Stepping Up Service Podcast

The new year is upon us; what better time to gaze into the crystal ball and talk about the trends we can expect to see in the world of customer service in 2013?  In this episode, Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions talks Alan through his four top trends for customer service for the coming year, ranging from the use of technology in enhancing the customer service experience to the overall speed in how that service is delivered.  It's the 2013 kick-off episode of "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 development.  Learn more about The Jackson Group at www.thejacksongroup

When confronted with hostile Black Friday shoppers, "compassion" is an emotion that can be hard to have and show to others in the customer service world. Yet, studies have shown that compassion is one of the most important attitudes traits for someone in customer service to have when dealing with clients, customers, or patients. In this episode, Alan and Ed discuss the idea of compassion in customer service, ranging from how to show empathy to others to the ways to properly communicate compassion to your customers. The co-hosts also 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 res

For most of this podcast series, Alan and Ed have been talking about improving overall customer service at your company or organization.  But how can a customer service strategy actually lead to improving customer retention, and - even better - customer growth?  Ed educates Alan about the four keys to customer retention and growth, and shares some examples along the way.  The co-hosts also share their "Customer Service Experience of the Month", with both stories this month having some positive outcomes! 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

The irate customer can be like a time bomb, and its important for anyone in a customer service role to know how to properly "defuse" that customer before things blow up.  To help as an example, Ed leads Alan through a story of "Alan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" to illustrate how a series of exhausting service experiences can lead to a very tense customer and what the person handling that customer needs to do to put the encounter back on the right track. Ed Gagnon is President of Customer Service Solutions (www.cssamerica.com), helping organization improve the service they provide to their customers through training, consulting, mystery shopping and process improvement.  Alan Jackson is President & CEO of The Jackson Group (www.thejacksongroup.com), specializing in employee and customer satisfaction surveys and consulting. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

With the election in full swing, the latest “Stepping Up Service” podcast focuses on “The Politics of Customer Service.” Hosts Ed Gagnon, President of Charlotte-based Customer Service Solutions, Inc. (www.cssamerica.com) and MESH Executive Producer Alan Jackson, also with The Jackson Group (www.thejacksongroup.com) address the lessons learned of corporate politics, and how these internal clashes impact the customer, the culture, and the ultimate success of a company. “It’s exciting to be part of a podcast that can take the 2012 election and relate the politics of Washington to the politics of any given business,” says Gagnon. “Companies can overcome internal politics, but they have to understand the root causes of infighting to come up with the right solutions.” “This podcast is important in that we address six typical drivers of corporate politics and how to overcome them,” says Jackson. “It’s a quick listen for the audience, full of methods and key tactics to ensure that internal fights don’t limit organiza

With the London Summer Olympics taking place, Alan decides to provide Ed with some of the breaking news headlines from the Olympics to see if he can relate each item to a customer service lesson.  Can Ed connect the recent badminton team controversy with how to provide excellence service to our customers?  Join Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, www.thejacksongroup.com) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions, www.cssamerica.com) as they discuss Olympic Customer Service Stories in this month's "Stepping Up Service"! Running time: 29 minutes See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Small businesses have the same need for delivering excellent customer service as the big ones... but they often feel they have limited resources, time and money to work with.  To help owners, managers and employees understand how they can achieve service excellence in a small business environment, Ed Gagnon (www.cssamerica.com) shares three examples of small businesses that are providing great service through some innovative ways... and one example of a company that got it all wrong.  Join show host Alan Jackson (www.thejacksongroup.com) and his expert co-host Ed as they share their "Great Service Excellence Examples from Small Businesses"! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Stepping Up Service, hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnon premiere their new hit game show “Alan, What Do You Expect?” We expect the Game Show network will be calling anytime now about syndication rights…little do they know Alan has a contract that states he must always be a contestant. Ed and Alan also discuss nine customer service power words. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this episode of Stepping Up Service, hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnon lead off discussing three simple things you can do to help improve customer service. Then they flip the coin and discuss three simple pitfalls to avoid in serving your customers. The episode then rounds out with the guys each sharing a service experience that they’ve had recently. Along the way you learn which reality show program Ed’s daughter favors and Alan’s gripe with the film Saving Private Ryan. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Masters are happening at the time of this month's recording... which got us thinking: how is handling customer complaints like scoring in golf? Ed Gagnon with Customer Service Solutions (www.cssamerica.com) and Alan Jackson with The Jackson Group (www.thejacksongroup.com) tackle this question and help you see how the two are related. Handling customer complaints takes planning, collaboration, and forethought... much like playing a good round of golf. Ed shares his top suggestions for handling customer complaints, and along the way teaches Alan a few things about what many consider to be one of the toughest game you can play... all in this month's episode of "Stepping Up Service". See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The topic of the month is mystery shopping, known to some as secret shopping. While many perceive mystery shopping as a practice involving retail specific organizations, the idea of mystery shopping has transformed into a practice that allows for many types of industries to take advantage of the service gauging technique. In this episode of Stepping Up Service, join your hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnon as they discuss the practice of mystery shopping and how it can aid in stepping up your service. For more information about Ed Gagnon and Customer Service Solutions, visit www.cssamerica.com, and for information about Alan Jackson and the Jackson Group, visit www.thejacksongroup.com Running Time: 54 Minutes See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In light of the recent Super Bowl, Stepping Up Service hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnan ask the question, “What can we learn from football?” Hailed the ultimate team sport, this episode ties the methods used in the world of football to the methods used in today’s culture. From setting goals to satisfying a market, there might be more similarities between America’s favorite sport and the way we handle our services that ever imagined. Find out how this metaphor can help you step up your game… only on Stepping Up Service. Running time: 46 minutes The Jackson Group is a management consulting firm specializing in customer and employee satisfaction surveys as well as leadership development. Learn more about them at www.thejacksongroup.com. Customer Service Solutions is a consulting firm specializing in customer retention and growth strategies, training and research. Learn more about CSS at www.cssamerica.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy

As we start a brand new year, Alan and Ed talk about the trends they foresee affecting the customer service world in 2012. How are customers and their expectations changing? What role will technology and social media play in this coming year? What do businesses need to be prepared for as they plan to enhance their customer service experiences in the coming months? All of these questions are discussed, along with Alan and Ed sharing their "Customer Service Story of the Month". All of this on the first "Stepping Up Service" for 2012! Running time: 55 minutes The Jackson Group is a management consulting firm specializing in customer and employee satisfaction surveys as well as leadership development. Learn more about them at www.thejacksongroup.com. Customer Service Solutions is a consulting firm specializing in customer retention and growth strategies, training and research. Learn more about CSS at www.cssamerica.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art1

You want to make your customer happy... but sometimes you have to say that dreaded word: "NO". This month's episode discusses how to handle those "NO" situations with the best customer service mentality possible. Show hosts Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, www.thejacksongroup.com) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions, www.cssamerica.com) talk through some ways to smooth out tough situations when customers are not able to get what they need due to unrealistic expectations or a limitation of your business. Also, as always, Alan and Ed share their "Customer Service Story of the Month". Running time: 39 minutes The Jackson Group is a management consulting firm specializing in customer and employee satisfaction surveys as well as leadership development. Learn more about them at www.thejacksongroup.com. Customer Service Solutions is a consulting firm specializing in customer retention and growth strategies, training and research. Learn more about CSS at www.cssamerica.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.

This month's episode discusses the importance of Social Media in the Customer Service experience. Show hosts Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, www.thejacksongroup.com) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions, www.cssamerica.com) explain why organizations are looking at using Social Media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to enhance or supplement their existing customer service processes. Along the way, they also discuss some of the challenges and potential pitfalls to watch out for when going this route. Running time: 56 minutes The Jackson Group is a management consulting firm specializing in customer and employee satisfaction surveys as well as leadership development. Learn more about them at www.thejacksongroup.com. Customer Service Solutions is a consulting firm specializing in customer retention and growth strategies, training and research. Learn more about CSS at www.cssamerica.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-s

This month's episode of "Stepping Up Service" discusses the importance of customer service in - of all places - the world of professional sports. Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) talks with Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group) about how organizations like the NFL, NBA, and other pro sports leagues have their own special challenges when it comes to customer service and how we can all gain valuable lessons from their experiences. And, as always, Ed and Alan share some recent customer services experiences of their own. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, The MESH) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) discuss the need for customer service in today's business world and the three groups most impacted by good customer service and why. Alan and Ed also share their "Customer Service Example of the Month", with Ed providing a "good" example and Alan bringing up the "bad" one that turns into more of a rant. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, The MESH) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) sit down to record the first episode of their new series, "Stepping Up Service". This first episodes talks about Ed's background in customer service, what inspired him to help businesses in this area, and what "customer service" should truly mean to any organization. Plus, Alan and Ed both share some recent customer service stories — one positive and one negative. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.