Stepping Up Service Podcast

It’s Thanksgiving, so Alan and Ed decided to show a little love to some companies that have set high standards for customer service during recent encounters.  Ed talks about four companies, from various industries, that have made big impressions on him recently, and have caused him to be truly “thankful” for their service.And, as always, Alan and Ed share their Customer Service Story of the Month, with Alan’s story being about a new company he has become very thankful for, while Ed’s story is not as pleasant. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at ww

Let’s say you want to better understand your organization’s customer service “culture”, and you need a straightforward way to self-assess the culture and opportunities for improvement. Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions walks Alan through such an assessment for his fictional Halloween Costume business, talking through the 8 keys to changing the culture and how we should measure them.Alan and Ed also share their Customer Service Stories of the Month, with Alan’s being a particularly frustrating one this month. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group

Imagine if you had the opportunity to completely rebuild your organization’s “service culture”, defining how you are going to serve your clients and customers and the values that will be communicated at all levels.  For some new organizations, or new leaders in an existing organization, those opportunities exist.Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions talks with Alan about the five key strategies and principles to undertake if you are in a position to either build a service organization from scratch or are charged with reshaping an existing organization’s service culture.  And they conclude their discussion with their “Customer Service Stories of the Month”, as always. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm spec

A customer of one of the largest internet providers in the nation tried to have their service disconnected… and in the process had a very frustrating “retention call” experience that he then recorded and posted for the whole Internet to hear.  Alan and Ed discuss this infamous call, and point out some of the more interesting phrases used by the retention agent and why they should be avoided.  Along with this discussion, Alan and Ed share their “Customer Service Stories of the Month”… and just as a heads up, all of this month’s stories are about bad experiences!   Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadershi

We’ve all had those experiences where we hear that dreaded word “NO” from a customer service representative, whether we are asking for assistance in a matter or looking for a company to do something a bit outside of their normal operations.  Unfortunately, in many situations, those people we are speaking to are saying “NO” to us because their organization has not made it easy for them to say “YES”.  Alan talks with Ed about how an organization can set up an environment that enables and empowers its employees to say “YES” more often to customers.  Some of these goals are discussed in this episode, including making goals clear, modifying policies/procedures, motivating, and modeling these behaviors.   Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a

Ed and Alan have always discussed the importance of listening to the “Voice of the Customer” whether through surveys, focus groups, etc.  However, effectively using that customer “voice” information takes more than just conducting the survey or gathering the data.  Ed and Alan discuss how to develop strategic approach for using customer “voice” information to improve the service your organization delivers. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at

You may think of yourself as a strong advocate for customer service in your organization … but what about that employee that is obviously not engaged in their work or in providing the best service possible? How can we motivate the “unmotivated employee”? Alan and Ed talk through four ideas to help get those employees on the right track and to help them go the “extra mile” for your customers. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.

Keep your your clients and customers happy is critical… so the idea of managing “retention” becomes very important for every business or organization.  There are many ways to use research and data to help manage and improve your customer retention, and in this episode Alan and Ed discuss several of them and some best practices for their application.  Plus, they end the episode with their traditional “Customer Service Story of the Month”. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com.Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy a

Many organizations are adopting the concept of creating an "Always Culture", especially in the healthcare industry where standardized satisfaction surveys ask patients to tell us how often good customer service takes place.  The goal is to not have customer service be a light switch (turning on and off as needd), but instead for it to be an "all the time" thing.  Alan and Ed discuss how to create and maintain an "Always Culture" in your organization in this month's episode of Stepping Up Service. For more information on creating an "Always Culture", take a look at Ed's blog post on the Customer Service Solutions web site:  http://cssamerica.com/develop-an-always-culture-21814-tow/ Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consult

So let's say you're wanting to enhance your organization's Customer Service Experience, and you want to do it quickly.  Sometimes the best way to get something started quickly is to adapt what others have done... even if those other organizations are from other industries.  In this episode, Ed explains to Alan how we can use organizations as "best practices", and adopt some of their practices into our own situations.  Some of the best names in the world of customer service are discussed - Zappo's, Amazon, and others - with thoughts on how we can take their experiences and find ways to make them work for us.  Alan and Ed close out the episode with their "Customer Service Stories of the Month". Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey

After a full year of “Stepping Up Service” episodes wrapped up for 2013, it’s time to start looking into the future… what are the trends we see for the Customer Service world in 2014?  Ed shares his predictions with Alan, as they talk about the potential shift to a more holistic, face-to-face customer service world, and how “big data” may be a bit overplayed.  Plus, what is an “octopod”?  Alan and Ed also share their Customer Service Story of the Month at the end of the episode. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs. Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development. Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com. See P

For your listening pleasure this holiday season, Ed and Alan become storytellers for this episode of “Stepping Up Service”.  Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions shares five stories (with almost all of them true!) about customer service experiences… and discusses what we can learn from these stories and use in our own businesses or organizations.  Not to be left out, Alan Jackson of The Jackson Group also shares a couple of stories… with one of them being somewhat embarrassing for Mr. Jackson himself.  It’s story time on “Stepping Up Service”!. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership developme

Ed brought up a blog post recently where an avid NFL fan explained that they were not renewing their season tickets because of the "fan experience".  This leads Ed and Alan to define "Customer Experience Management", and address how what brings your customers in often differs from what keeps them.  Ed and Alan go through some various industry scenarios where the customer experience could make the difference as to whether we, as customers, "stay" or "go". Plus, as always, everyone's favorite portion of the show... the "Customer Service Experiences of the Month"! SHOW NOTE:  Ed's blog post, where he references the original NFL fan's post, can be found at http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/2013/10/16/is-your-fan-experience-a-reason-to-stay-or-leave/ Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com

Everyone has their own definition of good customer service... so leaving it to employees of an organization to provide their own defined level of customer service could result in an inconsistent experience for your customers.  Many organizations are setting "Customer Service Standards", which define the core expectations of their staff in terms of how they will treat each other and customers.  Ed and Alan discuss the purpose of customer service standards, the process involved, and sprinkle in some examples from various industries including Sports, Government and Healthcare. Plus, as always, everyone's favorite portion of the show... the "Customer Service Experiences of the Month"! Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and cons

Alan and Ed take a bit of a break from their normal discussion format as they decide to sit back and listen to Ed tell us the "Lessons Learned from a Young Hitchhiker."  Ed came into contact with an individual who had hitchhiked over 200 times in the past, and found that many of the things this person did to encourage people to pick him up are similar things we need to be doing when providing service to our customers. After the story and lesson-sharing, Alan and Ed both share their "Customer Service Experiences of the Month". Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development.  Learn more about The

So you've been trying to improve the level of customer service in your organization, and you feel that things are starting to improve.  But how do you find out if your changes are truly affecting your customers' satisfaction?  It's time for some measurement!  Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions and Alan Jackson of The Jackson Group discuss the importance of measuring satisfaction, various methods for conducting your measurement, and some pros and cons for each method.  They also end the show with their "Customer Service Experiences of the Month", where they share an experience — either positive or negative — they had recently and what we can learn from them. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specia

 If communications within your office or organization are complex and prone to errors, then your customers are the ones that may ultimately pay the price.  To help serve customers, clients and partners more effectively, we need to make sure our communications are as simple as possible within our workplace.  Ed shares some tips and planning approaches with Alan to ensure communications in the workplace are clear, flow well, reach the intended parties, and are simply done.  Plus, Alan and Ed share their "Customer Service Experience of the Month". Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development.

A while back, we discussed "Great Service Examples from Small Businesses" and received very positive feedback from listeners.  We realize, though, that there are just as many stories of some big, household name companies providing excellent customer service to their customers.  In many ways, the larger businesses have a tough challenge in front of them as they try to deliver good service despite multiple locations, a large employee base, and a large, demanding client base.  Alan and Ed discuss four examples of large businesses providing strong customer service to their clients, and explain what we can take from those examples and apply to our own organizations.  Plus, Alan and Ed share their "customer service story of the month", with Ed having a good month while Alan found himself completely lost. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more ab

This episode focuses on getting employees not to fear confrontations when they have bad news to share.  Alan and Ed address the benefits of being proactive when you have to share bad news with a co-worker or a customer.  They also discuss keys to setting up those conversations so they’re bigger on solutions than on emotions.  And along the way, they make an extraordinary number of references to college basketball. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development.  Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priva

Most of the episodes of this show so far have talked about what businesses and organizations can do to improve their customer service abilities and ensure that service continues to improve.  But what about the individual employee?  What can they do to create a "continuous improvement mindset" and become a stronger asset for the organization?  Ed gives Alan a checklist of questions that any employee should be asking themselves on a regular basis to develop that mindset and help their organization meet their customer service goals. Ed Gagnon is the President of Customer Service Solutions, helping organizations develop long-term relationships with their clients and partnering with them to meet their core customer service needs.  Learn more about Customer Service Solutions at www.cssamerica.com. Alan Jackson is President of The Jackson Group, a survey and consulting firm specializing in employee engagement surveys, patient satisfaction surveys, market research studies and leadership development.  Learn more abo