Tag Archives: customer service

  • 06
    Nov 17
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long-term customer service appreciative strategies

Long-Term Customer Service, No Need to Panic

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There are many businesses doing it for the long haul. There are also many businesses who believe they are in it for the long haul but tend to operate for the short term. Are you providing long-term customer service solutions, or really just service in the moment?

Operating for the short term often seems realistic. It feels like the right thing to do. What I do today, must earn the trust, respect, and close the sale with my customer. That makes sense, but that is a short-term proposition. After today, it’s over, tomorrow is another day.

Short Game Panic

In the suburbs or rural communities, most people require a car or similar vehicle for getting things done. There isn’t a train, a bus, or in some cases, not even an Uber ride. People make life happen in part with their vehicle.

Why do people run out of gasoline? Why do they let their tank go so low that eventually it is empty?

There may be many reasons. Anything from waiting for payday to a faulty gauge, however, one of the most common is short-term thinking. The idea is I think I can make it. It will save some time and money, right now, in this very moment.

The short game doesn’t always work out so well. It causes stress, anxiety, and often panic. Panic often causes us to make additional unfavorable decisions. We can’t see things clearly, we’re always picking up the pieces from the short term fix.

Short Game Risk

Risk is often measured differently in the short game. It is like our fear to speak up. It is common for people to say nothing even though they believe the result will be unfavorable. The short gamer weighs the risk of speaking up as more dangerous than dealing with a bad decision later.

In the short game, they say nothing, and there is little risk taken, it feels safe. Tomorrow the price may be paid as a poor choice unfolds in what now may be labeled as a self-fulfilled prophecy. However, they’ll let it play out, see what happens next. That is playing the short game, not the long one.

All of this is the same for the culture of customer service that you are building.

You can run the risk in the short game. You can take the chance that you won’t run out of gas or you can hang up the telephone, watch the customer walk out the door, or worse you can hide behind email. Close the sale today, worry about tomorrow, tomorrow, that is the short game.

Long-Term Customer Service

Long-term customer service is much different from the short game. In the long game decisions usually are not made in a panic. They are made with the future at heart, the correct choices for the right now and for the long term.

Long-term strategy doesn’t come with panic. You fill the tank before you start the journey.

Unless you don’t plan to be around much longer.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 03
    Nov 17
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building customer service appreciative strategies

Correctly Building Customer Service Culture

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Everyone knows that in the business world there isn’t really any standing still. You are either moving forward or falling behind. In the midst of our service economy, smart organizations are building customer service cultures like they never have before. Are they doing it correctly? Will it last?

Many are familiar with the fictional Iowa corn farmer who repeatedly hears, “If you build it, he will come.” Is your team hearing a voice from beyond? Is this type of thinking true for building customer service culture?

Foundational Stories

Surprising to some, much of the impact and learning moments of our lives are founded in stories. The stories may be factual or fictional but they often solidify learning. The greatest thing about a good story is that it is repeated. It is shared, valued, and trusted. Most important it is told over and over again.

The foundation of your customer service culture needs to be a story worth telling. It should be able to form connections, and move and inspire others. If the story isn’t worth telling the likelihood of repetition will drastically decrease, no matter how hard you push.

Once you have a story, or at least believe that you have a story, you’ll have to assess its value. You can ask yourself or your team, “Is this story something that anyone will care about? Will it move people by causing positive actions and behaviors?”

If no one sees or feels a benefit from the suggested outcomes, no one will care. If no one really cares, there is little chance for a viral experience. Even throwing money at it won’t change things much. End of story.

Symbols Shape Culture

Your story, metaphorically or literally, will condition what happens next. The story may be deeply rooted in values and traditions. It may be illustrated through words, phrases, and symbols.

Surprisingly, it may even be a song. It is hard to imagine the true (and lasting) impact when people sing your song. Coca-Cola did this so well.

Building Customer Service Culture

You’ll have to ask yourself and your team, “What will we do to create lasting impact and keep the story alive?”

Organizations often have a good plan. They may even have a good story, one that has some value in telling. The mistakes they make are not in the design. They are in the build.

Correctly building a customer service culture that matters will require you to show up, support it, live it, and tell it. Not once or twice, not just at the quarterly meeting or annual retreat, but every day.

Design will be important, but you’ll also have to lead.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 02
    Nov 17
  • 2
popular customer service

Popular Customer Service and Long-term Value

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Fanny packs were once trendy, so was Zima, rollerblades, and Hacky Sack. Some things we don’t see very much of anymore, at least for now. Is there such a thing as popular customer service? What are the trends?

Give-away items have been popular for building sales and relationships. Fidget spinners even made their mark in 2017. The water bottle has been popular, and almost everyone has a pen with a slogan, name, and web address. The give-away seems to change but the concept may stay close to the same.

Bell Curve

Entrepreneurs are always interested to find the next great thing. The dream is to be on the left side (start) of the bell curve, ride it on its climb, and get out before the decline begins to show itself on the right hand side. Things are great, nearly magical if you are on the correct side of the curve.

What works well for customer service? What is the trend? Should you join in?

Long-term Value

In some regards, the customer experience is situational. What works at the restaurant is likely different from the bank or at the hotel. There are differences for organizations depending on sector, trade, or even geographic location.

Make no mistake about it, service and its connection to sales and relationships make it a very popular pursuit. Yet many claim that customer service has been weakened in the past decade or two through price and profit wars. Contrasting that weakness may be a renewed need.

Customer service is often viewed as the short-term fix, but when you put financial numbers to it, the ROI is in long-term value.

Popular Customer Service

Perhaps one thing is certain, what is popular or trendy today, won’t be tomorrow. Popular is a good idea, but it is also not permanent. Popular means you are riding the bell curve and it keeps you searching for what is next.

Customer service isn’t really a trend, and perhaps it shouldn’t be viewed as popular, it is a cultural value that builds brands.

Or else, it doesn’t.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 01
    Nov 17
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Customer service reputation appreciative strategies

How to Improve Your Customer Service Reputation

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Your reputation precedes you. At least that is what we’ve heard. What is your customer service reputation? Do you know, and if so, how would you improve it?

Reputation may come in many forms. Some quickly draw thoughts of the negative, bad, or vulgar. Reputation can of course be something great.

Knowing Your Reputation

There are many ways to learn more about your customer service reputation. You might compare and contrast with the competition, launch a survey, or when you’re really doing the right kind of work you may consider just asking.

Reputation is much like trust, it takes a while to build it and it can be tarnished in an instant. Reputation in customer service circles may also be directly connected to loyalty. If your business builds true relationships, that is part of your reputation. No relationship, no loyalty.

The reputation of your business is delivered by anyone (and everyone) who interacts with a customer, internal and external. Every touch point (or a lack of) will condition your reputation. It is what people expect you to do now, and a brand promise on what you’ll do next.

Your reputation is truth in the quality of workmanship, integrity, and ethics. It is what you deliver even when the going gets tough, and when no one else is looking. Like trust, and even respect, the deepest form of it is earned, not given.

Customer Service Reputation

Here are three considerations for improving and building a solid customer service reputation:

  • Think give. This doesn’t always have to be costly or require materials. When you give and give and give until you think you can’t give anymore, give something extra. In (all, but especially in business) relationships, often this is not material things, but expressions and gestures. Material niceties are great too.
  • Action guidelines. Any person, place, or thing that touches the customer is of course a touch point. Businesses sometimes take for granted the actions or behaviors involved with every touch point. Have guidelines that every employee knows, understands, and performs accordingly. A communication guideline is always a good place to start.
  • Longevity. Doing something great once is a good idea. Doing something great again and again across time is what will earn your reputation. Consistency is a factor for trust. It will also be a factor for your reputation. Remember it is built over time and can be lost in an instant.

Many people set out in their careers to earn a living. A business should be focused on earning their reputation.

World of mouth can be your best friend. It can also be your worst nightmare.

Make [earn] a lot of friends.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 31
    Oct 17
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improve customer service appreciative strategies

Looking For Ways To Improve Customer Service

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Many people will tell you that they are looking for ways to improve. Personally and professionally, people seeking to improve spend billions of dollars annually. Are you looking for ways to improve customer service or set you or your organization apart from the rest?

Funny things sometime happen when we believe we are looking. Notice that I use the word “believe.” There is a big difference between looking for something specific and just looking.

Daniel Simons has provided a lot of interesting research in the area of selective attention. I’ve been fortunate to work with leaders at many different levels on the dangers associated with self-perception and deception and to have published training material with Elaine Biech (Editor) and Pfeiffer (Wiley) in this book.

Discovering Obvious

There is a difference in looking for and seeing what we are looking for, and looking for and discovering something new, or in other cases, discovering nothing.

Can you name every picture or item hanging on your walls? Have you ever said the idiom, “If it was a snake it would have bit me.” Sometimes what we are looking for is in plain sight, but we fail to see it.

Why do people shout, “Touch Down,” or “Home Run,” when everyone watching the game is seeing the same thing? Sure, excitement is a factor, but we’re also calling attention to the obvious.

I can’t tell you exactly what is hanging on my walls in every room of my house. I also occasionally struggle to find something that I know I put in a special place.

Improve Customer Service

When you are looking for ways to improve your personal levels of customer service, or improve it for your team or business, it may be best to actually look, but look differently.

Do you want to make the moment memorable? Sometimes you don’t need to look beyond the obvious, you need to see the obvious.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 30
    Oct 17
  • -
copycat customer service

Avoiding The Copycat Customer Service Trap

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When you want to become better, you often look for a role model. Someone may call it training, another person learning, and someone else may refer to it as coaching. Training, learning and coaching are a good idea, but make sure you aren’t falling into the copycat customer service trap.

Consciously or subconsciously sometimes we mimic what we believe is working. When we believe what we are already doing isn’t working, we often seek answers from what we believe someone else is doing to make it work.

Copycat Customer Service

When you aren’t sure which button to push on the new soda machine at the popular fast food restaurant you watch what someone else does. When you encounter a detour in an unfamiliar area while driving your car, you may decide to follow the direction everyone else appears to be going.

Some of these behaviors may lead us to get what we want, but in other cases, it may be the wrong path. Perhaps the person you chose to role model has it all wrong.

When we learn by watching, by reading, or by doing, it doesn’t guarantee that it is the right thing. In customer service, someone may be doing just enough to get buy. Is that the height of the bar you wish to achieve?

What is the height of your bar? Are you following the crowd? Do you do what others who have come before you have done?

Differentiate and Dominate

Winning the race by a tenth of a second is enough, but is that really much different from second place?

When you follow the leader the best you can hope for is second place.

The bar shouldn’t be yours to raise one notch higher than the competition. It should be yours to raise as high as possible.

You probably wouldn’t challenge an Olympic sprinter to a foot race, the bar is too high. However, you may challenge someone who with a good effort you believe you can beat.

Have you considered that being just a little better than the competition leaves a lot of open ground and invites others to join in?

When you want your brand to be known as the best make sure you avoid the copycat customer service trap. You may be able to jump higher than you think; which is completely different from jumping high enough to win.

– DEG

Originally posted on October 30, 2017, last updated on December 2, 2019.

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.

  • 26
    Oct 17
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Brand promise appreciative strategies

How To Keep Your Brand Promise

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What is your brand promise? People, stakeholders, employees, or owners; how often are you reflecting on your brand promise? The most important work you do every day should be connected with keeping your brand promise.

What is in the quality of your product? What is important and valuable about the service you provide?

Exceed Expectations

Many organizations put plenty of effort into exceeding customer expectations. It is common to see it written in the mission statement, be included in value statements, or contained in guiding principles. Can you always exceed expectations?

People often talk about touch points or moments-of-truth and they are part of understanding the service process. However, one of the most important aspects of exceptional customer service is what you do that makes the service moment memorable.

Can you do it every time? Each and every transaction? It is unlikely. Even when you can do it often, every time may be unrealistic. Besides, every time may also imply average and so it starts all over again.

Keep Your Brand Promise

When your brand promise includes delivering excellence, keeping that promise may not require exceeding it. What makes you memorable is often being better than average, it may not always be a surprise.

Memorable moments are, well, priceless. When you are consciously committed to the habit of making the moment memorable you’ll likely have more success at achieving excellence.

The magical part about memorable moments may be that they are often random. An opportunity is there, and taken. When the culture seeks priceless memorable moments a whole lot more of them will occur, but they’ll never occur every time.

Average is Easy

Consistently trying to achieve the higher mark is a behavioral habit that separates exceptional results from the average. At some point, average becomes too easy.

Performing at the level of delivering just of enough service is not the same as delivering just in time. People might be delighted with just in time, but just enough sets the bar for average.

If your brand promise includes delivering at the highest level, remember that it is a moving target. You’ll need to keep showing up and you’ll need work outside of the averages.

Make it memorable. Keep your promise.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 25
    Oct 17
  • 2
Customer service marketing

Is Customer Service Marketing?

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There are many ways you can bring your idea, product, or service to market. In fact, there are more media opportunities than ever before. What is the best? Is customer service marketing, or really just an operational tactic?

Many businesses hope that their post will go viral. The singer, songwriter, and band all hope for a YouTube or Hulu sensation. Media opportunities have changed. Brand awareness is critical for success.

World of Mouth

Today more ways than ever before exist to build your brand, what should you do? With so many options for visibility, consumers often don’t know who to trust. Talk about marketing long enough and many people will mention the power of word of mouth.

Is it true that word of mouth has become world of mouth? Endless opportunities exist but how are they effectively tapped?

Media Opportunities

You can buy a Super Bowl spot, local television time, or boost a post on social media. You can also sponsor an event, print t-shirts, and offer coupons.

Most will advise you to have a good website, strong social presence, and get more involved with video.

All of those things are likely important, but when it comes to trust it really boils down to your organizational performance and demonstrated commitment to your brand promise.

Perhaps all of the big success stories, all of the things that cause disruption, create chatter, and grow sales happen because someone will choose to talk about it.

Customer Service Marketing

What is a hot topic? Customer service is a very hot topic. As the nature of relationships change, face-to-face experiences become different, and word of mouth develops a completely new meaning, the result of your customer service is the difference.

Video is hot because when done well, it captures the emotion. Every buying decision has an emotional component. There is often a difference between what people want and what people need. It is true for business-to-business transactions and it is true for business-to-consumer.

When marketing shakes down to the most simplistic level, it is still all about word of mouth. Except, the rules have changed, the opportunities have exploded, and trust has become more critical.

Your best (or worst) marketing tool may still be what people decide to share with other people.

Is customer service marketing? Ask yourself this, “What are people saying?”

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 18
    Oct 17
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being right appreciative strategies Dennis Gilbert

Being Right Is Not The Point, Pull More, Push Less

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Making your point feels valuable. Sometimes all we want is to be heard. Is anyone really listening? Maybe they are not, because being right is not the point.

We are deeply rooted in a service economy. Things have been shifting for years and they’ve been accelerating since 2008-2009. What is the point?

The point is that in an ever-expanding service economy you must continuously ask yourself what are the service points to your business, regardless of your sector.

Being Right

Too often people and businesses place their focus on being right. They may feel that there is something to prove regardless of the cost. One big problem with this is you have to ask yourself if people will care. Caring is where the value exists.

Most buying decisions, even in business-to-business transactions have a strong emotional component. Logic, which feels important to some, really takes a back seat to emotions.

This is true in engineering, it is true in manufacturing, and it is even true technology sectors. Logically you may be right. Does that mean that anyone will care? Perhaps not when you recognize that buying, starting, or staying is emotional.

Pull More Than Push

Many businesses market through the push. Push the product out, push the concept, push why a buyer should care. Just because you are pushing doesn’t mean that anyone will pay attention. It doesn’t mean that they will spring into action. Most of all it doesn’t even guarantee that they will listen.

Being right is not the point. It never was and it likely never will be. If you are pushing your ideas with limited results, you may have to think differently. Start thinking about how you will pull.

When people are pulled, drawn in, and attracted they’ll follow, they will be more likely to listen, and they’ll actually consider caring.

Being right was never enough. If you want to close the sale, enhance the deal, and earn the respect and attention your product and service deserves, make sure being right is not your strategy.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

  • 11
    Oct 17
  • -
service economy customer service appreciative strategies

Service Economy Customer Service

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Ask anyone if they believe things are changing and you’ll probably get some strong responses. It is not uncommon during business discussions for me to hear stories of shifting priorities, new strategies, and the pursuit of providing more customer value. What about service economy customer service?

Are we in a service economy? You bet, not only will most CEO’s or C Suite executives confirm this, but it really isn’t anything new. Consider that for decades our economy has been shifting. Spinning out of the 2007 – 2009 era recession this trend intensified.

There are more service related businesses on the Fortune 500 list than perhaps ever before. Does this mean that those not in a traditional service sector are in trouble? Not necessarily, but it most likely means they are going to have to change, but how?

Service Economy Shifts

In a service economy, you are likely going to have to be thinking more about customer service. Everything is going to have to shift. This is critical for all sectors, but the biggest transformation may exist in manufacturing and industrial sectors.

Many manufacturing and industrial sectors sell through distribution channels. They may also hire out-sourced sales representatives. Often, their organizational culture has emphasis on the processes and systems that produce goods.

All of this is understandable and critically important, but in a strengthening service economy is it enough? Perhaps, but some of the trendsetters are looking for new strategies.

What works well in a service economy? Subscription based pricing is one approach. Magazines, newspapers, and record (music) clubs pioneered this approach with a lot of success.

Examples of this are well known in some sectors. Software products for example, you once bought a license for life, now you buy it for a year or monthly recurring charges. Website retailers do it through easy reorder, or scheduled monthly shipments, and there are many other examples.

Service Economy Customer Service

What this all means is that in a service economy your best opportunities for gaining market share exist in customer service, it is no longer a department. In fact, it never should have been only about a department.

You should be thinking about not just doing things differently, you are going to have to think about and implement different things.

It is service economy customer service.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

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