Customer service

The best stay attuned to their customers’ signals in the social graph.

While management skills can improve service systems, a manager is better off if he or she first has a clear understanding of the operating characteristics that set one service system apart from another. This author offers one view of services, which, if followed, results in a “rational approach to the rationalization” of services. His view, […]

As technology becomes more powerful and affordable, your company is only limited by its imagination.

Peachtree Healthcare has major IT infrastructure problems, and CEO Max Berndt is struggling to find the right fix. He can go with a single set of systems...

Your strategy should be driven by relationship-building — not shiny new tech.

Peachtree Healthcare has major IT infrastructure problems, and CEO Max Berndt is struggling to find the right fix. He can go with a single set of systems...

Lessons from a luxury hotel chain.

Is investing in new technology always the right choice for a company and its customers? Allan Moulter, the CEO of Quality Care, isn't sure he wants to...

A friend recently described a remarkable travel experience. Strange to say, the story was about an airline, and it wasn't a travel nightmare. Instead,...

Shortly after installing a new computer system designed to provide quick and accurate service, the president of Presto Cleaner received an angry letter...

Anne Morriss, managing director of the Concire Leadership Institute, explains how the coffee giant increased efficiency and satisfaction by treating customers...

Quality is more important than quantity.

Why are consumers increasingly dissatisfied with the quality of help they get from customer service departments? The authors' surveys and interviews with...

Both customers and shareholders are confused.

The next time a customer service rep says, “The computer won’t let me do that” or “The system tells me what to do,” remember this: Behind every such phrase is a set of processes designed, or at least endorsed, not by computers but by human beings somewhere in the corporate hierarchy. The system may tell […]

My personal e-mail inbox currently holds requests for feedback from twelve different companies: a couple of hotels, two web-based retailers, a credit-card company, an investment management firm, etc. As a customer experience expert, I often advise companies on gathering and using customer feedback, so you might think I’d be interested in these surveys. But I’ve […]

Consultant Frank Rohde describes a system for evaluating frontline workers' interactions with customers.

The quality of customer service is often as important as the quality of the product. A company can evaluate its customer service by performing a customer...

Do you have the confidence that every message and experience that customers have with your organization rings true and leaves a positive impression? Developing an integrated communications capability within your organization will give you just that. It will also enhance your reputation and the value of your brand. It’s essential to your business. But it’s […]

A stage-by-stage guide to supporting your customers.