An important aspect of any business is determining the price you pay for new customers. The cost of a new customer is generally calculated as a function of marketing and sales expense using metrics such as Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). However, there is a soft cost that is rarely discussed: the alienation of existing customers […]

Here in the United States, we just finished a presidential election, and it got me thinking about government efficiency and effectiveness. This post will not be political (and I hope others will embrace that spirit in this discussion), because it does not matter what your ideological beliefs are — I think we can all agree […]

I’ve been thinking about response time lately. In my non-virtual businesses, I have specific response times that our team is expected to follow. Whether it be 12 hours or one business day, we have set times in which team members should respond to customer inquiries. Of course, we expect discretion to be used. Some issues […]

Yes, this is the first non-customer service topic I have addressed since I launched Customers That Stick back in March of 2012. With superstorm Sandy approaching the Northeast, I thought perhaps I could do some good by relating my family’s experience with a hurricane. If it makes a difference to one person, it will be […]

Many quotes about the importance of customer service can be found online. In fact, a fairly popular quote about the nature of what a customer is has been making the rounds in the customer service world for years. The quote, in it’s more common form, reads like this: “A customer is the most important visitor […]

Sales is one of the toughest jobs in business. To survive in the sales game, you need a thick skin and an unwavering persistence. At the same time, to thrive in sales you need a sunny personality, a way with people, and a firm grasp of the dynamics of the sales game. This is why […]

One of the least talked about aspects of customer service is resource sufficiency, and yet, all great customer service begins with this one fundamental notion: that you have the resources in place to deliver on your brand promise consistently. It’s easier said than done. It is challenging enough to make sure adequate resources are in […]

One of the great challenges of creating a Hero-ClassTM customer experience is that often the first step in the customer experience occurs before your customer ever begins transacting business with you. Sometimes, this first step is beyond your control, for instance, word of mouth. What someone tells a new customer about you — whether it […]

President Truman once famously quipped that he wanted to meet a one-handed economist, because all of his economists advised him by saying on the one hand, on the other. Like economics, disciplines based heavily on human interactions are also context-dependent, lending themselves to an abundance of caveats and conditions. Customer service is one of those […]