Eric Jacobson

Posts Tagged ‘Customer Service’

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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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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.


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


9 Tips For Delivering Excellent Customer Service This Holiday Season

In Company Culture, Customer Service, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leading By Example, Management, Sales Management on November 19, 2011 at 12:02 pm

Leading a customer service team?  Have the team members use these 9 tips for delivering excellent customer service this holiday shopping season:

  1. Rely on winning words and soothing phrases.  A simple but sincere “Thanks for your patience” or “I’m listening” can go a long way toward defusing a holiday shopper’s frustration, anxiety, or panic. Develop a repertoire of short, easy to remember phrases around issues that are important to customers. Practice until the words come naturally.
  2. Communicate with silence. Remaining silent while your customers are talking is a basic courtesy, and nodding tells them you’re listening and understanding what you hear. An occasional “uh huh” or “I see” tells them you’re still listening without interrupting.
  3. Make customers feel seen. Making eye contact acknowledges that you see your customers as individuals. But there’s a balance to be struck here: staring can make your customers uncomfortable, too. Also keep in mind that eye contact is governed by specific cultural rules. A good rule to follow is to give as much as you get.
  4. Never underestimate the value of a sincere thank you. Thanking customers when they offer comments or suggestions says that you value their opinion. Thanking customers for complaining says that you value their loyalty. Customers who tell you they are unhappy are giving you a second chance. And that’s quite a gift.
  5. Use the well-placed “I’m Sorry.” Don’t assume that you’re not allowed to say “I’m sorry” when a snafu occurs. Actually, a sincere apology delivered in a timely and professional manner often heads off potential further problems. When you show your willingness to make sure your customers receive what they expect to receive, you relieve them of the need to even think about starting an argument.
  6. Never deny a customer’s problem. Problems are an undeniable part of the hectic, stressful holiday shopping season. And problems exist when the customer says they do. You can’t wish a problem away because it is something no reasonable person would be upset about, because it’s not your fault, or even because the customer made a mistake.
  7. Fix the person first. Real problem solving cannot happen until the issues are out on the table. And that requires getting past a customer’s emotional reaction. Breaking through the icy calm defenses of an upset customer is just as important as coaxing a “raging red” customer out of a temper tantrum.
  8. Listen and then probe for information. Customers, particularly upset customers, don’t always explain everything clearly or completely. Ask questions about anything you may not understand or need clarified. Then, when you feel you have identified and clearly grasped the problem, repeat it back to the customer for confirmation.
  9. Ask the customer for problem-solving help. Involving customers in generating solutions not only starts to rebuild the relationship, it gives them the feeling that your business really is interested in satisfying their needs. You’ll find that most customers bring a sense of fair play with them and will often expect far less than you’d think.

These tips are adapted from the book, Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, Fifth Edition by Performance Research Associates, Inc., Edited by Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate.


9 Times When You Should Thank Customers

In Customer Service, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Marketing, Sales Management on November 12, 2011 at 10:17 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


How To Help Your Team Provide Excellent Customer Service

In Company Culture, Customer Service, Effective Communications, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Books, Leadership Education, Leadership Skills, Leadership Training, Management on September 29, 2011 at 8:26 pm

My favorite takeaways from Renee Evenson’s newest book, Customer Service Management Training 101, are her tips for how to teach employees to effectively interact with customers:

  • Make a good first impression by smiling, making eye contact, maintaining an open and relaxed demeanor and keeping facial expressions friendly.
  • Project a positive attitude by being helpful, interested, trustworthy, reassuring, respectful and reliable.
  • Communicate effectively by listening completely, using correct grammar, asking the right questions and making each customer feel valued.
  • Build relationships by finding the best solution to any problems, and making sure each customer is satisfied.

Then, as the leader, ensure your team knows when they should escalate situations to your attention.


Unforked Restaurant Asks: How May I Make You Smile?

In Company Culture, Customer Service, General Leadership Skills, Leadership, Leadership Skills, Leading By Example, Management on June 18, 2011 at 12:09 pm

Walk up to the  order taker at the new Unforked restaurant in Overland Park, KS and  you’ll be greeted with, “How may I make you smile?” Chances are just hearing that will make you smile.

And, how refreshing that is to hear versus, “How may I help you?” This small, but creative wording change is a sign that the leader of the team at Unforked is thinking out of the box.

As out of the box as the menu you’ll find at Unforked, which includes burgers, tacos, salads, quesadillas and tortas — all with a variety of out-of-the-ordinary ingredients.

The new restaurant is a Sheridan’s invention; the same company that serves its signature frozen custard from a number of locations throughout Greater Kansas City.

Jim Sheridan, founder of Sheridan’s Frozen Custard traveled the U.S. for the past 18 months researching restaurant concepts. Unforked’s menu options reflect the growing trend toward offering foods that are free from gluten, antibiotics and hormones.

The “How may I make you smile?” is as refreshing as when the Chick-fil-A order taker says, “My pleasure,” instead of, “No Problem” when you say, “Thank you” to them.  That’s because the leader at that restaurant knows that taking a customer’s order should not “be a problem.”

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