As we continue to evolve in the ever changing world of technology, my hope is that businesses keep their eye on the customer. There is no question that technology has improved, enhanced, and simplified many processes. But, what I am talking about is customer processes that should always stay manual and personal. 

"Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer gets out of it."  - Peter Drucker

We hear it all the time: "Let's identify the low-hanging fruit and pick that first."  In other words, let's figure out which customer experience problems are simple to solve, and deal with them first.  The problem?  Although a few customer experience problems are simple to solve, the vast majority aren't.  That's because most customer experience problems are the result of complex issues that affect the entire enterprise.  It's far more effective to develop comprehensive solutions to your customer experience problems, even if doing so takes more time.

- Roy Barnes and Bob Kelleher, Customer Experience for Dummies

It’s no coincidence that companies that deliver rockin' customer service are industry leaders and innovators. So why aren’t companies focusing on improving the service that they deliver?  It seems like this is a no-brainer; however, companies get too lazy, caught up in the day-to-day, and/or don’t want to invest the time and money on mandating a focus on service excellence. Don’t be one of these companies- it’s careless and brainless.  We want you to ROCK at customer service!

Still need some convincing about why customer service should be a top priority?  From a Salesforce blog post by Kendall Thorton, “18 Interesting Stats to Get You Rethinking Your Customer Service Process,” here are 8 powerful statistics that are very telling...

A little bit of anxiety won't kill you.  You don't always have to be carefree.  Worrying may heighten your awareness of a situation and point out the small problems before they become huge ones.

- Tabatha Coffey, Own It!

A few weeks ago we talked about quick reactions and timely responses. When a company really gets it right, it needs to be recognized, celebrated, and we all need to learn and apply what we can with their winning formula. 

Unfortunate situations, like accidents, happen daily that require us to count on the service providers that we hire. It becomes the moment of truth between how you hope they will respond, to how they actually respond. We recently changed our car insurance company to Geico. The financial savings was impressive, and we certainly hoped if we had to use the company, their services would be just as impressive. 

"Knowing and doing what's important rather than simply responding to what's urgent is foundational to putting first things first." Stephen R. Covey

Beware the deadly pronoun: he, she, they, especially the infamous they and the power-gilded we.  Pronouns can send you into a quagmire of misunderstanding.  Every single day, it seems, I say to someone, "Too many pronouns."  During a negotiation, force your counterpart to use specific nouns and proper names.  This preventive measure avoids a great deal of miscommunication.

- Michael C. Donaldson, Negotiation for Dummies