients to see others’ names/e-mail addresses … or would it be more appropriate to BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) them?

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