If it ain’t broke, maybe still fix it… One of the things I’m doing this week is rewriting some email templates for a client. He didn’t ask me to do this. I don’t plan on telling him about it. And there’s nothing technically wrong with them. I wrote the originals, and they were, at the time, excellent. But they’re starting to age. Every time I look at them, or send one out, I see little Read more…
And how it kills sales… I’m not talking about anger. Or sadness. Or even boredom… I’m talking about something much more damaging… Fear. Something that, for the most part, has no place in Customer Service. Something that conventional customer service seems to revolve entirely around. Agents afraid of saying the wrong thing. Being late. Taking too long of a piss break. Clicking the wrong button. Fearing punishment, or worse, a conversation, from middle management. Companies Read more…
Sometimes… I used to be a big fan of the “no refunds” idea. And in some ways, I still am. But I’ve been rethinking it, and as a result, I may be making some changes soon. No Refunds is great for things like an investing product. Something where you get the whole portfolio up front. It makes sense as a way to exude exclusivity. To weed out unqualified buyers. And to get people to commit, Read more…
A powerful lesson in persuasion… I answered a question about this on Quora and Youtube this morning. Someone asked how he could resolve a problem with a company, either by writing bad reviews, contacting the Better Business Bureau, or “having action taken”, whatever that means. These ideas are understandable, but useless, as those of us in business understand. Instead of taking one of these courses of action, I recommended something much better. And much simpler. Read more…
And the case for remote workers… Cubicles exist for a reason. A psychological reason. And that’s exactly why they have no place in the world of 80/20 customer service. A cubicle is a box. Literally. A box for people, their equipment, their personal effects. But also a box for their minds. Cubicles are usually grey or beige. They have walls that prevent you from looking around at anything distant. They contain your work and only Read more…
Don’t be afraid to throw it away and start over… I opened the fridge and I saw it… All the way in the back. That container of homemade sauce. The sauce we had 2 weeks ago with spaghetti squash and meatballs. The sauce I forgot about and let sit WAY past the time it became useless. Down the sink it goes. Why am I telling you this? Because the same thing happens in customer service. Read more…
And why you might want to start thinking like one… First, I’ll be clear. This is NOT an email about chat bots. Or automated phone systems. Or even scripts that turn people into mindless meat-robot NPC’s. Those things are still terrible. So what do I mean when I say think like a robot? I mean taking emotions out of customer service. It’s easy to say “fuck this guy” when a customer makes an unreasonable request. Read more…
An 80/20 look at problem customers… Anyone who has worked in customer service already knows what I’m talking about here. You get up, you log into the support system, and you see it another email from that same guy. You recognize his name. His email address. You know before you even click it what he wants. The same old question. The same simple request you’ve already told him how to handle on his own. But Read more…
And the ONE Secret to Customer Service Emails That Actually Get Read… Got your attention, didn’t I? Love him or hate him, we all know the name Donald Trump for a reason. Not the news. Not the huge buildings. Or the billions of dollars. Or the various TV game shows. And not even the latest scandal or Twitter spelling error (though you’re getting closer.) You know Trump’s name because he knows how to capture attention. Read more…
Don’t make them think too much… People like choice. Don’t they? Henry Ford once famously said the customer could have whatever color car he wanted, as long as it was black. Nowadays we can get almost anything completely customized to our liking. But that’s not the same thing as choice. If I sell only black cars, you’re going to choose black. If I offer black or red, that’s still a pretty easy choice for most Read more…