Customer Service

Tom Fishburne is the Gary Larson of marketing: He creates cartoons that lampoon the often-ridiculous nature of business processes and marketing. His inspiration is his work as a marketer at companies like General Mills, Nestle and home-product manufacturer Method Products, where he currently resides as senior marketing director of Europe. His new book, "This One Time at Brand Camp," is a collection of his work from 2005-2008 (and features a foreword from CotC blogger Jackie Huba). We sat down with Tom (virtually) and tossed a basketful of questions at him.Q: What's the biggest…

To sponsor, or not to sponsor. Always a gamble, especially in the emerging media world of bloggers and "influencers," a concept of questionable merit. The gossip blog Valleywag, as is its custom, takes a pretty simplistic view of the idea: "Why Sponsoring Bloggers is a Waste of Money." Its single piece of evidence: Seagate's sponsorship of tech blogger Robert Scoble. Because the hard drive maker's stock price is down 35 percent, its sponsorship of Scoble is deemed a failure. As if stock price is a metric of sponsorship success. These days, sponsorship for most companies is a port into a niche…

I decided to sell my iPhone on eBay last week. I just got the new 3G one. Bids were going well and the auction ended today. Just as I was about to invoice the winner, eBay sent me this email:We recently learned that someone was using an account to bid on items without the account owner's permission. For this reason, we have canceled all bids on the following listing: 160271650734 - iPhone 2G 8GB 2.0 great condtionAll associated fees have been credited to your account. Please note that we're working with the account owner to prevent any additional unauthorized activity. Unfortunately, we're…

You've heard of "rickrolling," the Internet meme for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up." Now you can BarackRoll your friends with a mashup of Barack Obama and the infamous Astley song. Even McCain supporters will like it.

This remarkable photograph today by Joao Silva of the New York Times is visual storytelling at its best. The eyes of the man in the taupe shirt bore into us. He's protecting another obviously frightened man on the ground, surrounded by concerned beefy men, some of whom are wearing flack jackets, some not. A black automatic weapon points downward to the crouched man, highlighting the obvious danger present. The sprig of a bush in the foreground ironically contrasts against the man-made weaponry nearby. Finally, a camera lens in the lower left-hand corner is cinema-verite, of being there with…

I got the news the other day...The Customer Service Carnivale will be the Featured Carnivale over at Blog Carnival next Tuesday, September 2nd!  Finally!  It's nice to be recognized once in awhile, eh?  I will be hosting the next carnivale on Monday, September 1st over at Online Business Resources. Have a customer service tip, story, or news to share?  Click here to submit your article or blog post to the carnivale!  Deadline for submissions is this Saturday, August 30. 

I’ve had some time away from this blog to let my mind relax and contemplate the state of customer service.  Much of what I’ve been thinking about has been in alignment with a book that I’ve been reading titled How You Do... What You Do: Create Service Excellence That Wins Clients For Life by Bob Livingston.  I’ve been having quite a few “Ah-ha!” moments and I’m excited to share with you some of these thoughts…I’m only at the beginning of the book and feeling very inspired by what Livingston says.  Here’s a little…

...this month over at my other blog, Online Business Resources.  The main idea is that even though you have an online business where everything may be automated, you still have an obligation to be there for your customers should they need your help. So many online marketers, especially those selling informational products, believe that customer service doesn't apply to them.  So I'll be spending quite a bit of time at that blog for the rest of the month over at that blog!  Also, Kevin Stirtz, "The Amazing Service Guy", will be hosting the Customer Service…

This carnivale is a day late and I do apologize!  I had planned to post it yesterday afternoon, but I got struck with food poison...But enough with excuses!  Thanks for your patience ;) Here's a little rant from a former banquet manager... A $15 Tip On a $1400 Wine Order... posted at So You Want To Be a Banquet Manager.... Anya Portnik shares How to use email when prospecting posted at Gavin Ingham.Service Untitled has a great article which asks, "Why Phone Support?" I agree that phone support is still an effective communication channel!  Customer Service News I…

Here are some thoughts to reflect on from now through the weekend..."People don't refer business to you because you meet their minimum expectations. They refer you because they expect you to do a good job which, in turn, enhances their relationship with the person they are referring." --Ivan Misner (Good Customer Service Alone Doesn't Win Referrals) "You cannot escape these conversations, only see them as an opportunity to face the truth, be honest and monitor your reputation constantly. The days of corporate marketing spin are coming to a close." --Dan Schawbel…

Three things I read this morning, all of which were fun and useful learning for me.About using Twitter for my business. I am on a quest (slower than I wish) to learn more about using Twitter to leverage our business. This post from Laura Fiton of Pistachio Consulting may be the best place for me to move forward from here.About how a GPS might be useful (I haven't seen a need for me personally, but this is very cool!). How a GPS helped win a gold medal.About eating for better performance. In part because of a lack of focus and exercise, and in part because of the Indiana State Fair, I'm a…

Re-found a favorite Buckminster Fuller quotation in my journal this morning. I seem to be a verb. This is a very powerful thought to me. A verb is an action word. While all of us "take action" (breathing after all is an action), some will spend their day replying to email or just "attending" meetings. Others will "be a verb". I want to create something new each day. I want to lead in a proactive way. I want to think powerful thoughts. I want to make a difference in the world. These are just four things - the first four things that flew from my mind to my fingers - that it means to me to be a…

That was our goal in creating the Remarkable Leadership Back to School Special - to capitalize on this unique time of the year to encourage and support you in becoming both a more effective learner and a more effective leader.For this special package I am creating a brand new, extended (75 minute) tele-seminar titled Becoming the Learner You Were Meant to Be. Only people who participate in the Back to School Special can participate in and contribute to this tele-seminar on Wednesday, September 3rd. In addition, Back to School participants also will become Silver Members of the Remarkable…

Think back on your day yesterday. How many people did you interact with?Via phoneVia emailVia instant messageIn a meetingFace to face (imagine that!)Seriously, make a quick list.I'm guessing it's a longer list than you might have anticipated.Some of these interactions were one-off conversations and not ongoing relationships, I'm sure. You also may not have interacted yesterday with some of the more prominent or important people with whom you have a working relationship either (feel free to add those people to your list now).This simple exercise should reinforce what you likely know, but may…

Recently I was introduced to Nancy Fursetzer, owner of Silver Linings Unlimited in Minneapolis, and Founder and CEO of The Positician Training Institute. After a phone call that ended with me feeling I'd know Nancy for a long time, I wanted to share some of her message with you.Here is a portion of an interview I did (via email) with her.Kevin: What does the word "Positician" mean?Nancy: A Positician is a person trained to listen for the positive in every situation; one who strives to uncover the hidden good. As a verb, it is the art of repositioning thoughts and ideas, to create new…

Welcome to the very last post of Gal Morale's Blog. As you may have read in the previous post, I am combining my blogs into one. Congratulations to Brian Belge who came up with the winning title The Cutting Edge. Brian will receive a free autographed copy of my book The Celebrity Experience and a night at the movies. Thanks to everyone who submitted potential names and comments. I loved all of your suggestions - but chose to go with The Cutting Edge because it seemed to be the most popular choice among readers. Thank you so very much to all the readers of Gal Morale's blog - for…

Okay....so I've decided to simplify my life. A few months ago I attended the fabulous SOBCon '08. I was immersed in the world of professional bloggers. I wrote about it here. I was pumped! I was motivated! Not only was I going to improve my blog - I was going to author more blogs! A blog about employee engagement. One about red-carpet customer service. One about travel. One about being a speaker/author. I would have blogs on MySpace, facebook....and I was going to twitter! Woo Hoo!!! Instead, I came home and stopped blogging altogether. And I miss it. Yet...the thought of writing…

Listen to me live today at 12:00pm EST until 1:00pm EST being interviewed by Beverly Mahone, host of "Passions," on Blog Talk Radio. We'll be talking about The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service. Follow the link to listen online - and feel free to call in with your customer service stories. Donna Cutting aka Gal Morale, Private Eye

I was asked today to list five proven, and cost-effective ways, to improve employee retention. There are so many factors that affect employee retention, and they all work together. Here are just a few strategies that come to mind. Hire Effectively – Retention starts at the hiring process. You’ve got to ensure the person you’re hiring is the right fit for the job, department, company. Hire people who not only have the skills and abilities to do the job, but also have the DESIRE to do the job with enthusiasm. You can use a variety of interview techniques, assessments, and even instinct,…

Monica Wofford, author of "Contagious Leadership" has some spot-on thoughts about working WITH your team as a leader. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/ContagiousLeader Gal Morale, Private Eye

Welcome to the very last post of Gal Morale's Blog. As you may have read in the previous post, I am combining my blogs into one. Congratulations to Brian Belge who came up with the winning title The Cutting Edge. Brian will receive a free autographed copy of my book The Celebrity Experience and a night at the movies. Thanks to everyone who submitted potential names and comments. I loved all of your suggestions - but chose to go with The Cutting Edge because it seemed to be the most popular choice among readers. Thank you so very much to all the readers of Gal Morale's blog - for your…

Okay....so I've decided to simplify my life. A few months ago I attended the fabulous SOBCon '08. I was immersed in the world of professional bloggers. I wrote about it here. I was pumped! I was motivated! Not only was I going to improve my blog - I was going to author more blogs! A blog about employee engagement. One about red-carpet customer service. One about travel. One about being a speaker/author. I would have blogs on MySpace, facebook....and I was going to twitter! Woo Hoo!!! Instead, I came home and stopped blogging altogether. And I miss it. Yet...the thought of writing all those…

Listen to me live today at 12:00pm EST until 1:00pm EST being interviewed by Beverly Mahone, host of "Passions," on Blog Talk Radio. We'll be talking about The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service. Follow the link to listen online - and feel free to call in with your customer service stories. Donna Cutting aka Gal Morale, Private Eye

I was asked today to list five proven, and cost-effective ways, to improve employee retention. There are so many factors that affect employee retention, and they all work together. Here are just a few strategies that come to mind. Hire Effectively – Retention starts at the hiring process. You’ve got to ensure the person you’re hiring is the right fit for the job, department, company. Hire people who not only have the skills and abilities to do the job, but also have the DESIRE to do the job with enthusiasm. You can use a variety of interview techniques, assessments, and even instinct,…

Monica Wofford, author of "Contagious Leadership" has some spot-on thoughts about working WITH your team as a leader. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/ContagiousLeader Gal Morale, Private Eye

As mentioned in my first, “Things I Wish I’d Learned….” post, I was a rookie jewelry store manager with less than six months experience in the jewelry business and retail. In addition to diamonds, rings, watches, and colored stones, we sold class rings to high school students. My sales staff hated selling class rings because of the forms that had to be filled out, the low commission, and the endless questions the students asked about the class rings. A student could ...

Kelly, over at Maximum Customer Experience, has a post titled, What Seems To Be The Problem Here, in which she asks several questions about companies responding to their customers’ complaints. I’ve posted about this before. (Two Ways You Can Beat Your Competition In The Online World & Tip #8 How To Build Better Rapport With Your Customers, for example.) Here are my responses to her questions.

Here in Texas both the humidity and the temperatures are in the 90’s. The kids go back to school next week and the smell of college football is in the year. Which means we need to think about…..

Over at the aptly named Return Customer, in a post titled How To Fight With Customers When They Leave, Joe posts about a company who royally screwed up when he called to terminate his service. As I read it, I thought it could be turned into a “worst practice” to teach small businesses how not to act. With the economy going south, businesses cannot afford to lose customers. Train your employees to follow these three steps in order to prevent losing dissatisfied customers like ...

More than 25 years I become the manager of a mass market jewelry store in Irving, TX. I had no prior retail or jewelry experience when I had started as a manager trainee about five months earlier. I was promoted over several other more experienced manager trainees because I focused on learning everything I could as fast as I could and I had a very positive attitude. Still, I had to learn a lot of things through trial and error. This is the first post in an occasional series discussing ...

I’m pretty excited. Why? Well, a big part of it is that tomorrow marks the Canadian kick-off of Oasis’ 2008 tour here in Vancouver. Back in April, I told you a little bit about that. What does Oasis have to do with AT&T (seeing as though there’s a very large, very blue, and very corporate-ish logo on this post) and customer service? Aside from AT&T having used ‘All Around the World‘ on one of its commercial campaigns (don’t even want to think what that cost), not a whole hell of a lot. By transitive property, though, AT&T has recently blasted…

I don’t watch a tonne of TV (read: haven’t got the time). However, thanks to the magic of PVR (Tivo for those in the States), I’ve recently been watching a fair deal of The Colbert Report. Why? He’s hilarious and his writers are probably the sharpest in the biz. Mixing the US-centric witty banter that Stephen Colbert interlaces throughout his 30 minute show (minus the political slant) and a recent episode where he lambasted Jeopardy for Alex Trebek’s mispronunciation of the word “ReporT” (Colbert uses the infamous ’silent T’; Trebek, being…

I teased you before. But that was then… BBC radio previewed it this morning, so here it is - Oasis’ brand new single from their seventh studio album (to be released in late September). The track is called ‘The Shock of the Lightning‘, as it was written dead fast, and in my mind, they couldn’t have selected a stronger track to kick this one off. On August 27th here in Vancouver, GM Place is going to go insane for this one. Just click on the image. UPDATED (late in the day August 15): Also listen to ‘Falling Down (album version)’ (now available for…

Have you ever gone hunting with the bowl and spoon, well now you can!…blah blah. Remember that ad for Libby’s Zoodles ‘back in the day’?  I do.  But who cares. Here’s something kinda cool: Replace hunting with hiking/boating/moving around in high/low places Replace bowl and spoon with topographical maps …and you get to the same place (minus the Zoodles, cutlery, and rhyming pattern). Thanks to kk for the link and instructions, now you can do some serious pre-hike/travel into the great unknown planning before you decide to. And I thought navigating my way…

You know what was cool about spending the weekend in the Hamptons for your birthday (aside from pretty much everything)? Music. Sitting on a beach in the Hamptons playing horseshoes and drinking beers with a bunch of friends, I was introduced to Brett Kohart, the front man of a four man band that is today, the subject of timinganddelivery soundcheck #10. Acquiesce (Shattered) – taking its title from an album of one of my favourite bands, Kohart went on to explain how he (and his band) have been influenced to the guitar-heavy and power anthems that have defined bands, like Oasis,…

It's taking too long to respond, there is no connection. It doesn't happen only on a high volume day, it happens also when too many are involved in creating a site. Italy made a brutta figura (egg all over its figurative face) when the project to create the country's official Web site went South. How did that happen? Apparently, too much of everything was thrown at the project - money ($66 Million), time (5 years), and people. According to the WSJ [hat tip to Jonathan Trenn]:Several government ministries -- in two administrations -- and each of Italy's 20 regions were involved in creating the…

New media is changing the way we do business. I saw somewhere that "opportunity doesn't knock. It chirps, buzzes, pings, and vibrate." That it surely does. Yes, more of the emphasis is shifting online, where businesses have been notoriously able to look bigger, or have a nice presence, especially when in a niche market. It's about the CommunityWeb sites and internet applications that combine content generated by users with communications and facilitate the relationships between individuals and groups are taking a bigger share of our time. I talked about SavvyAuntie.com at Marketing 2.0 a…

This past week, Chris Brogan wrote a very concise and useful post on how to use Twitter for business. In it, you will find ideas on creating an account, topics to consider for the medium, a check on Twittetiquette, and an assessment of both the minuses and the pluses of having a Twitter presence.Whenever I write up ideas for execution, I tend to sell the concept up front by addressing why you should consider this idea. If you are interested in listening in and interacting with individuals who may give you ideas on uses for products and services - yours or those of others - as well as…

Hopefully you've heard of SxSW, the premier interactive media and music festival held in Austin each year. All kinds of smart people attend, and many of them make presentations or provide panel discussions. Tim Brunelle at Hello Viking is partnering with Dion Hughes and Mark Johnson at Persuasion Arts & Sciences to offer a panel called "Manners for the Modern Brand." These are very smart practitioners who are not afraid to deliver substance and results with their creativity. I will be moderating the discussion and I promise that it will be thought-provoking and lively. Why? Because we are…

I was reading an article for the Silicon Alley Insider by Jason Calacanis and was prompted to ask the    question - are you measuring media by the pound? Calacanis is talking about press impressions - always measure your press by the pound, he concludes quoting John Brockman. To say that Calacanis infers the behavior he thinks should be adopted by a whole category of companies from his own personal journey is putting it mildly.There is a middle ground, and public relations is much broader than just journalists and bloggers. Life is a tuttotondo - it's 3D. He has good points, but he misses a…

The Procter & Gamble Co. is linking laundry to fashion in what's billed as the biggest product launch yet for its venerable Tide brand. Fashion mentor Tim Gunn of reality TV's "Project Runway" is among those involved in marketing the new "Total Care" products that P&G says draw on technology from its beauty products to let clothes keep their shape, color and new look longer through repeated washing. The $60 million marketing campaign for the Tide detergent and Downy fabric softener products includes a tie-in with Ann Taylor Stores Corp.'s Loft unit and ads in such magazines as Elle, Vogue and…

CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug 27, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SugarCRM Inc., the world's leading provider of commercial open source customer relationship management (CRM) software, today announced the general availability of Sugar 5.1, which includes new reporting and wireless capabilities for SugarCRM. The new reporting and analytics engine provides SugarCRM users with improved insight into sales effectiveness and customer behavior. Revamped wireless capabilities deliver the feature-rich SugarCRM user experience on mobile phones, including support for the popular BlackBerry(R) and iPhone(TM)…

STERLING, Va., Aug 27, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- SpringCM(TM) Inc, the leader in on-demand document management and workflow, announced today the availability of significant enhancements in a new version of Privia, its industry-leading bid and proposal lifecycle management solution. The highlight of this version is the integration with Salesforce CRM that simplifies information exchange between the two systems and significantly enhances opportunity-management capabilities while increasing efficiencies. The new version of Privia integrated with Salesforce CRM is now available on the…

Did a computer intrusion at a Best Western hotel in Germany open the door for a hacker to steal the records of 8 million customers and pull off "the greatest cyber-heist in world history," as a Scottish newspaper put it? Or was the incident a significantly more-minor affair, affecting only 10 customers at the one facility, as claimed by Best Western International Inc.? The Phoenix-based hotel chain and the Sunday Herald newspaper of Scotland are duking it out over the paper's story on the data breach. Best Western calls the article "grossly unsubstantiated" and "largely erroneous." The story…

Anyone perusing porn sites at home will appreciate Microsoft's latest efforts at browser privacy, but it's not clear it will do much for the enterprise. Internet Explorer product manager Andrew Ziegler discussed the new privacy features of IE8, currently in its second beta, in an extensive blog post Monday. Users of the new software will be able to turn on Microsoft's InPrivate Browsing and Blocking features. When what many observers are calling "porn mode" is turned on, IE8 doesn't store history, cookies, form data, passwords, URLs, search queries or visited links. Porn Mode? Ziegler…

Facecard Facecard is a new pre-paid debit card targeted to students -- it's prepaid and re-loadable, and usable anywhere MasterCard is accepted. Although it uses the debit system, it isn't really a debit card so much as a variant on a pre-paid gift card. Among the other features: usable at ATMs Friend to friend payments Loadable online by the cardholder Others can add to the balance like a gift-card Not a credit card, so no credit check is used or needed Parents can sign up their child The major pitch on the site is that using a pre-paid card helps students avoid accumulating unnecessary debt…

It was in late July that I heard the first back to school advertising. I was driving along back roads in Maine, dreaming of a summer that could last forever. Like a thump, reality came crashing in. But worse shocks awaited me. Among the flyers waiting for me at home was an offer for the Sears Christmas Wish Book for 2008. I can pick the catalog up at a nearby location, and if I order something between August 13 and September 12 worth more than $100, I can I can earn Sears Club points. It was with a weary heart that I realized the Christmas shopping season was just around the corner. There's a…

There's no substitute for simple human concern and simple empathy when things go wrong. A human response can soothe the savage customer, and create an opportunity for useful communication. Starting from a posture of defence -- "we didn't do anything wrong" -- is almost always the wrong thing to do. You may 'win the discussion,' but lose the customer. Here's a great example of how a customer who goofed [me] tried to get some help, and instead was turned into a raging virago of emotion by the defensive and unsympathetic posture of the service staff. [At least the gas station is still standing.

Business today is in an exciting time. There's global economic crisis, and as a result of which many businesses are cutting down on workforce, on flights, on new product launches, and even services. The more successful and innovative companies stick to their employees, and ride the tide with more innovation ...

I know about this only today: Toyota has a tradition of no layoffs during hard times. Workforce Management shares the story. Toyota is hell bent on sticking by its tradition, though it can be expensive for the company. Toyota’s 4,500 idle North American workers may relearn how to pick up screws, ...

Over at Pogue's Posts, he was sharing about his experience with Canon. First, he wrote about the untimely death of his Canon SD700, and then a reader pointed out to him the Canon Loyalty program. The Canon Loyalty program lets customers get a new Canon product at a discounted price if ...

Karl Bode, the editor of BroadbandReports.com is right to say, “Deliver quality technology and cutting-edge speed, and customers respond.” This was his reaction to Verizon's move to invest heavily on high-end technology like FiOS. Verizon will be investing $23 billion for this service. That translates to a fiber system at an ...

Perhaps inspired by the successful Beijing Olympics spirit, Abu Dhabi Airport Service (ADAS) is launching the 'Going for Gold' customer service programme. It is said to be the first of its kind initiative for the ground-handling company operating out of Abu Dhabi airports. The program aims to enhance customer experiences, particulalry ...

This week we reflect on the e-commerce trends that have taken shape in first half of 2008. Our clients have demonstrated great interest in e-commerce, being driven by an amalgamation of market trends such as economics, consumerization, Web 2.0, replacements of aging systems, increasing customer demands for easy-to-use sites, competition driven by the ease of finding sites via Google and much more. In this environment, organizations will be measured by how well they deliver an overall online customer experience. Aside from the economic environment that is impacting most regions and industries,…

Analytical applications are becoming increasingly important to organizations trying to find a competitive advantage in a tight economy. Organizations want (and need) the benefits of analytical tools, but may not have the resources to commit to learning a specialized tool, conduct formalized training programs or hire outside experts. This situation exposes a significant dichotomy – while the market appears to be saturated, it remains largely untapped when it comes to resolving the analytically-unsupported decisions that happen throughout organizations. This market evolution from analytical…

Judging by Gartner CRM inquiries, interest in our fall CRM Summit and readership of this blog, CRM is definitely back on many firms' agendas. However, there is a difference in the focus of CRM today. Not only are more firms recognizing that CRM is a business strategy rather than just another IT project, but many are realizing that there is also a "C" in CRM, or "customer" in customer relationship management. That's why we've chosen the theme of "CRM 2.0: The Next Generation of CRM" for our September CRM Summit in Chicago. It emphasizes the ability of companies to look from the outside in…

Most customer service organizations have successfully built layer upon layer of supervisors and managers to handle customer service exceptions. For the most part, barring extreme exceptions, they are ready to handle problems and reach resolutions. However, once in a while, a problem is so extreme, has such dire consequences to the customer or has caused irreparable damage. The answer to these problems (which are less than 0.5 percent of interactions) is what sets world-class customer service organizations apart from common customer service organizations. Traditional customer service…

Most companies like to analyze data. It gives them a sense of security: "We understand our business and our customers because the metrics on the reports says so." The reality is somewhat different, however. The analysis of operational customer data alone explores only one of several dimensions and can lead to incorrect conclusions. Other data sources need to be included, such as informal interaction data (that is, what was said and how it was said during customer-agent conversations) and more-formal survey data, both of which collate data directly from the customer (with or without their…

In the Spirit of Service This is a little diversion from my typical customer service postings.While this is not customer service, it is service, just in a different way. Earlier this week I had the honor of being inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.It was quite a night and my acceptance speech was focused on what I term Intentional Significance. After 25 years in the speaking business I found myself thinking about the contributions I’ve made to my clients, my family and the community/world.I hope that I have been significant. Two people in my industry have…

Jet Blue Executive Sets Leadership Example Just back from the National Speakers Association meeting in New York.I had the privilege of hearing David Barger, the CEO of Jet Blue, speak about his company.He is a fascinating man, and in the wake of all of the turmoil in the airline industry, he is a model example of leadership. If you want your people to deliver excellent customer service, you must focus on the inside first.Mr. Barger has done that in a big way.His comments reflected his commitment to his employees.Get this.While other airlines are doing mandatory layoffs, Jet Blue’s layoffs…

Tough Economic Times Make the Best Look Bad Recently the headlines of the business section of local paper read: Starbucks Now Shuttering 600 Stores Could Starbucks be going out of business?I thought Starbucks was impenetrable – a super company that could weather any storm and continue to grow at an incredible rate.At the end of March 2008, Starbucks had more than 16,000 stores. Can they all be profitable?It would be nice.Can’t Starbucks shed the money losers without news headlines making it sound like the company might be going under? Starbucks is blaming some of the store closings on the…

Customer Service Shows Up Green… For the Environment and the Bottom Line According to a recent article by Peter Healy of the Advocate, Pitney Bowes, of postage meter fame, clams to have saved almost $3 million in fuel costs over the last couple of years due to delivering better service. How did they do it?They consolidated customer service calls.In other words, they solved more calls in one service visit, avoiding a second or third trip to a customer’s location. According to the article, John Thaler, Pitney Bowes’ director of process excellence, environmental health and safety plugged…

More on Paying For Customer Service My last blog entry was about how Air Canada was charging extra if you wanted better service.Well, they are not the only ones charging more to get better customer service. According to Vito Pilieci, writing in The Ottawa Citizen, Dell recently announced that they are dividing their support into two groups; India support versus North American support.If the customer is willing to pay a little more, they can be guaranteed to reach a North American tech support person instead of their Indian counterparts.It appears that Dell is promising you won’t get the…

Hello, I am researching for scripts relating to what to say to customers when they call our contact center and the CSR can't do anything due to

I am looking for tricks on how to handel difficult customers. Can you provide some? Answer Date: August 28, 2008. Hi Pradeep, While it may seem

At Harris Teeter, the checkout boy bagged groceries and offered to take them out to the car for me. It made me feel like a valued customer. :-)

Yesterday, I decided to use the drive thru at a Wendy's in Falmouth, ME. This chain is one of the few fast food establishments to offer a gluten free

When you are working with the public why do you have to be rude to the customers? I want to complain about an agent in the Las Vegas Bus Station

Today, I have a few different topics of interest for you, regarding my blog’s address, other places to find me, and more cool conferences coming up.  Read on! My Blog Has Moved! I have officially moved my blog from http://customersrock.wordpress.com to http://www.customersrock.net.  In other words, I now have more control over what I can and cannot put on my blog, as it is self-hosted.   For example, I can now have codeon my site (wordpress.com didn’t allow that), so I can add new features like the ShareThis plug-in, allowing you to share posts you like via your preferred…

Last week on the Big Biz Radio Show, where I am a frequent “personality”(that’s what they like to call me), we talked about how easy it can be to get customer service wrong, with the results sometimes splattered all over the Internet.  That got us to talking about viral campaigning vs. viral complaining.  Here is what that could look like: In Viral Campaigning… customers tell their friends and family how great your company is. In Viral Complaining… customers tell anyone who will listen how much they dislike your company. In Viral Campaigning… loyal…

In one month, the 2008 BlogWorld conference will be taking place in Las Vegas, NV, and I was chosen to moderate a panel this year!  In case you aren’t familiar with it, BlogWorld is billed as the world’s largest blogging conference and tradeshow.  The way I look at it, it is a great place to come and learn about social media, as many of the sessions go beyond blogging into video, social networking, Twitter, and podcasting. As for my panel, the title is Creating Customer Loyalty with Social Media.  Here is the abstract: One of the keys to rockin’ customer retention and…

Today we have a special guest with us, Esteban Kolsky. Esteban is a VP at KANA where he is very focused on great customer experiences, especially in the area of customer service. He is also an active commenter here on Customers Rock!, so please welcome him and enjoy the post! Five Winning Strategies to Excel at Customer Service via Email Back in the “early” days of the internet (read 1990s) we all thought that email was going to revolutionize the way we do customer service. Customers were going to send us all their questions and inquiries via email, which in turn was going to be…

I have been writing this blog for over a year and a half and have developed a nice following of loyal readers. Thank you, loyal readers!! I would like to get some feedback from you on what you would like to see on Customers Rock!, plus get to know you a little bit! Please take 5 minutes and answer my really short survey. Feel free to be honest about what you like and don’t like here. I will take it to heart! Please click here to take survey You can also leave suggestions for me at my new Suggestion Box: Thanks a million! (Photo credit:nfsphoto)

Who’s ready for some mash-ups? Mozilla has released Ubiquity. It’s an experiment in allowing (as Mozilla says on their site) “everyone–not just Web developers–to remix the Web so it fits their needs, no matter what page they are on, or what they are doing.” The idea is to marry a command-line interface with your browser, allowing you to quickly mash-up Web-service data to create new streams of data that you can view in multiple ways or even embed in, say, an e-mail to a friend. Apple’s Safari does something sort of similar. It allows you to create “Web…

Attention, people of the Earth: We seek a Ruby developer. If you follow this blog, or have spent time on our Web site, you are surely aware of what we’re up to: building a complex, large-scale, consumer-focused Web service that’s well thought out — and as elegant as we can possibly make it. If you’re a developer, you can probably spot Ruby a mile away. If you’re not a developer, but you know what we mean when we say “Ruby”, you may know someone who might be interested. Let ‘em know that your favorite start-up is in the market for a Ruby…

We’ve been hunkered down working on our site here at the Satisfactory for the last couple of months, but the Fall conference season is now upon us so we’re planning to get out a bit more. We’ve got a number of events we’ll be speaking at and/or attending over the coming months. Hope you can join us for some of them! d.construct, Brighton, UK, September 3. Lane, Leslie, and Thor will be giving a day-long workshop on “Managing Community, by Design.” Summing up what we’ve learned over the past two years about growing and tending a customer-centric…

What motivates an organization to become truly focused on improving their products and services for their customers? How about word of mouth? How about word-of-mouth squared? I don’t know about you, but I rely on word-of-mouth observations nearly every single day, whether it’s asking a co-worker what they think of a local restaurant (which I did today, twice) or going online to scout out advice from real people about the best external hard drive to purchase (which I did last month; I settled on this one). That kind of authentic reccomendation is powerful. There’s a simple…

Microsoft got innovative yesterday — and everyone showed up to see it. Microsoft Live Labs, the group of folks who work intently at creating innovative Internet products for Microsoft, released Photosynth, the amazingly cool service that lets you take a stack of photos of a place and turn it into a 3-D model you can explore virtually. It’s almost sci-fi stuff, and nearly everyone is enthusiastic about its potential. The downside of all this potential and popularity is that the Live Labs servers were overwhelmed yesterday after the initial release of Photosynth. So much so that…

As a customer service speaker and author, I spend most of my time talking or writing about what organizations can do to be better service providers. In this post I thought I’d divert from my usual theme and spend a moment talking about a different, but certainly related subject. Being a better customer. More times than I can count, I’ve stood in line at a coffee shop, fast food restaurant, or store observing an employee trying to take the order of a customer who is chatting on his or her cell phone. Everything gets slowed down as the customer tries to order and talk on the phone…

I’m pleased to let you know that my new book, Lessons From the Mouse - A Guide for Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization, Your Career, and Your Life, is now available. If you would like complete information about the book as well as ordering details, please visit www.LessonsFromTheMouse.com. If you’d like to order right now, you can go to Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com. Discounts on ten or more copies of the book can be found at 800CEOread.com. In brief, Lessons From the Mouse provides ten easy-to-read lessons for applying Disney World’s…

Many of you know that JetBlue, the discount airline, recently began charging $7 for pillows and blankets on flights over two hours. While they have received some negative press due to the move, I feel that JetBlue actually implemented the program pretty effectively by connecting the change to increased value. Pretty radical for an airline. Several radio programs have interviewed me on the subject this past week, including the show, “The Small Business Advocate,” hosted by Jim Blasingame. He asks about a few customer service related topics, which I hope you’ll find helpful,…

Yesterday I received an email from an employee of one my clients. The email shares a story of a recent visit to Disney World, comparing the experience to other theme parks. I thought it was a good example of how people make the difference. I’ll share the actual email a bit further in this post, but I want to make a couple of comments first. In the case of a theme park, certainly the rides and shows must be great. But that’s not enough. There are lots of places with great rides. But if you combine a quality product with great service delivery, you have something special. As you…

When I have some time in the office, I enjoy surfing the Web for customer service information and resources. Today I came across a resource offered by Kevin Stirtz, “The Amazing Service Guy.” In a recent blog post, he offers a download, “213 Customer Service Quotes.” You’ll see the link at the bottom of his post. Some of these quotes could provide terrific discussion-starters for staff meetings. One idea is to start each staff meeting by sharing one of the quotes (written on a flipchart or whiteboard) and having a five-minute discussion about how the quote…

For those of you who missed last month's Performance Management web seminar with Dell (sponsored by ICMI and Merced Systems)...You can watch the recording or read the recap on Merced Systems' blog I especially liked the four key elements to a high-performing culture: Single version of the truth Metric alignment and standardization Personalized goals, alerts, triggers and thresholds Coaching, recognition and reinforcement best practices Enjoy!

In cycling, members of the team work together to help the star cyclist win.  Check out the following pairs of help pages: Squidoo vs. Google Knol Salesforce.com vs.Oracle Zappos vs. DSW Which companies are helping their customers to win?Now look at your help pages and your competitors' help pages.Which companies are helping their customers win?

I use FastLane and I love the service.  I had been using it for months, speedily passing through while toll fees are charged to my credit card.Recently, I received a letter from FastLane stating that I violated the service terms by passing through a tollbooth without paying.  [Even though I have a valid transmitter and credit card]As a first time violator, I could pay the amount or dispute it by calling their call center or submitting a written letter.  If not, I would receive a fine and could possibly go to court.  The cost of the missed toll: $1.25.Here's what happened…

...read Service Untitled's post about a simple checklist you can use to make sure your customer service organization is prepared.Pilots use pre-flight checklists.  Even though stopping the plane isn't the biggest part of the trip, they still check the brakes every time.Even though your customer service organization may be a small part of your launch, the people there are still going to talk with your target customers.  You might as well help them be successful.Check the brakes.  You'll be glad you did.

Why are companies so serious?This article shows that a little humor can go a long way during service interactions.  Why humor works: Customers are humans.  Humans like to laugh. We like people who make us laugh. People do business with people they like.  I'm not so sure you can train employees to be funny.  You probably need to hire funny people and let them do their thing...as long as they take care of the customer and keep it PG.Southwest Airlines is famous for having a fun-loving culture - a must in an industry known for poor service.  Some examples: Their print…

The perfect walk-by sign: Rent here, return anywhere. I understood exactly what they were selling without even stopping, but the sign (and the clever concept) got me to stop and think about it.This company rents personal DVD players and DVDs at airports. And apparently, pays for your return shipping. Great idea.Technorati Tags: visitor experience, customer service, signs, visitor experience consultant

At the Roadrunner Sports store in San Diego, this well designed sign led us straight to our destination. (This is especially helpful for finding something located in a business park, which are not typically designed to aid wayfinding.)It says: Turn right after the tree and head to the back of the parking lot. Turn left and walk until you see the clearance center signage.The strong visuals really made this sign work. They added a whole series of these stencils on the pavement, which coordinated visually with the sign.Technorati Tags: visitor experience, customer service, signs, visitor…

I got a great restaurant recommendation from the owner of Taylor's Art & Soul, so I headed over to Midtown for dinner. My choice was Zocalo, a Mexican-inspired restaurant located in a historic building.I loved that they used the sidewalk to help create an entry. Most people forget how effective it is to place signs in atypical locations.The high ceilings and great bar were complimented by the furnishings, like the fabulous mirror on the back wall.In my booth, hand-carved edging created a rich, evocative feeling.The food was muy bueno. So good, in fact, that I ordered my lunch for the next…

Spotted in Old Sacramento: What a great way to help visitors, while reducing the number of times you have to answer this question! I especially liked that the sign explains how late each set of bathrooms is open. (They just took an existing map and added their own information, but did it in a way that also looks professional.)Technorati Tags: visitor experience, customer service, signs, visitor experience consultant

What do you do with a pile of unclaimed luggage? At this airport, they turned it into eye-catching sculptures to define the baggage claim area and create wayfinding icons.Tip of the day: Are there ways you can take a negative, like lost and found items, and turn it into a positive at your museum?Technorati Tags: wayfinding icon, customer service, museum, visitor experience, consultant

Many online marketers, especially those starting out, tend to build a list for the sole reason of selling it.

I was recently coaching an attorney who was lamenting how slow new business has become in the past few months. I asked him, "What have you done in the past 3 months to build relationships with potential referral partners?" He mentioned going to lunch a few times and speaking with a couple over...

What you say to your customers determines what they will say about your company to their friends, relatives and professional colleagues, so consider these ten statements to avoid, and what to say instead.

Astrology will help you to appreciate each person's strengths and it will also help you in avoiding possible friction therefore creating better relationships and better communication.

If you were selling apples, which of the following scenarios would you enjoy most?

In a recent vacation to Lake Placid, NY, I was taken down a winding country road to South Meadow Farm. We entered the small room attached to the barn which displayed a large variety of local food stuffs. We were tempted by shelves of maple syrup (light-, medium-, and dark-amber varieties), homemade jam, maple-based candy and other local goodies. But what was missing was most striking. A cashier. This shop was unstaffed. There was a tin of dollars and credit card slips for you to process your own transaction. You either left what you owed and took any needed change, or completed a credit card…

Are your staff putting themselves in your customers’ shoes, thinking through the customer experience? Does your staff help your customers save time, money and aggravation, rather than causing more of these? Twice recently, with two different reps at my travel agency, I found they didn’t really understand the customer experience, so I ended up spending more time, money and hassle than necessary. Both were when I was traveling internationally from LAX. The first rep told me I could not fly out of my local airport, San Jose, which is a 10-15 minute, $20 cab ride. Instead she said I…

Today I expected the brief 1-hour flight from Penang, Malaysia to Singapore to be uneventful. Instead, however, I was treated to anther example of Singapore Airlines above-and-beyond service. The flight was reasonably empty, so I took the opportunity to ask the lead steward how he liked the new uniforms SIA had just rolled out. Instead of different colored suit jackets to denote the stewards’ rank, they all now wore dark blue suits and their ties were color-coded to their status. He was affable, as most SIA cabin crew are. He explained how the stewards’ ties now coordinated with…

Today our posting is by guest author Valerie Cade, who is a world-wide authority and speaker on workplace bullying and author of Bully Free at Work™. Since some upset customers are bullies, we thought this article would be useful to you. _________________ Many people ask, “How is Workplace Bullying different from working with difficult people, and what exactly is workplace bullying anyway?” Workplace bullying is repeated, deliberate, disrespectful behavior by one or more people toward another for their own gratification, which in turn harms the target. Bullying is deliberate, not…

My friend, internationally acclaimed concierge-level service speaker Holly Steil and I were talking about what constituted world-class service. I had just returned from Malaysia and Singapore where I stayed in 4- and 5-star hotels. I gave her a few examples of what I thought was extraordinary service: The bellman who took me to my room of the 600-room at the Berjaya Times Square Hotel called me by name two days later, with no contact in between.”That’s standard at a high-end hotel,” Holly said. The concierge at The Legend Hotel who escorted me from the lobby down nine floors…

Wednesday Words To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business. A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. —Oscar Wilde Dreamers lead a a lonely life. Sometimes, it’s kinda profitable. Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Edison. Phil Knight. Richard Branson. Steve Jobs. And you? When you look at the dawn, what do you see? Share with us below….   Grow and be well, Kelly Erickson

A Monday Series I took a long drive along the East Coast on Saturday, and noticed that a few flirtatious trees are turning color already, whispering that autumn is nearly here. Today, my kid goes back to school. If the summer heat still calls you as it does me, saying, where did all the time go? remember that some of those dog days were wisely used to: Clear Out the Cobwebs Smile for the Birdie Have a New Logo Designed Get My Kids Involved Read at the Beach Walk the Grounds and Log In to the online Experience you offer your customers. If you’re burnt-out, antsy, and need to revitalize…

What Seems to Be the Problem Here? Many studies have reported that customers who have a problem resolved to their satisfaction are more loyal than customers who’ve never had a problem at all. Immediate problems with a transaction, you know you need to fix right away—make it easy to register more general complaints, too. Why listen to your customers’ complaints? You’ll learn from what they have to say They’ll feel a lot better You might actually resolve the issue In-person, by telephone, online form, or email, even *gasp* by snail mail if they’d like to.

Who Designed These Experiences? 1. Ad this week for a mobile phone: No mention of the original price. A photo, and “Save $199.” Any phone I can save $199 on is probably one that I will feel like I can’t afford (no, it’s not for the one you’re thinking of). If you know the thing is bloody expensive and you don’t want to tell me how much, try “Save 40%.” That at least gives me the hope that I can afford it, and an understandable measure of how great your deal is. I’m listening. If it’s something that I understand what ballpark the…

Wednesday Words To Go Where Your VisionPoints, a few inspiration points for you and your business. Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. —Jim Ryun  (Runner, three-time Olympic athlete, United States Congressman from Kansas, author) Go ahead. Be inspired by the dedication and raw enthusiasm of the Olympic athletes from your home country this week. Make excellence your habit.   Grow and be well, Kelly Erickson

I sat in the office of a call center manager as I shared the results of an audit our group had performed of their quality program. In this case, we had collected a sample of calls that had been scored by the supervisors and scored the same calls using their internal form. Not only were we able to provide a number of procedural recommendations that would improve their quality process, but we were able to unearth which supervisors tended to be unduly harsh or lenient in the analysis of their teams. As we covered the results for one particular supervisor, the call center manager laughed and…

I chuckled and thought of all my dear tech support friends in call centers around the world this past weekend. I was perusing a Reader's Digest and read about and IT department that had begun talking about certain trouble tickets as a P.I.C.N.I.C.: Problem In Chair Not In Computer!

When you meet someone face-to-face, most of your senses are engaged in making a judgment about that person. You shake hands, you see how the person is dressed, you smell (or don't smell), and you hear the person's voice. When you pick up the phone and call a company, the person on the other end picks up and all you have, upon which to make judgment, is the tone of the person's voice. My friend, Ann Wilkinson, knows a thing or two about voice tone. As an actor, vocal coach, casting director and professor, she's a pro at knowing how to perform with your voice. This past week, I asked Ann to…

Earlier this week I walked into the FedEx Kinko's store in Clive, IA. I was on my way to a meeting, in a hurry, and simply needed to print a document off my laptop. It shouldn't have been a problem. I had the file on my laptop and on a zip drive. I would just ask the help which was the fastest, cheapest way to print my file. I walked back to the computer area, then around by the printers and noted the conspicuous lack of help. All the employees were busy behind the counter. Clearly, I was on my own. I wandered back to the Kinko's LapNet station and, figuring I was an intelligent person,…

I just read a heart-felt rant from a Customer Service Representative who clearly needed to get a few things, without sugar coating it, off her chest. As a professional who has worked in call centers big and small for 15 years, I understand the frustrations of CSRs. The hours are long and the job is stressful. Nine very nice customers get overshadowed by one customer who goes postal on you. Change is constant. Supervisors are usually overworked and unavailable. Managers seem only to look at the numbers and care little for the customer. You feel like Sisyphus as you struggle to help each…

RightNow Technologies announced their latest release this week, RightNow August ‘08, and it includes some very cool features that pay tribute to their B2C roots.  It is surprising how much new functionality and infrastructure this vendor continues to deliver with their challenging quarterly release cycle.  For a complete list of what’s included you can read [...]

I am working on a white paper regarding the importance of cross-enterprise workflow and visibility, enabling the support organization to proactively manage customer issues that must be resolved by a group outside of support. Interestingly, I am dealing with a hellish customer service problem in my own life regarding this exact same problem, and let me [...]

I’ve had a lot of requests lately from members, vendors, and investment firms for the latest trends impacting service and support operations and spending, and I wanted to share with you three things I am tracking. In some way, they all relate to the bad economic conditions in North America, the declining value of the [...]

I admit I haven’t spent a lot of time on professional services automation (PSA) tools since my days at Giga, when all the enterprise CRM vendors seemed to release a PSA module at the same time.  Though the enterprise apps vendors continue to deliver PSA modules, the biggest buzz around PSA today is for smaller, more [...]

The #1 remote support solution in Europe is now making a splash in North America.  In a briefing last week, NTRglobal, whose headquarters are in Barcelona, said they are getting more visibility on this side of the pond for their hybrid remote/proactive support solutions, and with a recent round of funding (€22 million/$34 million–oh, how the dollar has fallen) they [...]

Your company, product, and service should be so good that you don’t need to advertise. Is that even possible? Yes, it is. As you read the other day, we dropped our old pest control service Terminix and needed to find a new provider. At this stage of customer acquisition, your company’s marketing would hopefully take over and persuade a customer to choose you. Word of Mouth We, like many people, skipped the ad-ridden landscape and asked several of our friends for recommendations. We got a few passionate reviews and some that were just so-so. One of our friend’s…

Do you fight your customers when they want to leave? My wife and I recently decided to change our pest control service. We had seen a deterioration in the quality of customer service and the prevention of unwanted pests. I called up Terminix to cancel our account and they offered a great case study in how not to treat departing customers: Tell the Customer He’s a Liar I told the woman that answered the phone that the technician wasn’t giving the great customer service we had with the smaller Safeguard company that used to service our home. Once Terminix bought them out, we started…

My beautiful wife recently bought me a Nintendo Wii for my birthday. In an effort to try some new video games, I subscribed to GameFly, a web-based game rental service, that Beth mentioned in her comments about Netflix and setting delivery expectations. As my first month drew to a close, I realized I was too busy to play games enough to justify the monthly cost. I went through GameFly’s online cancellation process and was presented with this form: While this was an obstacle on my way to cancellation, I thought they handled it gracefully by following a few key principles: They tell me…

Knowing what products you have available for sale is not only good inventory management but good customer service. Last week I stopped by Best Buy to buy the video game Mario Cart for the new Wii my wife got me for my birthday. While in the video game section, a Best Buy employee approached and asked what I was looking for. He told me they didn’t have any of the game I was looking for in stock. After all, they are very popular right now. However, some would be arriving in a shipment the next day. In this brief interaction with the Best Buy employee, he quickly explained the situation…

My wife asked me the other day why I thought employees at resorts and travel destinations are always so nice and courteous even though they will never see you again. She contrasted this with the treatment you receive at places or serv