One of the trickier parts of delivering an exceptional customer experience is when you cede control of the experience to subcontractors. Maintaining service standards with the company’s team is challenging enough; maintaining those same levels of service through a subcontractor can border on the impossible. The experience we had when vacationing on the island of …

Customer Service Stories: Stop Subcontractors From Killing Your Customers Read More »

In customer service, pride is a double-edged sword. Pride in your organization can cause team members to go the extra mile. However, pride of the don’t-disprespect-me variety can cause team members to respond unfavorably to upset customers. When the personal reaction to an unhappy customer trumps the professional reaction, pride has won, and your organization …

How Your Pride Is Losing You Customers Read More »

Customer service is one of those topics where it is easy to speak in broad generalities. Sayings such as the customer is always right and service begins with a smile easily convey basic, unqualified principles that mask the fact that what defines excellent customer service will always be incredibly individual in nature. However, while superior …

What Is Excellent Customer Service? Read More »

I have been trying to find a good definition of customer loyalty in this wide world of the Internet, and I have come to the conclusion that 1) no one has figured out how to define customer loyalty or 2) I am really bad at finding information on the Internet. Do some searches yourself; you’ll …

The Definition of Customer Loyalty Read More »

Guest Poster: Kaarina Dillabough It is my pleasure to introduce Kaarina Dillabough, former Olympic coach and current make-your-life-and-business-better coach, as our first guest poster. Kaarina is the perfect person to launch the Customer Service Stories series, because she has an engaging way of telling a story while still being able to analyze the systems and …

Customer Service Stories: Getting to the Root of Customer Service Read More »

Last Saturday, I wrote that this blog would be changing tack and focusing on the customer service experience. One of the most exciting aspects of this conversion is the launch of the Customer Service Stories series. The idea behind Customer Service Stories is to discuss the principles of superior customer service through the lens of …

Customer Service Stories: Introducing The New Series Read More »

Customer referral programs are nothing new. As consumers, we have been inundated with offers for referral perks by everyone from our dentists to our auto mechanics. The reason is simple: customer referral programs work. Customer referral programs (CRPs) come in as many variations as there are businesses to create them. While a CRP is not …

Does Your Business Need a Customer Referral Program? Read More »

During a recent vacation, we were fortunate enough to stay at the Hotel Indigo in Asheville, NC where we received a great lesson in top-notch customer service and the art of surprise. A Birthday in the Mountains We were in Asheville to celebrate a milestone birthday of my wife’s (which milestone, I am sworn to …

Surprise! A Lesson in Superior Customer Service Read More »

As someone who believes that customer service is the ultimate differentiator in business, I am always on the lookout for examples of outstanding service. Great customer service can come from anywhere – from businesses where you expect no less (Nordstrom) to businesses where you are thrilled to just to be treated like a human being …

Chick-fil-A Does Customer Service – In a Parking Lot Read More »