Eric Jacobson

Archive for the ‘Customer Service’ Category


USAA’s 10 Guiding Business Principles

In Company Culture, Corporate Culture, Customer Service, General Leadership Skills, Guiding Business Principles, Leadership, Management on May 14, 2013 at 5:48 am

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I really like these 10 guiding business principles that San Antonio, TX headquartered insurance company USAA lives by:

  • Exceed customer expectations
  • Live the Golden Rule (treat others with courtesy and respect)
  • Be a leader
  • Participate and contribute
  • Pursue excellence
  • Work as a team
  • Share knowledge
  • Keep it simple (make it easy for customers to do business with us and for us to work together)
  • Listen and communicate
  • Have fun

Too many companies don’t make it simple for their customers to do business with them.  Is it easy for your customers to:

  • Buy from you?
  • Make returns?
  • Get pricing and terms?
  • Receive timely responses to their e-mails?
  • Quickly get answers when phoning your company?

You can find more examples of companies with impressive guiding principles in the book, 1001 Ways To Energize Employees.

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5 Open-Ended Questions To Ask Your Customers

In Customer Engagement, Customer Service, Feedback, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Management, Sales Management on April 9, 2013 at 5:11 pm

Effective Listening

Eager to ask your customers questions they aren’t used to hearing?  Consider this advice from author Paul R. Timm. He recommends a different twist on asking your customers questions:

  • stop asking your customers the “typical” questions and instead ask them open-ended questions.

Here’s specifically what Timm recommends:

Don’t Ask:

  • How was everything?
  • Can I get you something else?
  • Did you find everything you need?
  • Will that be all?
  • Was everything satisfactory?

Instead Ask:

  • What else can I do for you?
  • What else can I get for you?
  • What else can I help you with?
  • What else could we do to better serve you?
  • How else can we be of help?

These open-ended questions will let your customers really express their ideas, opinions and needs. Timm is the author of, 50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use To Keep Your Customers.

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Leadership Quotes For Today

In Customer Engagement, Customer Service, Engaging Customers, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Guiding Business Principles, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Quotes, Leadership Skills, Management on March 23, 2013 at 11:59 am

Eric Jacobson Leadership

In addition to learning a lot about the ways businesses are creating experiences for their customers in Brian Solis’ new book, What’s The Future of Business, you’ll be treated to dozens of compelling leadership, life and business quotes, such as these:

  • “People never learn anything by being told, they have to find out for themselves.” — Paulo Coelho

 

  •  ”We live in a time where brands are people and people are brands.” — Brian Solis

 

  • “In real life, the most practical advice for leaders is not to treat pawns like pawns, nor princes like princes, but all persons like persons.” — James MacGregor Burns

 

  •  ”The only source of knowledge is experience.” — Albert Einstein

 

  • “Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.” — Auguste Rodin

 

  • “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” — Maria Robinson

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Open-ended Questions To Ask Your Customers

In Customer Service, Effective Communications, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Management on March 12, 2013 at 6:35 am

Eric Jacobson Leadership

Consider this advice from author Paul R. Timm.  He recommends a different twist on asking your customers questions:

  • stop asking your customers the “typical” questions and instead ask them open-ended questions.

Here’s specifically what Timm recommends:

Don’t Ask:

  • How was everything?
  • Can I get you something else?
  • Did you find everything you need?
  • Will that be all?
  • Was everything satisfactory?

Instead Ask:

  • What else can I do for you?
  • What else can I get for you?
  • What else can I help you with?
  • What else could we do to better serve you?
  • How else can we be of help?

These open-ended questions will let your customers really express their ideas, opinions and needs.  Timm is the author of, 50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use To Keep Your Customers.

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Non-typical Questions To Ask Your Customers

In Company Culture, Customer Service, Effective Communications, Eric Jacobson On Corporate Culture, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Leadership Books, Leadership Skills, Listening Skills, Management, Thanking Customers on November 18, 2012 at 10:22 am

As you gear up for the busy holiday shopping season, consider this advice from author Paul R. Timm.  He recommends a different twist on asking your customers questions:

  • stop asking your customers the “typical” questions and instead ask them open-ended questions.

Here’s specifically what Timm recommends:

Don’t Ask:

  • How was everything?
  • Can I get you something else?
  • Did you find everything you need?
  • Will that be all?
  • Was everything satisfactory?

Instead Ask:

  • What else can I do for you?
  • What else can I get for you?
  • What else can I help you with?
  • What else could we do to better serve you?
  • How else can we be of help?

These open-ended questions will let your customers really express their ideas, opinions and needs.  Timm is the author of, 50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use To Keep Your Customers.


How To Provide Excellent Customer Service Via The Phone

In Company Culture, Customer Service, Eric Jacobson On Leadership, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Management on October 10, 2012 at 8:09 pm

Every business leader should periodically call his/her company to observe how their customers are being treated by their employees — because, all too often a phone conversation becomes a customer turnoff rather than a relationship builder.

So, here’s a checklist that is primarily from sales expert and author Paul R. Timm that you can use to evaluate your organization’s customer service via the phone:

1. Was the phone answered after two rings or less?

2. Did the employee use an appropriate greeting?

3. Did the employee identify himself or herself by name?

4. Was the employee’s tone of voice pleasant and businesslike?

5. Was the call handled efficiently without being abrupt?

6. Did the employee provide accurate information or refer the caller to an appropriate person?

7. Did the employee reflect the best image for the company?

8. Did the employee thank the caller?

9. Did the employee make prudent use of putting the caller on hold if it was necessary to do so?

10. Did the employee use friendly and tactful words?

11. Did the employee accuse the customer of anything?

12. Did the employee fumble when transferring the call if making a transfer was necessary?

13. Was there distracting background noise on the employee’s end during the call?


How Marriott Excels In Good Leadership And Customer Service

In Customer Service, Employee Engagement, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leading By Example, Management, Mission Statement on August 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm

The next time you stay at a Marriott hotel look in the nightstand drawer for Marriott’s booklet that highlights its milestones and tells the Marriott story.

In the booklet, you’ll find the following 12 ways that Marriott practices good leadership AND customer service:

  1. Continually challenge your team to do better.
  2. Take good care of your employees, and they’ll take good care of your customers, and the customers will come back.
  3. Celebrate your people’s success, not your own.
  4. Know what you’re good at and mine those competencies for all you’re worth.
  5. Do it and do it now. Err on the side of taking action.
  6. Communicate. Listen to your customers, associates and competitors.
  7. See and be seen. Get out of your office, walk around, make yourself visible and accessible.
  8. Success is in the details.
  9. It’s more important to hire people with the right qualities than with specific experience.
  10. Customer needs may vary, but their bias for quality never does.
  11. Eliminate the cause of a mistake. Don’t just clean it up.
  12. View every problem as an opportunity to grow.

Kudos to Marriott.

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The 9 Best Times To Thank A Customer

In Customer Service, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Management, Thanking Customers on July 29, 2012 at 6:54 am

In your leadership role, it’s vital that your team members know how to deliver excellent customer service.  “Knock Your Socks Off” type service as book editor Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate would say.

Part of delivering excellent customer service is saying “Thank You” to your customers and knowing when to say “Thank You”.

Thomas and Applegate recommend telling your customers “Thank You” during at least these nine situations:

  1. When they do business with you…every time.
  2. When they compliment you (or your company)
  3. When they offer you comments or suggestions
  4. When they try one of your new products or services
  5. When they recommend you to a friend
  6. When they are patient…and even when they are not so patient
  7. When they help you to serve them better
  8. When they complain to you
  9. When they make you smile

You and your team members can say “Thank You”:

  • Verbally
  • In writing (and don’t underestimate the power of personal notes via snail mail)
  • With a small, tasteful, appropriate gift


What Customer-Facing Employees Do

In Customer Service, Employee Engagement, General Leadership Skills, Hiring, Leadership, Management on June 23, 2012 at 9:47 am

According to author Micah Solomon, to ensure you have customer-facing employees, help them to:

  • Display simple human kindness
  • Sense what another person is feeling
  • Have an inclination toward teamwork
  • Be detail oriented, including having the ability and willingness to follow through to completion
  • Bounce back and to not internalize challenges


Knowing When To Say “Thank You” To Your Cusomters

In Customer Service, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Uncategorized on June 2, 2012 at 5:15 am

In your leadership role, it’s vital that your team members know how to deliver excellent customer service.  “Knock Your Socks Off” type service as book editor Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate would say.

Part of delivering excellent customer service is saying “Thank You” to your customers and knowing when to say “Thank You”.

Thomas and Applegate recommend telling your customers “Thank You” during at least these nine situations:

  1. When they do business with you…every time.
  2. When they compliment you (or your company)
  3. When they offer you comments or suggestions
  4. When they try one of your new products or services
  5. When they recommend you to a friend
  6. When they are patient…and even when they are not so patient
  7. When they help you to serve them better
  8. When they complain to you
  9. When they make you smile

You and your team members can say “Thank You”:

  • Verbally
  • In writing (and don’t underestimate the power of personal notes via snail mail)
  • With a small, tasteful, appropriate gift
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