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Customer Service - General

Since our entire site is about customer service, it's seems a bit odd to have a category for general customer service advice and strategies. Think of this section as a place you can find overviews, and ideas that don't quite fit into our more specific customer service categories.

Overview of Customer Service and Company Success

Customer Delight or a Brilliant PR Stunt? You Decide | CustomerThink - by Graham Hill
There is an interesting true story doing the rounds of customer service blogs at the moment. In it, Peter Shankman a customer service writer, blogger and regular customer at Morton’s Steakhouse jokingly tweeted to Morton’s that he would like a Porterhouse waiting for him upon landing at Newark airport after a long day on the road. Much to his surprise, when he landed that is exactly what was waiting: a uniformed waiter complete with a steak dinner, some side-orders and silver cutlery. Naturally, Peter was delighted and blogged about it immediately. The twitterverse got hold of it and now everybody is talking about Morton’s, about their greatest/worst experiences at Morton’s and more importantly, putting this forward as a great example of customer service.""But is it really customer service? Or is it something entirely different? (Added: 23-Aug-2011 Hits: 98 )

Customer Service For The Affluent - by Donna Siegal
Yes, the rich are different according to the author of this article. That is, they expect different things as a result of giving their business to one establishment over another. This article presents several reasons why affluent customers expect a special level of customer service and how a business interested in catering to those special needs might go about ensuring the affluent client's satisfaction. (Added: 2-Nov-2004 Hits: 547 )

Power-Up Article - Dis-Un-Empowerment - by Scott Simmerman
An article on Dis-Un-Em,powerment, focused on helping people improve customer loyalty. It shares ideas for improving organizational and personal effectiveness. (can be printed - not for reproduction or distribution, please) (Added: 14-Apr-2001 Hits: 439 )

Who Coined the Phrase The Customer Is Always Right? - by Robert Bacal
The customer is always right? This is the dumbest most destructive supposed principle of customer service, misleading companies and people. So who's the villain? Who came up with it? (Added: 23-Oct-2006 Hits: 874 )

Service Where You Sell - by Susan Meriwether
Customer satisfaction is only as good as your weakest link. If you sell using mobile and social channels but are not providing service there, you have a very weak link."With more and more transactions are taking place on mobile apps and facebook, you’ll need a full multi-channel customer experience strategy to tie it all together. (Added: 27-Jul-2011 Hits: 89 )

Making many happy returns - by Kenn Peters
This is a discussion about how relevant that good customer service should be in every industry. The concept is simple. A business should take the time to demonstrate to the client that he or she is valued and respected. Read how some companies accomplish this easily. (Added: 1-Nov-2004 Hits: 844 )

Do You Know Your Customers? - by BRETT J. PINEGAR
According to this article there are four analysis methods you should employ to determine who your customers are. And knowing who your best customers are is crucial for a successful business. They are as follows: customer life-cycle analysis, descriptive customer segmentation, customer interaction analysis, and customer ability/lifetime value analysis. For more details that you shouldn't miss, see the full article. (Added: 2-Nov-2004 Hits: 991 )

Customer Service Strategy Slide Show - by na
A short, concise slideshow presentation (19 slides) on the four elements of a customer service strategy. Ideal for small business looking to think or rethink how they meet the needs of customers, and how to use customer service as a competitive advantage. (Added: 7-Jan-2010 Hits: 549 )

How To Improve Customer Service - by Doug Howardell
Organizations exceed customer expectations by focusing improvement efforts in three areas: customer friendly processes, employee commitment to customer service, and customer dialog according to Eberhard Scheuing in his book Creating Customer s for Life. Each of these three areas has an internal component and an external component. (Added: 14-Apr-2001 Hits: 794 )

The Top 10 Customer Service Trends for 2011 - by Omar Zaibak
The customer service market is shaped by the needs and behaviors of both customers and businesses. As the demands and characteristics of customers and businesses change, the customer service market continues its fascinating evolution. Over the past several years businesses have increasingly focused on improving customer support. In fact, over 80% of North American companies use customer experience as an area of differentiation.""Customers have more control of the customer service experience than ever before, and increased competition means they will not hesitate to abandon a business over poor service. Companies realize this and continue to adopt customer support as a sustainable competitive advantage.""So how will the customer service market evolve in 2011? (Added: 23-Aug-2010 Hits: 648 )

The Role Of Questions In Customer Service - by Donna Siegal
This article is a description of a good basic question technique that will allow employees to provide excellent customer service. If you are interested in improving the way that you or your employees gather problem-solving information from clients, you will find this article beneficial. (Added: 2-Nov-2004 Hits: 730 )

The New Customers Are In Town - by Henry Astorga
A recent customer service-training program conducted at the ATandT facility in Pleasanton, California provided a stark reality that not all those who produce a product or service understand who the real customer is. This unconscious incompetence - a take from Kilpatrick's learning model, for those familiar with teaching adults - offers a vivid picture that old line companies and even those who beat their breasts for being in the Fortune 500 ranks may rate woefully low in the customer service performance scale. (Added: 1-Jun-2005 Hits: 392 )

Customer Service: What Is It? (And how to improve it!) by John T. Self - by Dr. John T. Self
This article offers a great definition of customer service. It does answer the question: what is customer service. If you are currently looking for a mission statement for your corporation, maybe how you define customer service can also define your corporation's mission. (Added: 14-Dec-2004 Hits: 1465 )

The Zen of Customer Service - by Monica Postell
Humor me for a minute. Take a long, slow breath in as you read this. Now, take your time and exhale slowly, blowing a steady stream of air. That wasn't Zen; it was just breathing. But it felt good, didn't it?""To me Zen conjures up feelings of tranquility and images of quiet, contemplative sitting and of harnessing the mind to meditate on the meaning of life...or customer service.""If a common Zen meditation is, "Who am I?" then perhaps the customer service meditation might be, "How can I be the customer? (Added: 2-Aug-2010 Hits: 362 )

Keeping Up With The Vigilante Consumer - by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE
According to the statistics at the beginning of this article the number of consumers is decreasing. This makes it all the more valid to provide great customer service. In this article you will find out a makes a consumer a vigilante, and how to provide this new breed of customer the best in customer service. (Added: 13-Dec-2004 Hits: 660 )

Branding Fiasco -- Better Be Who You Say You Are! - by Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE
Our experience as customers offers great instruction into the"concept of branding. Come with me on a recent "experience" and"you'll see what I mean. (Added: 11-Feb-2003 Hits: 474 )

Why Your Company Needs Standards For Customer Interactions - by Donna Siegal
As the title of this article suggests, this is a list of the many reasons why a company needs to implement standards for client interactions. Then a discussion of the many different types of standards follows. Finally, several tips and techniques are provided to help a company set the standards deemed important for excellent customer service. (Added: 2-Nov-2004 Hits: 712 )

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