Under Promise & Over Perform: The Art of Managing Customer Expectations

I'll always feel warmly about Conrad's restaurant, in Glendale, California.On the morning of the Northridge earthquake, Conrad's was the only restaurant in town that opened for business, and stayed open until the last customer went home. (For the record, I had a jumbo burger with Swiss cheese, grilled onions, fries,... Read More

Committed To Your Customer? Prove It When They Complain!

Businesses like to brag in their advertising about quality of work, commitment to their customers, and excellent service. These statements are also proudly advanced in Mission, Vision, and Values Statements. They are foundational to success.But, let's face it we all occasionally make misteaks (misspelling intentional) and, even in the best... Read More

Top 10 customer service tips

1. Hire people who have a service attitude. Some people simply enjoy serving others, their organizations, and even their communities. The spirit of service dominates their personality. This attitude of service has nothing to do with money or background, and people who have this attitude are not necessarily the most... Read More

The Consumer Power

While most companies talk about consumer friendliness, customer centricity, customer relationship etc. more often than not they are mere lip service or jargons with little sincerity behind these grand sounding words.When a company lacks the sincerity to deal with their customers fairly, some one comes along and puts the company... Read More

Writing The Book On Great Customer Service

Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up near my small book store. Already I can see my business starting to decline. Is there anything I can do to compete with the bigger store or should I just accept the inevitable? -- Peter Q.A: A wise man once... Read More

Hook Me Up With A Human

Oh, what has happened to the carbon-based organizational interface? Many organizations have digitized humans ? aka carbon-based units - out of existence in their customer service operations. Now, I love digital technology as much as anyone, but it is time to bring the people back into their appropriate customer service... Read More

The Reality of Customer Service in America and Best Efforts in Franchising, We Can Do Better

Yesterday I went to buy a sandwich at a franchised outlet. I thought while driving up would the owner be there to help out and save some money on labor, knowing a holiday weekend is hard to get labor. As I drove up to the place a man driving an... Read More

Doors by Catering to Your Clients

Clients? they are the most important influence in the success of any business. It is vital to keep them satisfied and happy.Clients should be catered to. Their every need should be met and more. We need to make them feel like they are our number one client, as they all... Read More

Renewing Customer Loyalty

Every business loses customers, but not many do much about getting them back. And that is a big mistake. Studies show that the average business looses 20 percent of its customer base each year.Here's what that means in practical terms: For example, let's say your business has 700 customers that... Read More

Clients... and 38 ways to communicate with them

As Alan Weiss (guru to the savvy consultant) says: "It is actually difficult to contact clients too much. It is easy to fail to contact them frequently enough. If there is anyone anywhere who has ever sent you a check for your services and with whom you haven't communicated in... Read More

How to Succeed in Business Without Compromising Your Integrity

I spent some twenty years in the corporate world, for much of it I was not particularly interested in spirituality. It was a world where profits reigned supreme, often with little respect for the rest of society.It took a while for change to happen in Australia, but led by Ralph... Read More

How to Retain Your Customers the Dish Network Way

Customer retention is vital to a business. If you cannot retain your customers you will be continually losing current customers and always on the search for new ones. This can be very expensive. Retaining current customers means continual sales which is essential to keep your business afloat. Here are some... Read More

Establishing Yourself as an Expert in the Eyes of Your Customers

The most important aspect of a successful business is developing the correct mindset toward your customers. And this is not the over used phrase The customer is always right. Actually the correct mindset we are referring to here is to always think in terms of benefits for your customers. The... Read More

DONT Give Your Customers What They Want!

One of the mantras we hear repeatedly in business is "The customer is always right." I'm here to tell you that if you want to build a thriving business you need to forget that saying, and take note of Payne's Law #1 "The customer is always right- some of the... Read More

Communicating Value

Abstract: People buy for their reasons, not yours. This article covers the key elements that prospects want to hear you talk about.Always, but especially during lean times, effective sales professionals know the importance of communicating value.Budgets ? if they ever were discretionary ? are tighter. Business customers are being asked... Read More

Adjustment DENIED

It's just a simple thing ? I bought a new set of shelves for my office. It wasn't a real problem, but when I got the shelves home, I found dents on the front of the shelves where the package had been leaned up on some other object, the shelves... Read More

Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction

Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client.MeetingsIn most organizations it's easy to deliver additional value around meetings, because statistically, most companies run meetings poorly. Capture important notes during your... Read More

The Importance of Good Customer Service

Do you have good customer service? Even for your free giveaways?I have been thinking over the past couple of weeks why some WAHP's have trouble growing their business. They host chats or do online parties. They do giveaways and exchanges and it seems everything that they can do to help... Read More

7 Bits Of Critical Information You Cant Afford NOT To Know About Your Customers

If you think customer relationship management is just a piece of software, you're dead wrong. Customer relationship management is about understanding your customers. It's about really knowing them as individuals, knowing what they mean to your business, and most of all, knowing what you need to do to keep their... Read More

Tips for Curing Bad Customer Service

Bad customer service is everywhere these days - unmanned front desks, surly servers, clueless staff, employees talking on the phone, and managers who refuse to acknowledge a customer. It's no longer an exception ... poor service has become the norm.In an all-too-typical scene, a customer walks into a retail store... Read More

Attitude of Service

When conducting a training session about customer service, I always spend a fair amount of time talking about attitudes. After all, to be of service, you must develop an attitude of service.It has recently come to mind that the attitude of service is not something you put on and take... Read More

How To Build a Profitable Business

It's never too soon to start saying thanks to your clients, vendors and referral sources for what they contribute to your business. Everyone loves to be appreciated and acknowledged, so start now and do something every month.Keep in contact with your clients and vendors by sending articles you have written... Read More

Invalid Excuses for Poor Business Results - The Weather

Note to Kmart: It wasn't about the weatherIn the 1970s Kmart was the retailer to beat. No matter what happened, they seemed to turn profit. Customers were loyal and prices were hard to beat. The chain was opening more store each year than some of their competitors had in their... Read More

CRM = Customers (dont) Really Matter

CRM was supposed to bring companies closer to their clients. The basic idea was to; find out what a client wants and needs, give it to them, and get them to be your client for life.But as with all good technology, it hasn't actually brought the sales teams, marketing departments,... Read More

Should I Have My Company Mystery Shopped?

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone said to me, "Oh, you do Mystery Shopping; I always wanted to do that!" I think most people do find the thought of posing as a customer and reporting back on how they were treated, rather intriguing. But there is... Read More

InfoQ.com
How to Improve Customer Service
TechRepublic
Rich Caballero, vice president of product management at Oracle, explains how a good customer relationship management tool can please customers, while saving ...
Delivering a "Wow" Customer ExperienceTechRepublic
Delivering a "Wow" Customer ExperienceTechRepublic

all 78 news articles »

IntoMobile (blog)
T-Mobile back on top in customer care
CNET (blog)
E-mail Kent. by katamari5 July 29, 2010 4:49 PM PDT T-Mobile seems to be pretty consistent with the reputation of good customer service, so I think they ...
T-Mobile tops AT&T, Verizon and Sprint in customer care rankingsComputerworld
T-Mobile ranks highest in customer supportAfterdawn.com
J.D. Power Gives T-Mobile USA Highest Customer Service AwardBerryReview
IntoMobile (blog) -MediaPost Publications -RCR Wireless
all 47 news articles »

CRM Week in Review - Call Recording, RFP's, and Customer Service
TMCnet
... with decision making when it comes to implementing the software that will maximize customer service experiences while maintaining cost-effectiveness. ...

and more »

Did Dell tech support display woman's naked pics?
CNET
PLEASE BRING ALL OF YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE BACK INTO THE USA , DELL!!!! Enough of this crud! when I buy my laptop, desktop, server from an American company I ...

and more »

PSC grants modified rate increase to LG&E and KU
Louisville Courier-Journal
In addition to approving the new rates, the PSC ordered a review of the utilities' billing, collection and customer-service operations, in response to ...
Kentucky.com:BusinessKentucky Weekly Transcript
Kentucky Regulators Grant Rate Hike For Two UtilitiesWall Street Journal
KU announces rate increase: Average resident to pay $7 more monthlyEvansville Courier & Press
BusinessWeek -Bizjournals.com
all 29 news articles »

APS executive contributes to book on customer service
Arizona Republic
... so it might surprise some people to learn that companies like Arizona Public Service Co. actually put a great deal of effort into customer service. ...

and more »

Telecommunications Companies Need Relevant Customer Service
TMCnet
Kolman is an expert in the area of customer management for service provider carriers. He knows how important interactions between the service provider and ...

and more »

Negotiate your way to lower cable TV, cellphone bills
USA Today
And if a customer-service representative isn't giving you what you want, ask for a representative in customer retention. You'll usually have better luck, ...

and more »

The Guardian
Hill Says Metro Bank Strategy Based on Customer Service
Washington Post
July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Vernon Hill, co-founder of Metro Bank, talks about the opening of the bank's first branch today. Metro is the first new UK consumer ...
Metro Opens First U.K. Main Street Bank Since 1872, May Hold IPO by 2013Bloomberg
David Prosser: Bank customers want the best service, not the highest interest ...Independent
Bank Systems & Technology Executive Summit 2010Banktech (blog)
Computing -Morgan Forbes -Fresh Business Thinking
all 183 news articles »

FreeWave Technologies Expands Customer Service Team With Addition of Brett Halper
PR Newswire (press release)
Halper is the latest addition to FreeWave's world-class customer support team. He joins FreeWave with solid customer relations skills and proven management ...

and more »

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