Top Customer Service Blogs
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Church of the Customer Blog
9 ways Groupon leads the online coupon industry
In the discount world, lowest price is king. In the online discount coupon world, Groupon hopes to be king via customer service. Since launching in November 2008, the Chicago-based deal-a-day website has sold over 7 million online coupons in 70 cities. Its success has spawned competitor sites such as LivingSocial,...
"As we return to the realties of our day jobs at the end of a brainstorm, we run into road blocks, inertia, committees and other hazards that can water down ideas or shut them down entirely. That's what organizations do well. They are designed to minimize risk. Bringing an idea...
Why a complaint is really a gift
At first blush, a complaining customer is not something we have on our wish list of awesome things in the world. But this type of customer contact provides a great opportunity to do something remarkable that will build loyalty and word of mouth. Research shows this to be true. Customer...
If you're a fan of OGST -- Objectives, Goals, Strategies and Tactics -- then this visual explainer that Paula Hansen of Chart Magic drew during my talk last month at the Social Commerce Summit is a handy way to explain it to colleagues....
For today's marketer, the real enemy is obscurity. How do you build attention for your product, company or brand and rise above the marketplace noise? One way is to make sure your web content is completely spreadable. Adding links for people to share your content on social networks and social...
Ant's Eye View is hiring (again)
This post is cross-posted from our Ant's Eye View blog. As enterprise companies are starting to see the upside of implementing social business practices, there’s more and more demand for social business consultants. To fill this growing need, the number of Social Media gurus and ninjas popping up for these...
Bill Hogg » Blogs
Are Your Policies Customer-Focused or Profit-Focused?
Last week I tried to get a replacement part for my stationary bike. One of the end caps from the handle bars had cracked and needed to be replaced. First, I called the local store. They didn’t have any and instructed me to call their central service department number. The service department...
Lack of Transparancy Impacts both Customers and Employees
Recently I upgraded my cell phone. It seemed like a simple enough process — until it was time to have the phone delivered. After a positive telephone experience with the representative who placed the order, I was told the new phone would be delivered usually within 3 – 5 business days. On...
I recently submitted an article to one of the online publishing sites. It was rejected for broaching their rule of using company names in the content. I used the spelling “excelerate” versus the correct spelling — accelerate — since I have trademarked the term Performance ExceleratorTM. I always use this spelling....
Are Your Rules Driving Customers Away?
Staples had a sale on computer remotes. Regular price $74.99, on sale for $19.99 — a $50.00 savings. I already had one, but at that price, it made sense to get a back-up. I dropped by on the way home — unfortunately I arrived at 5 minutes past closing time. The...
I phoned the call centre at Mirvish Productions to renew our tickets subscription for the next theatre season. The CSR quickly went about renewing my subscription. I am sure I was one of a long list of calls that day doing exactly the same transaction. She was very efficient in...
Are Your Recoveries Really Recoveries? Part 2
In February I wrote a post about a recent service recovery experience with Swiss Chalet. I thought I would share the subsequent follow up I had with the manager of the particular store I mentioned. The franchise manager called a couple days later because I had made a comment through their website...
Conversation Agent
Top Customer Service Accounts on Twitter
Thanks to a few online success stories brought about by dedicated customer service individuals, companies are starting to see the wisdom of putting the human back into customer service. That means offering customer service in person. Is in person real time today? Along with the additional promotional opportunity opened up...
What You do When They Don't Write About Your Story
I've been thinking about this issue of pitching bloggers and media outlets and getting no story. This continues to be frustrating both for the PR pro and the person being pitched. Developing relationships takes time, and those of you who have worked in companies know that often there is precious...
Have you ever experienced one of those moments when everything around you seems to go crazy? You worked very hard on a project putting in insane hours, stretching yourself to the limit, getting all your proverbial ducks in a row and cannot wait for that magic moment, the tipping point,...
Guy Walks Across America in Less than 2 Minutes, Gains More than 1.2MM Views
In one week. Or how to take an idea, parse it into 2,770 still photos from digital footage, and make it a reality. I am constantly fascinated by new executions that are pulled off nicely. And this is a really good one. 2,969 comments on the YouTube page (at the...
Leading an Industry: Mayo Clinic Rolls out Center for Social Media
When my cousin was a little over one year of age, her parents discovered that she couldn't walk. An otherwise bright and happy child, she was facing a life of physical therapy aimed at treating symptoms. Eventually, who knows, a nice institution with others just like her. My aunt wasn't...
How I Use LinkedIn Content for Intelligence
When LinkedIn introduced questions and answers, it gave people the ability to interact more easily with each other without needing to be connected directly. That expanded the pool of potential networking opportunities exponentially for those who don't upgrade their account. Within the span of a couple of months, the membership...
Project management and time tracking blog for web designers and small business :: the Intervals Blog by Pelago
Online Time Tracking & Task Management Using Intervals Mini
With the recent announcement of our Intervals web-based mobile app for time tracking and task management we introduced a scaled down interface to our online project management software. Given the limited screen real estate available on most mobile phones, the more comprehensive Intervals online software has been reduced to only...
Intervals Online Time, Task & Project Management Improvements
We’ve recently launched a new round of updates focused primarily on making Intervals run faster. Although Intervals was already plenty fast enough, we like to stay ahead of the curve, offering an online time tracking, task management and project management application that exceeds people’s expectations. Intervals is a comprehensive application...
Intervals Blog Listed in Top 50 Productivity Blogs To Watch in 2010
To help out small businesses wanting to know how to best spend the limited time resources they have, evancarmichael.com has posted its list of the Top 50 Productivity Blogs to Watch in 2010. The list includes links to blogs for getting things done, increasing productivity at work, getting organized, personal...
Intervals Web-based Mobile App Beta Launch
Say hello to the new Intervals web-based mobile app, debuting in all its Beta glory on your smart phone’s web browser. Simply open your phone’s web browser and load your Intervals account, Intervals will take it from there. Whether at a meeting, in the field, or wherever your business may...
Web Design vs. Print Design and the WIRED Interactive Magazine
Back in March I was sitting in Ballroom C at the Austin Convention Center watching Scott Dadich, Creative Director at WIRED Magazine, demonstrate the rebirth of WIRED’s digital magazine — a Flash-based facsimile of the print magazine designed to run on the Apple iPad. Before I go any further, let...
CustomerThink - Blog Posts
The Manufacturers' Pivotal Role in Shopper-Centric Category Management
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How sales must change to remain indispensable – Podcast 3: Making Sellers Relevant
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Monitor your brand on the cheap with SocialMention
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So Much Has Changed, So Much Is The Same
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When Poor Customer Experiences Go Viral
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My Two Cents on Leadership Development
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Aligning your social service strategy with your traditional one
Aligning your social service strategy with your traditional one Many of you say you need a “social CRM” strategy. However, much like the evolution of eService as just another way of doing customer service, to be successful in the long run, you should look at social channels as part of...
Questions for all customer Service Managers to think about: What if your every agent, could be your best agent? What if your agents didn’t need to ALT_TAB through 15 applications on the desktop? What if your agents didn’t have to “copy and paste” between applications? What if any agent could...
Customer Experience vs Customer Service Experience
Customer Experience vs Customer Service Experience Jeff Bezos says that Amazon’s customer experience is to deliver goods at the lowest price, fastest delivery, in a self-service mode that is simple and easy. Save customer service for when things go wrong. And, in times when customer service is needed, it needs...
Benchmarking your Service Offering The crocodile Dundee school of management says that you just have to move fast enough to outrun your competitors. How do you know how you and your competitors are doing in offering a good service experience? One easy way is use a customer service maturity model,...
Call for Heroes — or Not Who are your heroes in your customer service organization? Can you name them? Are they the ones who get the most difficult problems to troubleshoot, or who know everything about your business? Are they the ones that you route troublesome customers to? It is...
Should we shut down our call center?
Should We Shut Down our Call Centers? If we care so much about controlling customer service costs, why don’t we just shut down call centers? Asking ridiculous questions often forces you to deeply consider why you engage in certain activities. Customer service is not just about cost. It’s about a tight...
toronto | restaurant, retail, entertainment service review information
Sloan once sang, “It’s not the music. It’s their fans.” When it comes to seeing live music — a subject close to my heart — the lyrics change to “It’s not the music. It’s the venue.” After another concert at the Molson Amphitheatre (909 Lakeshore Boulevard West) this year, I’ve walked away...
Ceili’s Cottage (1301 Queen Street East) is a newbie in the Leslieville block, an attractive East-End cottage — yes, really! — with a bit of growing up to do. It’s a cute place, and definitely shows signs of bustle and community. The bar area is quite active, and is a great...
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The Dance Cave 529 Bloor St. West 416.532.1598 I’m pretty sure The Dance Cave has been around since before dirt. It’s situated above famed live-music venue, Lee’s Palace, and it’s about the same footage and layout-a big square, but without a stage for bands. It’s got that late-80s boho Queen St. vibe that the...
Constructive Grumpiness
Hello, I'm no longer blogging here, but since my Google results still point to this blog I thought I would steer you in the right direction. Most of the time you can find me sharing my thoughts at lenkendall.posterous.com or twitter.com/lenkendall A combination of exploration and laziness has prompted this curb in blogging...
Au Revoir Constructive Grumpiness
I've had a blast blogging at Constructive Grumpiness. I thank you all for reading my posts and leaving your feedback. Moving forward I will be sharing my (somewhat different) thoughts at MODEFF.com You can of course continue to see my other content on Twitter, Posterous, and the3six5 project. "MOD EFF! seeks to...
Forgot your wallet? Whip out your iPhone.
Originally posted on the GolinHarris Speaking of Social Media blog. In 2009, users of mobile payments (the ability to purchase items or services solely with the use of a mobile device) grew to nearly 74 million and in 2010 is expected to be at the 190 million mark. Worldwide, especially in Asia...
Forgot your wallet? Whip out your iPhone.
Originally posted on the GolinHarris Speaking of Social Media blog. In 2009, users of mobile payments (the ability to purchase items or services solely with the use of a mobile device) grew to nearly 74 million and in 2010 is expected to be at the 190 million mark. Worldwide, especially in Asia...
Dear Google, You're Still not Evil
What's the difference between being worth $200 Billion or $300 Billion? I don't think the powers-that-be at Google care anymore about being worth more, or being a number one. It's very clear that both of those checkboxes have been taken care of. Despite the stats in the video above (which I...
Dear Google, You're Still not Evil
What's the difference between being worth $200 Billion or $300 Billion? I don't think the powers-that-be at Google care anymore about being worth more, or being a number one. It's very clear that both of those checkboxes have been taken care of. Despite the stats in the video above (which I...
Demand Satisfaction!
Tooting our own horn just a bit here – the Demand Satisfaction blog has been voted a top business blog for customer service! Thanks to Online MBA and Awarding the Web for this. Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Share this on Facebook Post on...
Community College: Social Service and Support
Subscribe to the comments for this post? Share this on del.icio.us Share this on Facebook Post on Google Buzz Share this on LinkedIn Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Tumblr Tweet This!...
Love your customers: the presentation
Wendy Lea presented our latest take on how we think Customer Service is the New Marketing recently at the Real Estate Connect SF conference. We’ve been saying this for ages, but it’s all about how we’ve been evolving our thinking about this. How to understand your friends, followers and fans....
An Eventful Week: Cisco and Social CRM
Charlene Li is presenting a roundtable Social Media Lab at Cisco’s IT Executive Symposium on Tuesday, June 29. Our own Wendy Lea is one of the discussion catalysts, along with Mike Clifford of Whole Foods and Rick Boulin of Booz & Company. They’ll be discussing the rewards, opportunities and challenges...
Community Management & The Service Industry
There’s a great article from the New York Times that describes the “100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do“. Reading it, I wholeheartedly agreed, and a lot of these things apply to anyone who deals with customers on a regular basis. I worked for a long time in the service...
Interview: Jonathan Lee, Get Satisfaction Intern
A hearty welcome to our intern, Jonathan Lee, who’s working with our Business Development team. Our favorite things about Jonathan so far are that he’s way smart, and gives all of us a ceremonial high-five at 5:00pm each Thursday, so I thought it appropriate to post this at that time....
Service with Purpose
Dear readers.Just another reminder that this blog has moved towww.servicewithpurpose.netIf you are a subscriber, you can automatically subscribe to the new feed here.Subscribe feed Serving Reason...
Role plays are tough - an alternative
For many people role plays are tough and uncomfortable. The thought of sitting with a peer pretending to be a customer is scary and intimidating. As a result, we avoid the activity. Very few people will argue that role plays are not beneficial. In fact most expert professions are built...
Trying is not good enough - what we can learn from Yoda
When leading staff, we sometimes get caught asking them to ‘try’ and then to ‘try harder’.Asking staff to try gives them an excuse not to accomplish. Avoid asking people to try a new skill. Teach them and then ask them to ‘do’ the job. There is a difference. Trying is...
Beware of Customer Service Snake Oil and Silver Bullets
Every now and then someone presents me with the latest and greatest ‘cure all’ customer service program, idea, or system. There is no silver bullet in Customer Service. I am the founder of a Mystery Shopping Company but...
10 things I learnt after 1 week in Europe
Here are some observations after a week of travelling in Europe. 1) Old European airports like Rome have a lot to learn from Asian airports 2) Not many companies remain specialists. Almost all the companies I spoke to had...
Buyers remorse before you buy - how it can be avoided.
How do you overcome fear in buying? I have just attended a conference in Istanbul both as a participant, and a future buyer for my own conference. It’s scary. I was feeling buyers remorse even before I bought the product. One of the main products of a conference...
Make or Break Moments
Sounds like a nice slogan. But it isn’t easy. Glenn Ross at All Business published a post called How to Lose Customers and Fail at Business which consists of a 20 question true/false quiz. The quiz is divided into three sections: Employees, Online Presence and Customer Interaction. I’ll let you in on a...
My phone just rang. The caller introduced himself as Dave Somebody. “Hi Dave, how can I help you?” I asked. Well, I represent a company that compiles memorabila for your loved ones.” -pause – HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER. I am racking my brain. Is this a prank? Is this my brother? I’m thinking back over...
Build Customer Relationships with a Thank You
Today is my 300th blog post and I just want to say thank you for those that subscribe, those that are first time visitors and all of the rest of you who stop by on occasion to read my blog postings. This past week I asked the question – how do...
105 Ways to Put Customers First
How do you build a relationship with someone? You often have to put their needs ahead of yours. That is true in a relationship with your significant other, a best friend, your parents, and your kids. It is also true with our customers. If we put them first in all we do...
Set Yourself Apart from the Competition
I decided that I needed to hire a virtual assistant. I am at a point where there are some things I just can’t do anymore and a friend of mine once told me “delegate everything but your genius.” So – I was off to find a virtual assistant. The first project...
Make or Break Moments Recognized
I just learned that Make or Break Moments has been recognized as one of the Top Customer Service blogs for 2010 by Awarding the Web sponsored by Online MBA programs. I am thrilled! Thank you so much for this recognition. Here are the top ten winners: Change Forge Customers Rock Get Satisfaction Service with a Purpose Customer Service...
Stephanie Weaver's Blogs
Welcome to Bathroom Blogfest (page 4)
During the annual Bathroom Blogfest, bloggers from around the globe write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience with photographs of great and terrible bathrooms. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and user-experience design. Initiated...
Welcome to Bathroom Blogfest (page 3)
During the annual Bathroom Blogfest, bloggers from around the globe write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience with photographs of great and terrible bathrooms. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and user-experience design. Initiated...
Welcome to Bathroom Blogfest (page 2)
During the annual Bathroom Blogfest, bloggers from around the globe write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience with photographs of great and terrible bathrooms. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and user-experience design. Initiated...
Bathroom Blogfest 2009: Flush The Recession & Plunge Into Forgotten Spaces
During the annual Bathroom Blogfest, bloggers from around the globe write about the importance of bathrooms in the customer experience. Their posts come from a wide range of perspectives that include sociology, marketing, research, psychology, environmental, customer experience, and user-experience design. The event was initiated in 2006....
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How to create great visitor experiences at museums, parks, zoos, gardens, and libraries...
X-Squared On Demand LLC Blog
New Blackberry and iPhone Wallpaper
Last year, I published a wallpaper image for Blackberry, at a resolution of 320×240 (how quaint). Screen resolution has grown since then, as has salesforce.com and Salesforce CRM. This is a new wallpaper background using the latest branding, at 480×360. For those of you using retinal displays, here’s one for...
I love Chatter. I love the way that it is a game-changer. I think that Chatter is a powerful tool. But as Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said, "With great power comes great responsibility," and with the possibility of great rewards from Chatter comes great risks. First I'll list my conclusions,...
I Found a Bug – And Salesforce Support Was Great
A week ago, I installed Scott Hemmeter’s amazing app, Geopointe. Everything was going smoothly until I decided to manage the licenses I had assigned to the app. I successfully managed the licenses and tried to click the “Back to Previous Page” link, but something broke: Here’s a video of the...
Sophisticated DateTime “Formula Fields” with Apex and Field-Level Security
What do you do when you want to calculate a formula-like field but a regular formula won't work? Salesforce CRM's formulas handle dates very well. If you want to enter a date value and have formula fields display, for instance, mydate__c + 21 days, that's simple. Just...
Extended NA1 Maintenance Next Weekend (3/20)
Next weekend, March 20, 2010, Salesforce NA1 will be down for an extended (8-hour) maintenance window - the longest in memory - from 7pm 3/20 to 3am 3/21 (All times PST). Overlapping this is another 8-hour window for NA0 (SSL) starting two hours earlier. Also starting at 7pm PST, EU0...
New Opportunity Page Layout – With Highlights Panel!
Yesterday, I enabled the new Opportunity page layout in my Developer Spring ‘10 Preview org, and it took a few steps, so I thought I’d share them with you. Firstly, you’ll need to contact salesforce.com to get this feature enabled. [...]...
AmazingServiceGuy.com
5 Steps to Avoid “Doing a Toyota.”
When a company makes a mistake, it can be the brightest moment in their history. Toyota had that opportunity. But they missed their moment. Big time. How a company reacts, removes the pain, and repairs the emotional connection shows the true colors of that organization more than...
I recently heard a story about a Paradise Bakery & Café general manager who earned the nickname “Cowbell Sandy” from her adoring staff. It seems that a couple of years ago she started an incentive program to increase add-on sales of bottled water, cookies, and other high margin...
Maybe he will… Maybe he won’t… WON’T
I just got back from a large supermarket chain to do some grocery shopping. I don’t usually shop at this location of the chain, but it was convenient for me today. Aside from the expected minor annoyance of not knowing the layout of the store, all went...
Curing my “Superhero Syndrome”…Again
Does life ever sneak up on you and teach you a lesson? You, too? Glad to know I’m not alone. Saturday, I had to work at Sparkspace. We don’t do a lot of Saturday meetings because we are primarily a business meeting space and most businesses don’t make their staff go...
Are your rules driving customers away?
Staples had a sale on computer remotes. Regular price $74.99, on sale for $19.99 — a $50.00 savings. I already had one, but at that price, it made sense to get a back-up. I dropped by on the way home — unfortunately I arrived at 5 minutes past...
Customer service means making good on your mistakes
My husband and I ate at one of our favorite restaurants a few nights ago and were astounded by the incredibly poor customer services skills of the on-site manager. It was a rather curious situation and I honestly believe that a third grader could have handled things better than this...
Dennis Snow Blog» Dennis Snow Blog | Unleashing Excellence
Customer Service Wows – It’s About Consistency
Constantly being on the hunt for creating new and better customer service wows is an admirable quality for any organization. But it’s not about the quantity of customer service wows; success is more about consistency. This video describes what I mean. If you receive my blog by email, you may need...
After a customer service presentation I recently conducted, an attendee wrote to me about a situation that reminded her of my comments regarding attention to detail – “Everything Speaks,” – and how details can either build or erode customer trust. Here’s some of what she shared: “I thought you would be...
Due to the recession, employee promotions have been few and far between for most organizations. But as things begin to turn, promotions will likely start making a comeback. And now is the time to be thinking about your company/division/department promotion strategy. Nothing communicates more quickly what an organization truly values than...
Time Management Technique and Resource
If time management is a challenge for you (as it often is for me), this video post shares an effective technique. If you receive my blog via email, you may need to click here to view the video....
I Don’t Understand Wall Street
I guess I’ll never be known as the “Wizard of Wall Street,” because for the life of me, I can’t figure out how Wall Street works. I try, but I just can’t get it. Latest example: Amazon.com’s stock price tumbled 13% yesterday because second quarter profit missed analysts’ projections. If the...
Storytelling and Leadership – Part 2
In one of last week’s blog posts, I discussed the important role storytelling plays in effective leadership (“Leadership and Storytelling”). I emphasized that stories provide the links that connect an organization’s employees to its history, its purpose, and its values. And that purposeful, well-told stories can stir the emotions of...