Jeff Toister
Is Chat Ready to Grow Up?
My credit card recently expired, which meant updating accounts such as Netflix, cable, etc. where the card was used for automatic payment. It was a strangely inconsistent process from company to company. My cable company's website wasn't working, ...
Goal Setting Mistakes That Will Crush Your Service Culture
The new executive looked with dismay at the list of strategic goals the CEO had shared. They were designed to help the organization create a service culture, yet she knew the list was not very strategic nor did it contain actual goals. One goal wa...
A Hidden Reason to Be Polite to Rude Customers
I distinctly remember the first time I apologized on behalf of America. It was 1995 and I was living in Dublin, Ireland. I wandered into a gift shop near Grafton street to purchase some Waterford crystal to send home to my mom. As I walked…
How to Keep Non-Desk Employees in the Loop
Sharing information with non-desk employees is a challenge in customer service. These are employees who don't sit at a desk in front of a computer to do their job. They may not even have a set work station and often don't have access to comp...
Report: Small Banks Are More Customer-Centric
A few years ago, I was having a conversation with the CEO of a small local credit union. The credit union had hired me to conduct a customer service assessment and I had asked him about his vision for serving credit union members in the…
Should Survey Rating Scales Be Even or Odd?
There's a long-running debate about customer service survey rating scales. Some people think they should be even, such as a survey that asks customers to rate their satisfaction on a scale of 1-4. Others think survey scales should be odd, making ...
Why Sexual Harassment is a Customer Service Issue
Bryce (not his real name) dreaded coming to work. A regular customer frequently complimented Bryce on his appearance and made sexually suggestive comments. It made Bryce feel so uncomfortable he went to his manager for help. Bryce's manager was unsymp...
Lessons From The Overlook: Give Customers Subtle Nudges
Note: Lessons from The Overlook is a monthly update on lessons learned from owning a vacation rental property in the Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild. It's a hands-on opportunity to apply some of the techniques I advise my clients to use. You can find...
Forget Happiness, This Is the Top Emotion for Customer Support
The webinar software picked the wrong time to get wonky. My online training class started in less than 30 minutes. A client was paying good money for its employees to attend this session. Schedules had been rearranged to make it happen. There was a lot...
The New Rules of Employee Empowerment
Note: This post was originally published on LinkedIn Pulse. Customer service leaders frequently ask me about employee empowerment. It sounds so good in theory, but it's often difficult in practice. When I talk to them, there's usually something missing. Here's an example: In a technical…
The Customer Service Bot That Can Save Humanity
Robots can be scary. They sometimes feels like a barrier to real customer service. Such as when you find yourself yelling "Human! Human! Human!" into the phone, only to hear an annoyingly pleasant robotic voice respond, "I'm sorry, I don't understand." Other times, automation can…
Your Inventory Problem is Hurting Customers
It was a scene straight out of the movie, Office Space. The Vice President of Customer Service called a meeting of directors, managers, and supervisors. He stood under a banner that read "One Call Resolution" and proclaimed that solving customers' issue on the first call...
The Outsized Impact of Invisible Service Providers
I was recently in Watertown, South Dakota for a speaking engagement at the Watertown Convention and Visitors Bureau. Whenever I deliver a keynote presentation, I like to prepare by talking to a few people I know will be in the audience. It helps me tailor...
Lessons From The Overlook: Review Your Vision
Note: Lessons from The Overlook is a monthly update on lessons learned from owning a vacation rental property in the Southern California mountain town of Idyllwild. It's a hands-on opportunity to apply some of the techniques I advise my clients to use. You can find...
Why You Need Danger to Be Great at Service
It was a Monday afternoon, and droves of hikers were ascending San Diego's Cowles Mountain. It's one of the most popular hikes in town. You're rewarded with sweeping views of San Diego, the mountains, the ocean, and even Tijuana after a moderately steep 1.5 mile...
How to Attract More Customers with Google My Business
Many small business owners hope Google will bring in more customers. Some try to advertise using Google Ads. Others wade into the mysterious world of search engine optimization (SEO). The latter often involves hiring an internet marketing wizard who makes strange suggestions for your website.…
The Amazon Playbook for Speed and Agility
It's no secret Amazon is a customer-obsessed organization. What's fascinating to me is how they achieve this obsession. Former Amazon executive, John Rossman, shared some of the company's secrets in a keynote address at ICMI's Contact Center Demo and Conference last week. His presentation shared…
The Best Way to Ask Employees About Training Needs
You may be tempted to survey employees to ask about their training needs. Don't. Asking employees what training they need is like asking young kids what they want for dinner. An enthusiastic answer doesn't mean that's what they need. I once worked with a payroll…
Report: Companies Have the Tech to Ease Phone Pain
Calling customer service is a pain. Most of us don't want to call customer service. Three things in particular make the call miserable:The first is Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems that try to deflect calls by repeatedly offering self-service. It's the reason why we repeatedly...
Five Ways to Humanize Customer Service
Humanity in customer service is getting rare. We shop online without ever interacting with a person. Go on a trip and you can check in for your flight, summon a ride to the airport, and check into your hotel room all from your smart phone.…