Customer Service Training Blog

Ethics in the workplace is a unique topic. Ethical matters normally don’t deal with issues that can be assigned a number, a value, or a quantity. In other words it doesn’t exactly fit in the cell of a spreadsheet. “Ethics” is about behavior and conduct. Dealing with ethical matters usually conjures up feelings like pride, ... Ethics in the Workplace

by Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor Normally, I bet my audiences the cash that’s in their wallet that they have one or more of these phrases on their cell or office phone at that moment. I’ve never had to pay! When was the last time you checked your own voice mail message? It’s probably been a ... Five Frustrating Voice Mail Phrases

Everyone aims to deliver proactive customer service. Whether you refer to it as cross-selling, up-selling, suggestive selling, or – as we like to say — “soft question” selling, a basic component of effective customer service is to offer your customers additional choices. Some customer service representatives might fear being perceived as pushy or assuming. No ... Proactive Customer Service

You know that helpless feeling when attending a poorly organized office meeting? One with no structure or meaningful objective? Frustrating, isn’t it? Meetings are so unpopular that one recent poll showed that about half of the people surveyed admitted they’d rather stand in line at the DMV than sit through another meeting. Meetings are seen ... How To Run A Successful Meeting

One of the most abrupt and shocking forbidden phrases you can say to a customer is, “We can’t do that.” These words close the door on the customer’s request as quickly as does its close cousin  — “That’s our policy.” Everyone has heard the “We can’t” phrase before, and we’ve heard it used in situations ... Tell Em What You CAN Do

By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker, Customer Service Expert, President Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training If this hasn’t happened to you yet, my bet is it will. You see the name or a number you recognize on the phone and pick it up with, “Hi Joe” (or whoever it says). And low and behold – guess ... BEWARE! Caller ID Can Be Dangerous

By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker; Customer Service & Communications Expert; and President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training FACT: The best weapon for a successful business is customer service. It’s that simple. We will pay more for better service! So whether you’re a small business owner or Hewlett Packard or only looking for ways to ... 6 Cardinal Rules of Customer Service

Everyone has had the experience where they meant to send a private response to someone in a group email, but accidentally hit “reply-to-all.” If we were lucky, it was a limited mistake and only a minor annoyance. If we were less fortunate, it might have been the type of mistake that was extremely embarrassing. We’ve ... Email Apocalypse or the “Reply-to-all” click

By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker, Customer Service & Communication Expert and President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training  DANGEROUS WORDS – NEGATIVE WORDS Or known as conversation diverters. Just as ALWAYS and NEVER are also conversation diverters, below are a few more words/phrase that will make your customers, potential customers, along with friends and family veer away from the real ... Words that Ruin a Relationship

Research shows that one “bad apple” – an employee with a negative attitude – can impact your entire team. It doesn’t take long before the gloomy team member infects others with their defeatist behavior. First, we need to understand why anyone would adopt an attitude that seemingly has no professional payoff. The answer is because ... How to Prevent “Bad Apples” from Spoiling the Team

Every team member should understand the difference between a feature and a benefit. An easy way to remember the distinction is that “features tell and benefits sell.” Let’s look at the definition: Feature: A distinction or noticeable quality Something offered as a special attraction   Benefit: Anything that is helpful or advantageous Something that contributes ... Features vs Benefits

By Nancy Friedman, Keynote Speaker, Customer Service Expert, President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training We’ve all heard the saying: “Hey, customer service is just plain old common sense.” But then we all know, too, common sense is NOT that common.  Decided to make a quick list of a few common sense things that aren’t so common. ... Customer Service vs. Common Sense?