It has been an exciting time for our customer service and customer experience podcast, Crack the Customer Code. We recently crossed the 200 episode threshold, hit #4 in the business category on Overcast.fm, and doubled our listenership in the last month. We’ve had some fantastic discussions and amazing guests, and I thought this would be […]

I had the great pleasure of speaking with self-success speaker Joy Marsden about motivation, perseverance, and the power of keeping moving. Keep Stepping to Succeed Joy believes that we need to keep moving forward, to keep stepping, into the midst of challenge. And while not everyone may lead others or want to, we each must lead […]

Frontline reps require a wide range of customer service skills if they are going to deliver Hero-ClassTM customer service. Like a father with his children, I don’t like to play favorites, but at some point, I must acknowledge that one skill is more important than all of the others. That skill is communication. Powerful, effective communication is foundational; […]

Hiring frontline reps is one of the most important parts of the customer experience process. Bringing someone in with the wrong attitude, skill set, or cultural outlook can be toxic to a team, wasteful of time, and damaging to the customer experience. So, what characteristics should you look for when hiring for entry-level customer service? […]

Proactive communication with customers is one of the most important customer service practices any organization or team can adopt. Not only do you show customers that you care about them by checking in, you can also learn about their needs, desires, and preferences. In addition, you can potentially discover any negative feelings or emotions that that […]

In customer experience, perspective is a powerful force. Each participant in the customer journey has their own, individual perspective, and often, the gaps amongst these varying perspectives lie at the heart of dissatisfaction, displeasure, and misunderstanding. Whether it be an unwillingness to take a step back and try to see the experience from the perspective of another or a […]

Guest Poster: Phil Gerbyshak The following is a guest post from Phil Gerbyshak. Phil Gerbyshak teaches sales people and leaders to position themselves as an expert in their niche to up their influence, impact and income. If you’re looking to be more effective using LinkedIn, get your complimentary copy of LinkedIn Daily Dozen and tune in to Conversations with […]

Customer service communication is at it’s core a balancing act. All too often, our spirit of wanting to do everything possible for our customers runs up against the limitations that reality imposes upon us. Whether it be liability exposure, legal restrictions, operational inability, or just pure right and wrong, sometimes we must refuse what customers want […]

At the end and beginning of each year, there is an inevitable flood of articles and blog posts on customer service and customer experience predictions. Sometimes I have written about these myself, other times I’ve been quoted on these topics, and on a few occasions my partner Jeannie Walters and I have discussed them on the Crack […]