Always Over-Deliver
By Chris Howard | April 28, 2009
How sad it is when the standard mode of operation is that customers are used to broken promises. Well, let’s change that – make your company stand out and learn to apply the principle of “under promise and over-deliver.”
Topics: Customer Service, Customer Service Staff | 128 Comments »
Turn an Irate Customer Into a Raging Fan
By Chris Howard | April 24, 2009
Recently, I was at an Internet Marketing seminar. I happened to be in the registration room working online.
All of the sudden, an irate attendee came to the window yelling that she felt overwhelmed with all of the information being thrown at her and that it wasn’t what she expected.
Topics: Stories - Customer Service | 114 Comments »
AskDatabase.com Rules!
By Chris Howard | April 17, 2009
There are multiple software applications that offer online customer satisfaction surveys such as FreeOnlineSurveys.com and QuestionPro.com.
My favorite is AskDatabase.com. With this, you can set up an Ask Campaign that can be used for complaints, compliments, or business suggestions. It can be something as simple as one question, “Was your experience good enough with us that you would recommend us to a friend?”
Topics: Customer Service, Online Customer Service | 168 Comments »
Encourage Complaints!
By Chris Howard | April 12, 2009
Encourage complaints! Sound crazy? Not if you know anything about customer service. You should embrace client criticism.
Marketing research shows that only two out of 50 unhappy customers will take the time to complain to you. If they are complaining, there are likely others who are unhappy too.
Topics: Customer Service | 170 Comments »
Service Leads to Big Return on Investment
By Chris Howard | April 7, 2009
According to the White House study that I talked about in my last post, companies that actively pursue complaints and resolve them to the customer’s satisfaction can expect a return on their customer service investment of between 15% and 400%, depending on the industry.
Topics: Customer Service | 140 Comments »
Lost Opportunities
By Chris Howard | April 2, 2009
There are a lot of stats out there on the lifetime value of a client, but, truth be known, these are all just stats. You’ll never really know the true value of the prospect you angered from the get go. You may never even know that they were a prospect so they can’t even be figured into stats.
Topics: Customer Service | 123 Comments »
Customer Service: Less Talk, More Walk Part 3
By Chris Howard | March 28, 2009
My last post and this one deliver four tips on how to improve your company’s walk immediately. These are simple things that can be implemented quickly and will be noticed by your customers immediately.
Topics: Customer Service, Online Customer Service | 91 Comments »
Customer Service: Less Talk, More Walk Part 2
By Chris Howard | March 23, 2009
My next two posts are going to give you four tips on how to improve your companies walk immediately. Work these into your customer service department and you are sure to stand out in the crowd.
Topics: Customer Service | 148 Comments »
Customer Service: Less Talk, More Walk, Part 1
By Chris Howard | March 18, 2009
What’s up with customer service going so far downhill lately? You’d think it would be getting better, especially in the state of the economy we are currently in.
Unfortunately it seems to be getting worse and worse. You hear so many large companies tout the fact that their customer service is amazing – “Customers Are Our Priority.” “#1 Customer Service,” “Service with a Smile.” Then they fail to deliver.
Topics: Customer Service | 150 Comments »
Your Customer’s State of Mind Matters
By Chris Howard | March 14, 2009
You need to be conscious of what your customer’s state of mind is when they leave your business whether it be virtual or brick and mortar. How you or your customer service personnel handle a complaint or an issue will inevitably be etched into a person’s mind forever.
Topics: Customer Service, Stories - Customer Service | No Comments »