Category Archives: Customer Service

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valued services

Valued Services Are a Measurement Of The Customer

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Do you deliver valued services? How do you know?

In business, people often express that they deliver excellent products or highly valued services. They believe that what they deliver is very good.

It begs a two-part question, compared to what and defined by whom?

When you build a product or deliver a service you can certainly express that it is of great quality and of high value.

Often those producing the product or service will take great pride in their work. They may spend long hours and work extra hard.

Does that make it more valuable?

What about professional services? Are you willing to pay a more experienced or more educated medical doctor more? The same may be true for an attorney, a carpenter, or a consultant.

Who decides the value?

Valued Services

The truth is that the buyer or the customer decide the value.

When a business owner tells you that they have exceptional customer service you may want to ask how they know. In response, they may say, “because our customers tell us.”

Does every customer tell them this, or is it really only a special few?

Often businesses judge their product or services value based on their own opinion. They haven’t really studied it and they choose to ignore any naysayers.

It is hard to completely please everyone, and at some level you probably shouldn’t get too hung up on those few who decide what you provide is not of great value. However, totally ignoring it could sink the business.

Have you ever been served a beverage in a glass in a restaurant and there is someone’s lipstick on it? Is the floor dirty? Did you feel ill a few hours after consumption of the meal? Some things cannot be ignored.

Remember that the creator of the product or the person providing a service does not define the value. They may set the price, but the customer or client always defines the value.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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recognizing options

Recognizing Options On The Way To High Performance

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What are your habits when it comes to workplace performance? Are you good at recognizing options, or do you follow the way it has always been done?

When you are trying to delight the customer, impress the boss, or simply check the box on your to-do list, do you consider the options?

A customer in a business suit and tie might have a different napkin requirement for eating an ice cream cone when compared with the house painter fresh off the job in a t-shirt and jeans. It’s an option to offer a few more.

If your supervisor has an urgent need for the report you’ve just finished, you’ll probably forward it by using email. It’s an option to also give a quick call, send a text message, or swing by the office to provide an urgent alert that it is completing and now arriving in the email inbox.

All of the items on your to-do list probably come with options. You have the option to do it exactly like before or exactly as described, or you have an option to enhance the product or service.

There may not always be options. The circuit board needs to be completed exactly as designed. It is true for the engineering of the house, the assembly of the gasoline engine, and the building the Model X vacuum cleaner.

Yet for many jobs, there are options.

Recognizing Options

The best performance may come from options.

Options that delight people will yield stronger future partnerships. In some cases, a customer is a customer. In other cases the customer becomes a business partner. And certainly, there is also a customer relationship with a supervisor and direct report. If you can’t spot it, you might be coming up short.

The difference between providing the least required value and the best possible value exists in the options you spot and deliver.

Your service performance will leave an impression. Whether it is in an official capacity that is recognized as an action of service, or whether it is the opportunity option you decided to explore.

Without any options, service (or job performance) is simply accepted. It’s never really great.

-DEG

Creating great customer service may be more of an art than it is a task. It is why I wrote this book:

#custserv

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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punished customer

Punished Customer, Do You Feel Like One?

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Have you ever felt like you are being punished? Being a punished customer seems to be more prevalent than ever. Are you punishing your customers?

What is a punished customer?

A punished customer is a customer who is forced to accept something less in terms of service or quality while the business offering those products or services are finding it much more convenient for their bottom line.

Some examples may include, auto-attendant telephone systems, reduced operational hours, and longer response times.

A Few Examples

Once upon a time, the small business owner could purchase a software product from the shelf in a retail store. In the packaging there was a user manual and diskettes or a CD-ROM disc. The software would theoretically last forever, or until the hardware platform required an upgrade.

Not true anymore. Many software providers now make you lease the software. They want it on the cloud, you don’t really buy it, you just use it, and you get to use it for a nice monthly fee. Who does this benefit more?

We see similar kinds of punishment in other areas. Recently, I needed a gasket for some old plumbing in my home. I went to a professional plumbing store. They told me it was too old and I should replace everything. Disgusted, I left the store and went to a hardware store and found a gasket for less than one dollar.

It happens with home entertainment such as your television subscription. It happens when we want to use a coupon or a discount code. Perhaps, it even happens with airlines, hotels, and at the grocery store.

If I go to a hardware store and buy hammer, do I have to pay a fee each time I use it?

Punished Customer

The circumstances or situations surrounding the exact form of punishment vary. As a customer, when you feel it or recognize it, it is a less than pleasant experience.

In your workplace, where do you see punishment occurring? How is it impacting your customers?

Arguably, somethings may never change. Businesses often believe that they must structure product or service offerings in such a way as to keep profit margins or revenue streams viable. Software is a great example.

Customers will often endure many things, but their opinions of service quality may not be strong.

If service matters, tolerance is a risky space.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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customer trust

Customer Trust, Are You Building It?

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What does it take to build customer trust? Loyalty is a different story; it comes after trust.

Every day in my inbox I have email from people asking if I want some help with my website. In some instances, they are insulting, stating elements or factors that should be corrected to honor the SEO gods.

I’ve often wondered, why would these marketing hackers choose to insult a website in order to hopefully attract a new customer? What if their prospect is the website builder? What if the recipient has spent many pride-filled hours cleverly crafting the content and images?

The truth seems to be that the marketer doesn’t really care. They are merely spraying and praying. Spraying a bunch of form letter style email blasts and praying that they get a bite.

Is this anywhere close to a trusted relationship? No way!

Customer Trust

It is no wonder trust is lacking.

Building customer trust is more about gaining permission, be invited to interact, and solving a problem for an expressed need.

Consumers and business contacts are growing increasingly tired of the hustle, the bait and switch, and the violated privacy.

What is amazing is that many businesses have an opportunity to build trust but they blow it through the hustle.

Marketing budgets are spent on email or snail mail campaigns, they are spent on clever videos and fancy websites, and lastly, they are spent on push items in the hopes of creating pull. Then, when a potential customer reaches back to make contact there is no one there to build a trusting relationship.

Seems silly, doesn’t it?

What happens when the website doesn’t feel intuitive, when the auto attendant phone system doesn’t have your menu option, or when the on-hold queue lasts more than 15-minutes?

What often happens is, nothing.

Trust is about engagement and relationships, not a one and done.

Trust scales slower, but lasts longer. It seldom builds by chance.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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monopoly power

Monopoly Power, the End of Customer Service?

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The drop-down menu on the website doesn’t have my option and the telephone number that appears in a Google search is really just an auto-attendant missing the same feature. Monopoly power often means the system is built for controlling their costs not providing customer service.

As a kid, many receive some type of allowance. It’s a monetary gift mostly, but some may have to take out the garbage, cut the lawn, or run the vacuum. If the allowance runs out, the kid waits anxiously for the next deposit.

As an adult, if the paycheck is nearly spent, there may have to be some cutbacks. Reduce spending, skip the gourmet mocha latte, and grab a black coffee from the gas station convenience store instead.

Any business, organization, or government fed entity may need to be mindful of spending. Large pension systems, labor unions, and other luxuries that have been cooked into their recipe for success often force a choice. The choice is to cut back internally (cut back on ourselves) or cut back externally on the customer.

Who suffers in this case?

Usually it is the customer.

Monopoly Power

The persons behind the monopoly power are charged with creating sleeker systems. Systems that reduce cost, fight off the need for more human investment, and are designed to run on their own seems to make sense on the inside. However, on the outside, the customer suffers.

Do you have a question? Go to the website.

Do you need to call us? Great, here is our telephone number, yet, no one is there to answer only an auto-attendant. A chat feature might work, but the frustration of getting on the same page costs the customer more time and frustration.

Not every business or organization delivers this downgraded service. It is mostly just those with monopoly power.

There isn’t much you can do when it is the only gig in town. Not much you can do when you only have one route to drive on, one way (or no way) to reach someone who can help.

You’re stuck.

Yet, without you, there is no monopoly.

People find another way. It may be temporary, it may not last, but when the road is blocked people will find another way or they’ll skip it altogether.

Eventually, the monopoly will either charge more, in an attempt to make up for a weaker economy of scale with existing customers, or it may fail, sell, or get a bailout.

Eventually, it is the end of something.

What will it be?

-DEG

Need a resource for the discovery of improved customer service?

#custserv Dennis E Gilbert

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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serving everyone

Serving Everyone May Take Away Value

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Does your business pride itself on serving everyone? Does the quest for more numbers flatten your value, or grow it?

Most businesses or organizations have a specific market. A segment, a group, a commonality that allows them to provide value to a piece of the pie, but not the whole pie.

Yet, it is often commonplace that people work really hard to accommodate the needs of everyone.

This has a price. The price is often that in the attempt to serve everyone they aren’t really great at serving anyone.

One user on the network, is just another user. Another product on display in Amazon’s website, just another potential source of revenue.

This may be true at the hospital, just another patient. It’s often true at the Pizza shop, the grocery store, and with your electric service provider.

Many of these service offerings don’t really make a big investment in you. They make and investment in the numbers. Yes, you may be one of them, but that’s it, just a number.

Serving Everyone

Some of the best service providers are building it with you which is not exactly the same as building it for you. Building it for you often scales to building for the number. It is the effect of the enterprise and the economies of scale.

Emerging software companies often start by building it with you. They are interested in your needs, the features you love, and the bugs that you discover.

The successful program starts to shift as the economy of the enterprise grows. They start building it for you. It is the attraction of the product, the marketing hype, and for the end-user, it’s a quest to remain part of the group.

Once they fought for you, now they fight to use you as a number in their game.

It is a similar concept for getting something for free. Sign up for the free webinar, the chance to win, or the no-cost obligation. If you aren’t paying you are not the customer, you are part of the marketing team. The goal is more numbers.

High value comes from those who are building it with you. The stakes are different and so are the outcomes.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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leveling up

Leveling Up Is What You Really Want

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Do you see lazy effort among your colleagues? Have businesses you once favored declined in quality or offerings? Leveling up may be what most people are looking for, yet it is often different from what is received.

I love the pizza shop around the corner but every pizza they make seems really different. Some are great, others not so much.

Do you like our logo? We paid the best graphic design firm in the city big bucks yet it feels like something a four-year-old might whip up.

We went to the most prominent kitchen remodeler in the area. Look at our countertops, they aren’t even level.

Does the customer service you experience ever shift to the lowest possible delivery? Does it feel like you’re receiving the quality of work that is just barely enough to get by without a complaint?

It happens to the restaurant, the car repair shop, and even the local hardware store. Some remain in business for decades or more, and others seem more like a flash in the pan.

There is a fine balance between constructive feedback and critical criticism. The recipient always gets to decide what to ignore and what to change. When you are convinced that the feedback you receive doesn’t matter, it may be time to reassess the direction you are heading.

Leveling Up

The moment an employee or the entire business decides things are absolutely perfect and that they shouldn’t change a thing is likely the same moment that things start to decline.

When corrective actions, different tastes, quality, quantity, and colorful options stop. The business hasn’t only stalled, it’s now in decline.

It is relevant for your job or career.

It is relevant for your favorite restaurant across town.

Even at the barbershop, the fitness center, and the book store. The business of leveling up is the difference-maker.

Coasting means you’re moving, but for how long?

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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customer requirements

Customer Requirements Are About Knowledge

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Are you meeting customer requirements? How do you know?

Perhaps the first step in analyzing whether the requirement has been met is to be certain you understand who the customer is. Not all customers are external, and not all customers are the end-user or consumer.

When you ask someone quickly about a customer, they often connect with the idea of retail shopping. The simple concept is, a person walks in, inquires or purchases goods, and at some point, leaves the store.

There are many assessments of customer touchpoints. Everything from websites to telephone calls to the receipt of goods shipped.

Customer service is a broad subject to say the least.

Are you meeting the requirements?

Customer Requirements

In the workplace, people are often suggesting that they did their best work. They tried hard, worked extra, and now take pride in the finished product.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they met or exceeded customer expectations.

Building a good product or delivering exceptional service is always judged by the customer, not the builder.

Yet, every day the builder attempts to communicate the delightfulness of their goods or services.

It is challenging for the builder. They really have to know and understand the customer. This is exactly why many businesses are built around users of products or services in an attempt to make it better than the current best offering available.

Build a better car, a better television streaming experience, a better cell phone, a computing device, or even a better dish washer.

It may be challenging to build a better shovel, a better garden rake, or even a better ceramic coffee mug. Commodity products are often defined by the service associated with the sale.

Quality intersects with value.

It all begins with understanding the customer requirements.

Does every employee of your organization understand the customer requirements?

This is always the best place to start getting better.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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customers leave

When Customers Leave and Nobody Asks Why

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What happens when customers leave? Does anyone notice, or only when it is far too late?

People sometimes call it growing pains. The pain an organization experiences as they’ve shifted from a very small operation to a much larger one.

It happens to restaurants. The fantastic mom and pop add on to their existing operation or buys an additional location to set up shop.

The concept is, more is better. More room, more customers, and more financial reward.

Often these measures crash and burn.

Watching the Store

It is true for many operations in many sectors, from manufacturing to banking, and from a landscaping contractor to the automobile repair shop.

When the business is small, those in charge notice everything that is happening. From the first customer to the one most recently served. If something goes wrong, responsible persons can fix it.

As the business grows, people are added, levels get deeper, and the resources are present but are likely underutilized.

There is a shift in focus.

When Customers Leave

The priorities shift. They shift from the job of satisfying the customer, to the job of satisfying the boss.

There are meetings to attend, policies to make, and metrics to measure.

Proving what is happening, or not, becomes a backroom deal. The front-line is happening, but only the front-line is aware of what is truly working and what is coming up short.

What is likely worse is that the quest for information often rewards good news over the bad. Bad news isn’t appreciated and the tough feedback is rejected. Messengers are punished and good news bearers receive more appreciation.

The metric of new customers, orders taken, and revenue gained is only part of the picture.

Become the customer and measure the experience.

Lose sight of your customers and they’ll lose sight of you.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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better things

Better Things Are Still The Backbone Of Service

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Are you doing better things? Better things for the customer or better for the staff? Is it a balancing act?

Better service always sells.

When the customer is in doubt, they’ll remember how they were treated the last time or perhaps, how they were treated by a competitor.

When it is time to recommend a brand or answer a question asked, customers will remember what they felt about the service or how well the product worked when put to the test.

Where is your focus?

Better Things

When you want increase the compensation of the team, is there a direct effect on the customer?

Must there be a price increase? Is that how the budget is adjusted?

Should there be a new territory for sales, a new market segment, or repeat customers joyfully recommending your products or services? Should it be all of these?

Perhaps.

Yet, what is the focus?

Some companies place their number one priority on making things better for the customer. Other companies place their priorities on making things better for themselves.

Who wins this game?

Certainly, it probably requires some of both, but one of those will also likely take care of the other. Except, the reverse isn’t also true.

A focus on the customer will result in more opportunities, customers, and sales. As a result, you can take better care of the company.

A focus on the company first will probably result in short-changing the customer and ultimately making the selling and satisfaction process more difficult.

Better things happen with better service.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.


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