Steve Curtin
Steve Curtin
Steve Curtin is the author of Delight Your Customers: 7 Simple Ways to Raise Your Customer Service from Ordinary to Extraordinary. He wrote the book to address the following observation: While employees consistently execute mandatory job functions for which they are paid, they inconsistently demonstrate voluntary customer service behaviors for which there is little or no additional cost to their employers. After a 20-year career with Marriott International, Steve now devotes his time to speaking, consulting, and writing on the topic of extraordinary customer service.
Do your best customers feel welcomed?
My family and I will travel to Breckenridge next month over spring break. As we do every year, we’ll be staying at our favorite...
Going above and beyond is a choice
For many years, I’ve gone on record saying that the reason you and I, as customers, consistently receive predictably poor customer service is because...
Casual indifference
There is a phenomenon in the services industry (some might say, an affliction) that I’ll refer to as ‘casual indifference.’ Its occurrence is not...
It’s 2015. Do you know where your customers are?
It occurred to me while reading through a list of 15 Customer Service Trends for 2015 assembled by Richard Shapiro, president of The Center...
Incorporate essence into function
An observation: While employees consistently execute the mandatory job functions (duties/tasks) for which they are paid, they inconsistently demonstrate the voluntary job essence (service...
You must water the plants
Several years ago, after presenting multiple half-day training classes over four days, I was disappointed to hear my client say on the way to...
Accept your customers, warts and all
November has been a hard month for me healthwise. Every October, I dutifully schedule a flu shot. Most years, that’s sufficient and I’m generally...
Service so subtle
Too often, exceptional customer service is associated with breathless, over-the-top actions by employees that capture headlines such as Ritz-Carlton’s Joshie the Giraffe, Morton’s Steakhouse...
The best customer service book of all time
In 1989 Stephen R. Covey’s perennial book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People was published. It must have resonated, having sold more than...
Walk a mile (or just stand and wait) in your customer’s moccasins
Whoever is responsible for the Chicago O’Hare International Airport TSA clearance should be forced to endure the gauntlet himself. This may be the only...
Set the tone for exceptional customer service!
For years, researchers have studied disconnects between sender and receiver in electronic communications. It’s challenging to convey emotion and tone, for instance, via email...
J.W. Marriott’s approach to serving customers
When asked about his approach to work during an interview, the late J.W. Marriott, Sr. said, “There aren’t these two opposites, work and play,...
When it comes to social customer service, most companies are hacks
Henry David Thoreau observed: “For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root.” I thought about how this...
Does your company have a slogan or a purpose?
Many companies have slogans that look good on websites, banners, and buttons, but often these slogans have little credibility among customers or employees. They...
Unique knowledge separates the best from the good
Voltaire, the 18th-century French philosopher, said, “The best is the enemy of the good.” I love this quote because, to me, it highlights the...
Make no mistake: Employees choose whether or not to serve
Do you work hard? When questioned publicly, an overwhelming majority of us will respond that, yes, we work hard. I’m not sure what the...
Keep working for the referral
I know a successful Denver web designer whose mantra is: “Keep working for the referral.” In other words, even after he gets the business,...
Never apologize for your enthusiasm
Once, while I was sharing a retail example of exceptional customer service during a seminar in New York City, a participant interrupted to say,...
We have met the enemy and he is us
In 168 BC the Greek ruler Antiochus led an attack on Egypt. Before reaching Alexandria, his path was blocked by a Roman envoy who...
How apologies influence consumer behavior
Earlier this month, I read a Wall Street Journal article titled The Art of the Airline Apology. The article features a 2009 study by...