Richard Shapiro
Richard Shapiro
Richard R. Shapiro is Founder and President of The Center For Client Retention (TCFCR) and a leading authority in the area of customer satisfaction and loyalty. For 28 years, Richard has spearheaded the research conducted with thousands of customers from Fortune 100 and 500 companies compiling the ingredients of customer loyalty and what drives repeat business. His first book was The Welcomer Edge: Unlocking the Secrets to Repeat Business and The Endangered Customer: 8 Steps to Guarantee Repeat Business was released February, 2016.
Come In As Strangers, Leave As Friends
My wife and I were antiquing about a month ago in North Carolina and walked into a store with a sign greeting us that...
Is Additional Information Really That Helpful?
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were planning to meet some friends at a restaurant in a rural area of upstate New...
Is Good Customer Service Really a Good Investment?
MSN Money recently published an on-line article highlighting those companies who were named to their Customer Service Hall of Fame. The research establishing these...
Help! I Need Assistance!
People ask me: should their representatives be trained to use the word, "help," or say, "can I can assist you," when responding to...
When Technology and Common Sense Don’t Match
Our company has been purchasing health insurance from the same provider for the last 10 years. I'm in the customer retention business. ...
Long Lines; Long Waits – Does It Need to Be That Way?
My wife and I had taken a vacation to Florida and sometimes she makes the reservations and other times I do. Although I'm a...
Highlights From The Customer Care For The Connected Consumer Conference
Last week, I was extremely fortunate to have attended Chad McDaniel's Execs In The Know Conference in Bonita Springs, Florida. The weather was excellent...
Ten Top Service Complaints
I'm always asking people I meet what their biggest pet peeves are. It's an excellent icebreaker. This is what I uncovered: 1. People who cut...
Don’t Bring Me The Problem Without Two Solutions
My wife and I are renovating our home. Every time we start to tell someone about our project they all say, "Tell me your...
One of Best Ways To Connect to Your Customer is
Connecting with Customers <h4to value their history! Satisfying customers is clearly an important element of customer retention. However, delivering satisfaction and even exceeding customer expectations,…
Don’t Get Hung-up on Hold Times
Whenever I hear contact center managers talk about excessive hold times in the queue, it makes me think of research our firm has conducted...
From Sale to Delivery – Let’s Take the Ride
My wife and I live in Manhattan and delivery turnaround time has now become the new service differentiator. Stores are starting to offer to...
My 2013 Customer Service Wish List
Let's start with my wishes for customer service in 2013: Care about my business: In my experience, most frontline associates don't seem to understand the...
Set Expectations – And Meet Or Exceed Them
I don't understand why all automated response systems don't provide the estimated hold time. If I really need an answer, I don't mind waiting...
Consumer’s Questions Have Become More Complicated – How Will You Prepare Your Representatives?
Over the last week, I needed to call Verizon and Intuit for help. Why? Because I knew my issues were complicated and unique to...
13 Tips To Becoming A Welcomer
To get you started in 2013, here are 13 tips to becoming a Welcomer! Don't think of helping a customer as the end of a...
6 Customer Service Suggestions For Handling A Crisis
Unfortunately, so many of us, both personally and from a small business perspective, don't plan for a crisis. While most major corporations have elaborate...
Customer Service Recommendations For 2013
As 2012 is quickly coming to a close, I thought it would be beneficial to provide 9 recommendations that companies should consider implementing in...
Cost Cutting Can Be A Leading Indicator of Unhappy Customers
Many years ago, before I started my own business, I worked for a Fortune 100 company. I had started as an account executive,...
Pay It Forward
The movie 'Pay It Forward' left a very memorable impression on me. Having premiered in 2000, it was the story of a young boy,...