Monthly Mash and Killing Preconceptions
Welcome to the Monthly Mash, a mashup of tools, tales and tips on customer service and the customer experience from around the blogosphere.
VOLUME 32: June 2014
Thoughts on the Customer: Killing Preconceptions
At a recent conference, panel attendees were asked to reimagine the layouts of their physical storefronts with this question:
“If collectively the entire human race has amnesia and every brick and mortar [physical store] disappears, and you have to redesign a store tomorrow with no preconceived notions of what it looked like before, what would it look like?”
While the question has a specific context, the approach has merits across all areas of customer experience and customer service.
If I could start from the ground up…
- What system would I create to empower employees ?
- How would I redesign my customer’s experience?
- What process would I create for submitting and processing a trouble ticket?
Our preconceptions often blind us to opportunity and prevent us from considering alternative approaches. Imagining how we might solve problems in the absence of any preconceptions can be a powerful exercise in getting closer to our customers.
The Month in Customer Service Blogging
A collection of the best posts about customer service and the customer experience we read this past month.
- 5 Telephone Etiquette Tips to Help You Deal with Angry Customers – Telephone etiquette tips for when you have an angry customer on the line including how to transfer in a positive way and how to offer winning solutions.
- Here’s Your Next Level Customer Service Action Plan – Eight step action plan to take your already good customer service to the next level.
- DThink Twitter Chat Recap: Designing Customer Service – Learn why your customer service should be designed not improvised from the Disney Institute twitter chat recap post.
- When You Listen to Customers, Do You Hear What They Say? – Are you suffering from Confirmation Bias? If so, you may not be listening to what your customers are really saying.
- Surprise and Delight Your Customers with Technology – Here’s How Chili’s delighted my family with tablets – One example of how to use technology to surprise and delight your customers.
- Even better than an app? – And on the other side of the spectrum. Can an App replace human customer service?
- Becoming a Customer Centric Company – Becoming a customer-centric company starts with working backwards from the customers.
- When Do You Need a Chief Customer Officer? – Six questions to help you decide if your company needs a Chief Customer Officer.
- 3 Surefire Ways To Keep Your Customer Service Mind Sharp – The answer is, read, read, read!
- Do You Feel It Is Important To Celebrate Service Excellence? – Are you celebrating your great customer service moments with your team? Some reasons why you should.
- What is Customer Support to You? Necessary Evil or Core Differentiator? – Three ways to strengthen your customer service to make it a core differentiator.
- 7 Expert Tips for Better Listening – This acronym I.L.I.S.T.E.N will help remind you how to do it daily.
- Cost-Efficient Tips For Using the Web as a Service Tool – Four affordable initiatives to turn your website into a stronger customer service tool.
Someone Was Listening
Sometimes the most popular post from the previous month; sometimes just the one I liked best.
SlideShare: 7 #CustServ Qualifications Everyone Must Have — This slideshare shows seven qualifications that are crucial for all customer-facing professionals. Feel free to share with your teams and your hiring managers.
Photo Credit: http://www.dreamstime.com/kati1313_info
About the Author Adam Toporek
By Adam Toporek. Adam Toporek is an internationally recognized customer service expert, keynote speaker, and workshop leader. He is the author of Be Your Customer's Hero: Real-World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines (2015), as well as the founder of the popular Customers That Stick® blog and co-host of the Crack the Customer Code podcast.
