Steve Martorano
Steve Martorano
Steve has been on the front lines with customers for over 25 years. He is currently Director of Customer Services for Polygon Northwest, a real estate developer in both the Seattle and Portland markets. Steve is also the creator of ThinkCustomerSatisfaction.com, an online resource designed to provide insights and training to customer professionals across many industries.
Because of the customer…
On a recent visit to a UPS store, while we were having some packages shipped, I noticed a little saying that was prominently posted...
The customer satisfaction mission is not necessarily impossible
Daily ingenuity wins every time. The old "Mission: Impossible" TV show was a great standard that has since grown into the multi-million dollar movie franchise...
Overcoming challenges: What are you made of?
Your level of character, and mine, and our ability to handle difficult situations, comes through the challenges we face. This is where the...
One way to please customers…and more.
The most important attitude adjustment you ever make will be the one you make today, in yourself. Your attitude today will define how you...
An interview with Shep Hyken: Creating “Moments of Magic” with Customers
Best-selling author and speaker Shep Hyken (www.hyken.com) was gracious enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to spend some time sharing...
Customer unsatisfaction: Promises in a “perfect world”
If it's true that customers are happier when promises are kept and expectations are exceeded (and it is), then the opposite is also true:...
What does your customer see?
Most businesses I frequent in my daily travels will be experiences "as expected," with no surprises or unusual situations to draw attention to carelessness....
4 tips for truly helping customers
In your own life as a consumer, how many times have you encountered a customer service nightmare, where you felt as if there was...
Benefits of “linking” the customer experience
If you have any experience working with spreadsheets or hyper text in web documents, then you understand the power of linking information from one...
True believers only, please
One of the challenges of any industry is to maintain a level of consistency that customers have come to expect, but at the same...
Beware the Customer Service Absolutes
It's not unusual to come across all sorts of all-inclusive statements that drive customer expectations about business products and services. When a business...
How the List from Hell can help you provide Heavenly Service
Unbelievably, customer expectations are through the roof, across industry lines. People are expecting to have immediate resolution gratification, and do you know why? I...
How to provide exceptional customer service
How good are you at anticipating your customers' needs? Is this even possible? More often than not, there are stories of how this opportunity...
4 benefits of creating redundancy in customer services
In order to perform the ever-necessary balancing act between costs and service, it becomes necessary to evaluate the most efficient practices to ensure the...
4 ways to help your brand become a verb (or a noun)
I was driving behind a FedEx truck this morning it occurred to me how some brands become the thing that they do. Using FedEx...
2 ways to build strong customer relationships
"Customer satisfaction is achieved when a customer becomes convinced through your performance that the value he enjoys from your goods and services exceeds all...
The secret to increasing customer satisfaction
Any of you who have ever visited a Home Depot on a regular basis may appreciate today's insight. In the course of remodeling...
Sometimes customers just don’t know until after the fact
Sometimes customers don't know what they want until after they purchase. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? Let me share an example from a recent purchase...
How these two principles assure customer satisfaction every time
"Many players come to the market with a 'monopoly mindset.' They think they know what's best for customers, even without asking them. MCI knows...
Who really creates your brand?
Since I am involved in the homebuilding industry, our company has a very public and ongoing record of how well our past product is...