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This week’s podcast is a product review. I interviewed Ami Meoded CEO., http://likebillions.com/ Ami claims his system can maximize contact centers profitability. Tune in and hear for yourself how he backs up his claim..   

While the majority of companies use social media for marketing and sales, it can be an even more effective tool for customer service. Today everything has gone ‘social’ and customer service is not an exception. It’s easier than ever for customers to reach companies quickly and solve their problems. Gone are the times when customer couldn't reach a company. Besides an email or a phone call, there are many social channels to connect with the company and solve the problem in no time. Many customers even prefer to contact brands using social media rather than the telephone. This means that companies need to make social customer support a priority. For many companies social media is a growing marketing trend in addressing customer service. It’s a place where customers give feedback, ask for help and make complaints. And the lack of a good social customer service can negatively affect your business and vice versa, a great social customer service can benefit from it. Social media means that local problems can become global in minutes.  The thing is that you should be in all the places where your customers are searching for information and help them find it, answer all their questions and do this as fast as possible. In social customer service we should prioritize response speed. Customers raise their issues through social media and they don’t like to wait. If you’re late, you lose your customer – that’s the reality. In social media two days are equal to two weeks. Being on social platforms not only gives you direct access to your customers, but also gives your customers direct access to you. Online presence gives an opportunity to many companies to receive a report back from a satisfied customer, avoiding negative opinion from spreading all other the internet. That is why we should make it easy for your customers to connect quickly and receive a helpful response.  It’s all about customers

This week’s interview is with John DiJulius of http://www.thedijuliusgroup.com/johndijulius/   Has writing a new book. The Customer Service Revolution. http://thedijuliusgroup.com/shop/items/books/1/ When I asked him, “So why is it a revolution?” John replied: “ You know, the past seven years with the ups and downs of the economy and social media, it really has shined a spotlight on the customer experience. As you know ten to fifteen years ago people could get by with average customer service or below average.  That’s no longer the case, in the recession the only companies that survived and even strived were companies that were world class in customer service and they didn’t suffer like everyone else and that really gave everyone a heads up that customer service was a distinct competitive advantage. But also with social media today, in the past if I disappointed you would probably wouldn’t come back and you might tell a few people. But now look at the ability. You can tell hundreds of thousands and it could go viral! You know, customer experience is our greatest marketing tool and you can no longer hide if you have lousy customer service!.. Companies are recognizing that and they are creating a customer service revolution…”   John goes on in detail to what he means by a Customer Service Revolution…. Tune in and find out to see if you are on the winning side…

This week’s interview is with Ehud Peleg, CEO of the Israel Consumer Council, a customer advocacy agency.  Ehud gives us a perspective from a Customer Service watchdog perspective.   What do you think he has to say about customer service?   Tune in and find out! 

This week’s interview is with Customer Service Guru Dr. Chip Bell author or co-author of seven national best-selling books, shares how to significantly enhance and enrich your customers’ experiences, ramp up customer acquisition, increase deep customer loyalty, and grow your reputation and bottom line.  Bell outlines how today’s customers crave special and unique service much like what sprinkles bring to a cupcake “Customers’ satisfaction with service continues to decline. That’s why a fresh, ingenious approach to the customer experience is more important than ever,” said Bell, who has served as consultant and/or speaker to such renowned brands as Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Harley-Davidson, USAA, Universal Hollywood, IBM, Marriott, Cadillac and AMEX. “If your service is pretty good, it is not good enough today. Customers want service with a delightful surprise—a cherry on top. That’s why the best service is value-unique, not just value-added.”      Tune in and learn how you can add the special touch to your customer service today!

There are assumptions and then there a facts. Seems like that myths are what drive many people to take actions in the wrong direction. But good news for us. This week’s interview with Paul Harts is a Customer Service Myth Buster. Paul loves to take on the assumptions and find the truth about things. Paul shares some of his ideas and thought about what makes excellent customer service. One of the things he likes to say is “The fastest way to bankruptcy is trying to satisfy all your customers’ needs!”   Interesting statement… tune in to find out more and learn some new tips how you can Make Excellent Customer Service the Standard!

This week’s interview is with Marco Houthuijzen -  Teamleader Inside Sales Europe at Implant Direct Sybron International and owner of the Linkinedin Group Customer Care Network.   Marco is a front line customer service profession with tons of firsthand experience as you will hear!   He shares some of his obervations and ideas that will help you Make Excellent Customer Service your Standard!   Tune in…

Have you ever thought about taking your years of frontline customer service experience and becoming a consultant? Meet Errol Allan Expert/Consultant/Trainer/Speaker/Author/Practical Hands-On Experience customer service professional.   Listen how he did it and hear Errol tell you his practical advice on how to make excellent customer service your standard!

How engaged are your employees? According to my guest David Olsen of Recognition Pro studies show that the majority of employees are disengaged! Wow! Why do you think that is and what’s going to change that around?   Tune into this week’s Podcast to find out David’s fascinating solution to the problem.

Besides learning how to tell of what kind of manager you are or have, employees learn how to tell their manager what you need.   That’s just a taste of a couple of this week’s take away packed put into action right now Making Excellent Customer the Standard Podcast!   Meet Dr. Rosanne the customer service expert known as the "champion for the human" in a high tech world. She has been providing needs assessments and customized, live customer service/people skills' trainings internationally, as well as university certification from Purdue University's Center for Customer Driven Quality. She’s also written 8 books - 7 on customer service and one on motivation and inspiration. An industrial psychologist by profession which means she knows the pulse of companies and their people. Dr. Rosanne does consulting, coaching, trainings, and is a keynote speak as well as contribute monthly columns for online magazines such as SupportIndustry.com and NearshoreAmericas.com My goals are to find the human in everyone, make a contribution on the planet, and not stop before the miracle.

For nearly a decade Michel Falcon has devoted his career to the employee and customer experience.  He has worked with and spoken to executives from Verizon Wireless, Tim Hortons, Tangerine Bank, Lexus and many other billion dollar companies to improve their customer and employee experience. In this podcast, Michel reveals some of his secrets to what it takes to successfully create the best employee and customer experience.   Tune in…

Where does WOM (Word of Mouth) come from? Excellent customer service! It’s where someone is so impressed with you that they just have to tell everybody!   I had the privilege of interviewing Liam Austin from smalltoday.com a forum for those that are thinking about starting a business or have one and are looking for advice from others that have, “been there, done that!” I know how it feels to be on my own in business and thinking, “I wish I had someone I could brainstorm with or ask advice from.”  So I can appreciate Liam’s group and I do. All businesses need excellent WOM. Small businesses live on WOM. Most small guys don’t have a budget for any meaningful advertising or that many places to advertise. So WOM is critical. There has been a lot talk about the WOW customer experience. WOW = WOM. That’s the equation for your success. The question is how do you create the WOW and be consistent about it? Well for starts, have a service recovery plan. I call it part of my advertising budget.  When things go wrong and they do, you are ready to turn those sour grapes into fine wine.  Don’t argue with your customer, get it fixed fast, you may even have to pay for it even though you are right! But you have a service recovery plan! You already have it budgeted in to take care of it as part of your “Advertising Expense.” Now your customer is going to be so impressed they are going be telling everybody! Now I’m not saying you should put mistakes as part of your advertising plan. No, it part of your Service Recovery Plan. You know, like a fire alarm? The best is to work hard to make sure the client is able to achieve their goals in the most pleasurable way possible. That the delivery is what it’s supposed to be and that nothing goes wrong for them. Work on delivering that WOW where it should be. How do you create WOW to get your WOM? Listen to this week’s podcast to hear how startups and small businesses can Make Excellent Customer Service their standard!          

One of the most amusing things I have experienced in receiving customer service was getting a rep with a “Texas” accent named “Dillon” that kept losing his “Texas” accent when things were getting kinda hot. The focus of the conversation shifted to “Your name is not Dillon and you aren’t from Texas!” In his defense, He never did say he was from Texas. But I felt betrayed. He then calmly explained to me, that he just wanted to make me feel more comfortable and that his real name was hard for “Gringos” (He didn’t say that exactly, I just used some of my artist license to make this post more fun!:) But I couldn’t let it go. I asked, “Why don’t you give me that choice?” and “You don’t need to pretend you are from Texas, it sounds silly anyway!” He then dropped his attempt to impersonate John Wayne, (Now I’m really dating myself) and told me his real name. It was so complicated my western tongue ended up getting hung up on my back teeth and nothing that sounded even close to his name came out! Learned my lesson! I agreed “Yeah Dillon is a pretty cool name! O.K. Dillon how can you help me with my issue?” By the end of the conversation. I was giving “Dillon” California surfer accent lessons and inviting him to my next bar-b-q! So really what does it matter where the service rep is from? I just want to get my problem solved, be happy and move on.  I do think that some feel that outsourcing is taking jobs away from their fellow citizens and they want to keep those job at “home.” That may be the source of discontent if any.

I have been interviewing expert after expert and it seems like they all say the same thing just in their own unique way. They are for sure inspiring and each has a certain charm that can’t be resisted! As I was looking for more people to interview, I came across this big smiling face of a man. I do have to admit, I am not familiar with all those that are moving and shaking the earth. Perhaps it’s my naivety that gives me the courage to reach out to these larger than life figures. You can just look at John and know he is a great guy. When you look closer you see a treasure chest full of accomplishments and yet when you speak to him he does just make things simple.   So… how does John make excellent customer service Awesomely Simple? Well, you’re are just going to have to listen to find out!

This week’s podcast I interviewed Patricio Porras of Service Quality Institute. Patricio is one of those that have come from the ground up. He has gone from delivering excellent customer service to teaching how to deliver excellent customer service. What’s the key to making excellent customer service the standard according to Patricio? “Besides having a complete commitment from the top brass, you need a program that changes every 4 months to keep building on what you are learning and keep it fresh and engaging.” Was one of many hints to Patricio’s success strategies. I like to say, “It takes a whole company to make the customer happy.” As the saying goes, “You are only as good as the weakest link in the chain.” This means you must really work hard at making excellent customer service the standard and keeping in shape.   Listen to Patricio talk about how he recommend turning your company and yourself into a customer service rock star!

My guest on this week’s podcast John Tschohl says that two big reasons for poor customer service is that some companies just have plain stupid policies and employees are afraid to make decisions. I have to admit. I have run into “stupid” policies and customer service reps that are useless more times than I care to share. It would go something like this: Customer service rep (CSR) “I’m sorry sir but that is our policy.” Me, “But that policy makes no sense, can you pass me to a manager please?” CSR, “I’m sorry sir but that’s against our policy too…” And the hamster wheel turns another loop! John says that employees are afraid to take control of a situation because they are afraid of getting fired.  But what do you do if you encounter a policy that is absolutely ridiculous? But who is to determine that? Perhaps someone else thinks the policy is “brilliant!” To them 2+2=5 and that’s final! Genius! Some employees may even like a policy that makes them feel in control.  Ever run into a customer service rep like that? So where is this all going? You need to evaluate your policies, give your employees the power to take e

I had the privilege of interviewing Ron Kaufman who is on a personal mission to uplift the world by helping people learn how to create value for others. Ron has written a book called “Uplifting Service” which he describes in detail how you can create an “uplifting” service culture in your workplace. (He actually announced his new book for this first time anywhere on the podcast! So… I won’t spill the beans here… you’re just going to have to listen to find out about it!)   Ron defines service as “Taking Action to create value for someone else.” “Service is the reason human beings are here. We are fundamentally here on Earth to serve each other, to take care of each other, to support one another, to care about each other’s concerns and the phenomenon of  service…  should uplift not only the person being served…  but should be uplifting for the service provider.” Ron stated. I was once speaking in front of a small group. I asked, “Who here knows why they are here in this this life?” out of about 50 people only one hand went up. I have asked this question to many and very few have an answer. Do you even think it’s even important to know? Ron does and is on a global campaign of sharing his definition with the hope of uplifting people everywhere. This mission is changing businesses and even countries! Do you know why? Because he is right! But Service has to more than just “Lip Service” the keywords in Ron’s definition is “Taking Action.” What actions do you take to create value for someone else? How do you define service? Do you think this is the reason human beings are here? Tune in to this week podcast and learn from Ron, how you can uplift your world!        

Shep Hyken WHO IS SHEP? Customer Service and Experience Expert – Hall of Fame Speaker – New York Times and Wall Street Jo

  This week’s interview is with frontline customer service professional Sjong Wu. He likes to be called Wu. When I interviewed Wu he was working at Accenture, a multinational management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company. It is the world's largest consulting firm as measured by revenues. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accenture) Looks like LinkedIn got a hold of him and no wonder why! Wu puts the WOW to customer service!  It’s always wonderful to interview a frontliner. They are the real thing. Not textbook theory. All the talk about how to do it by the experts are done by the frontliners. These professionals make it happen.  When speaking to Wu you don’t get an artificially  ultra-excited person on the other line claiming that are going to give you the best customer service you ever had and they don’t have the first idea what that means… whew, long sentence! Wu is a straight shooter. He knows how to flow with the client, he establishes an honest expectation level for the clients and he spends time learning how he can keep improving his service. “The most important thing is to set the right expectations to the customer, never lie!” Was what Wu said when asked what he felt was the most important thing in his experience regarding customer service. In regards to flowing with the customer, Wu explains that since frontliners are the first contact, many times the customer believes that the customer service agent is less able and knowledgeable that they really are. Wu advices to bring your level to the customer’s level. This will make you and the customer more comfortable. Another tip Wu offers is to stay on top of the knowledge, make time to learn.   Wu also feels that customer service has job security.  “Every company has a customer service department… as long as you got the basic skills in customer service and is willing to invest time to get more experience and get more knowledge you will always have a job.” Wu pointed out. Listen to Wu on the podcast so you can learn how to WOW like Wu!