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Jan31
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After reading Glenn Ross’s post about quieting negative word-of-mouth with your blog, I’m beginning to think that companies without blogs are either hiding in a cave and have no idea how powerful blogs are or they simply don’t want to connect with their customers. 
Glenn doesn’t think that every business needs a blog and yes, I do agree somewhat, but just imagine how much bigger your company can grow if you do have one! In terms of prospective customers being able to find you on the internet, I think blogs have more power than a regular website. Jonathan Leger offers his thoughts on why WordPress blogs are better than normal websites. Also, check out this article: 5 Reasons Why a Blog Is Better Than an Email Newsletter.
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Jan31
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There are a few things I have to deal with in my personal life, so Becky Carroll of Customers Rock! will be hosting the Carnivale on Monday. Please send your submissions to Becky at bcarroll7 at gmail dot com. I'm...
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Jan30
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The latest issue of Business Week has an article that talks about these new airlines that are popping up. They’re targeted towards business travelers and industry insiders are wondering whether or not they’ll survive. Lower prices and a comfier ride...
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Jan29
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It's that time again, folks! Bring out the popcorn and cotton candy (if you're at work, a cup of joe will do!) because it's the Carnivale of Customer Service. We have goodies for you today!!Becky Carroll of Customers Rock! has a great...
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Jan28
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George W. Daye III, the founder and President of BarServ has some advice for us: quit our jobs and join him in the construction business....the business of “constructing solid professional relationships".I encourage you to continue with your blueprint and really...
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I don’t know about you, but I like to check out my site statistics to see what people are searching for when they come to my blog. Today I saw that someone did a blogsearch for “working at Nordstrom”. Perhaps...
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Today I visited Digg to look for some juicy stories to talk about, but when I did a search, this is the message I get:“Digg is experiencing a high volume of traffic right now. Please try your search again later.”I...
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Imagine being stuck on an airplane for nine hours with no food and overflowing toilets? This is what happened to an American Airlines flight from San Francisco to Dallas. The airplane was diverted to Austin because of heavy rainstorms and...
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Jan25
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Well, for the fifth time in a row, T-Mobile is ranked #1 in the J. D. Powers and Associates’ study for Wireless Customer Care Performance. 14,000 wireless customers were surveyed and companies were measured according to how they treated customers...
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Jan24
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The secret to higher sales, that is. At the National Retail Federation conference last week, the executive vice president of Limited Brands, Inc. (LTD) let everyone in on the secret to Victoria’s Secret success. Hmm...can you guess what it could...
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Here’s another company to add to the list of companies who are adopting a service-oriented culture: Best Western. Best Western International has named their new culture “My Best” customer care. During the CRM in Travel USA 2007 conference in San...
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Jan23
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I was at the Swap Meet the other week and there’s a man there that sells Australian eucalyptus oil. He has a cute little display which people notice - even kids. A couple of teenagers were taking a look at...
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Congrats to Tom Vander Well of QAQnA for making it on the cover of the Des Moines Business Record! Not too long ago Tom told a story of his experience with The Geek Squad. Every since publishing his story, people...
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On Friday I rented a car from Fox Rent a Car to take a trip to Las Vegas for a funeral. I had rented a car from them last month and was impressed with the service I received - plus...
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Jan22
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Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD) just hired their first-ever “Chief Customer Officer”. John Walden joins the company after spending the last eight years at Best Buy. He will oversee marketing, services, and the company’s direct-commerce business. I think we’ll begin to...
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I’m sure many of you can agree with me that one of the most annoying things to come out of a customer service rep’s mouth is “It’s company policy...” Customers don’t like to hear policy/corporate mumbo jumbo. They want you...
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Well, friends, once again we’ve come to another Carnivale of Customer Service Monday! Today’s carnivale will be very short and sweet. Hey, I always say quality is better than quantity anyways ;) So, without further ado...My fellow Know More Media...
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Jan21
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I’m standing in line at Starbucks. It’s a long line with three people in front of me and about ten people in back of me. I notice the author of a famous customer service book standing about three people behind...
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Jan18
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I've been spending some time over at the newly launched BizzBites (thanks, Know More Media!) and came across this customer service post that was submitted. Dovetail Software Blogs shares some thoughts on great service and notes:"...but it does seem that it...
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Jan17
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The Consumerist has posted 28 Tips For Winning Customer Service Phone Battles - taken from the viewpoints of both sides of the coin - the customer and the rep. Here are a couple that I like:6) Don't think the world...
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Chris Saridakis has a great article over iMedia Connection where he tells us that customer service just isn’t enough anymore. Instead, companies should start focusing more on providing a great “customer experience”. Chris goes on to offer his tips on...
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Today I received the San Diego Community College’s Continuing Education catalog of free classes. There’s a business class called “Making a Business Work”. Here’s the description of the class:“Customer appreciation, mastering communications, dealing with difficult people, team building, the right...
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Jan16
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I love seeing customer service tips spreading throughout the blogosphere! It’s been awhile since I’ve visited Platypus Jack (I should ask how the blog got that name) and was happy to see these posts that I now recommend that you...
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Tom Vander Well of QAQnA has a great post about the value of knowing your customers. His post made me think about the bigger picture - that business is the art of creating relationships. People aren’t looking for “one night...
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Damon of Damon’s Details talks about whether or not CEOs should blog and his first statement is:All CEOs should not blog.I somewhat disagree on this because I feel that CEOs are the ones who set the tone and culture of...
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I was just reading the latest blog entry over at The Power of Nice and learned that being nice and feeling good makes you smarter! Because I have a keen interest in psychology and what makes the mind tick, I...
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According to this article over at EarthTimes, retailers lost quite a bit of sales this past holiday season because of poor customer service or confusing store layouts. What’s also interesting is that people are no longer influenced by all the...
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Jan15
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After searching and searching for something for interesting to talk about for my last blog post of the day, I stumbled upon this video over at YouTube. It’s approximately a four minute lecture on smiling. The main idea here is...
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I love animals - especially dogs. There is a reason why they are called (Wo)Man’s Best Friend! Every time I visit my best friend, her dog Milo is the first to come and greet me without fail. He’ll sit there...
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Today in the U.S. we honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for his accomplishments. This remarkable man basically defined civil rights and I would like to dedicate this post to him, the person who inspired so many people and created...
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For those of you small business owners who are frustrated with the bank you do business with, you may be interested in this survey that was done by J. D. Powers and Associates. They surveyed 5,000 small businesses with annual...
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Good Monday to all of you! It’s a gorgeous day here in beautiful and sunny San Diego, so excuse my excitement and energy ;) It’s Monday and you know what that means...Carnivale of Customer Service! Today’s carnivale is short and...
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Jan12
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Just a reminder that the Carnivale of Customer Service is Monday, so remember to email me [maria at customersarealways dot com] your customer service-related post! If this is your first time here and are wondering what the Carnivale is all...
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Are you a customer of Merrill Lynch? If you are, you’re probably pretty happy with the service you’ve received from the company, right? Well, this year J.D. Power and Associates have recognized the company for call center operation customer satisfaction...
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Jan11
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I was browsing my blog’s stats today and noticed that someone found my blog via a Google search for the phrase “customers are not important”. Of course, I’ve never written anything on that topic before, but there was a post...
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Don Ochoa let me know about a new service for us who want to keep track of our interactions with customer service representatives of companies. Imagine being able to record every conversation you have with a company! The new website...
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Jan10
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Have you ever judged a company by the amount of money they spend? Does the owner have a fancy suit and a fancy degree? Does it look like employees work hard for the customer when in reality they’re only thinking...
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If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step… the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: "What ELSE could we do?" -...
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I don’t know about you, but I usually dread going to the dentist’s office. Most dentists are “robotic” to me - just going through the motions - while I’m left to just lay there counting the minutes until the visit...
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As I was browsing the blogosphere the other day, I happened upon the Small Business Branding website. Lo and behold, I see an article written by Kammie Kobyleski. Kammie happens to be one of my favorite bloggers whose blog, Passion...
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Jan 9
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Sirius Stuff has a post titled “Good Customer Service Costs Too Much?” which talks about Wal-Mart (WMT) (Oh, I can hear the groans now) and how the people that work for this retail giant have a pretty low quality of...
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Jan 8
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Steve Weber sells books - a home-based business I never really gave much thought to until now. Well, as we all know there is no business out there that isn’t immune from the responsibilities of customer service and Steve reminds...
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Via QAQnA I found out about CRM Lowdown’s post about the 10 Best and 10 Worst Companies for Call Center Service. Here I will highlight the best:1. 1-800-Flowers.com2. General Electric3. Citibank4. IBM5. Southwest Airlines6. Direct Television7. Verizon8. Apple9. American Express10....
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Well, after a long hiatus, The Carnivale of Customer Service is back in action. I have some good stuff for you today, folks. So grab a cup of coffee, tea, or whatever your favorite drink is, and sit back. Enjoy!Dan...
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Jan 5
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I just came across this New York Times article that talks about the possibility of more companies offering hand sanitizers to their customers. Joe Drenik, spokesman for GOJO Industries, Inc. which makes Purell hand sanitizer, was interviewed for this article...
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The change from May stores to Macy’s stores seems to have hit Federated (FD) below the belt. According to this article, Federated is challenged by the fact that their sales have declined during the past few months in the stores...
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A Couple Customer Service Tips To Think About...Came across this article over at EnergyPulse that talks about how an elementary school in Texas went from nothing to becoming one of the best elementary schools in the state. How did they...
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Jan 4
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There are tons of web hosting companies nowadays. Tons. There are probably as many web hosting companies in the world as there is water on planet Earth. Tons. So, how do you differentiate among them? Of course, my answer would...
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Are you asking your customers the right questions when you survey them? How about in your normal day-to-day interactions when you’re helping them find products or services they need from your company? Do you even care?Kathy Sierra over at Creating...
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Here’s a video I found at YouTube. A classic example of what customer service is not... We have to remember that we were hired by our boss to help people - not to be the “stock person“, “cashier”, or...
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Word around the block is that Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Home Depot (HD), was fired yesterday. It doesn’t come as a shocker being that the complaints on the company’s customer service still come pouring in. However, the big shocker...
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According to this article over at E-Commerce Times, the best way to find out what’s your customers really think is to ask your employees. I would have to agree. Your employees spend the most time with your customers and hear...
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Jan 3
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After posting my request for great customer service stories the other, it seems that The Universe has come to my aid! Well, my previous post was a good story, right? Phil Gerbyshak also sent over a link to Mike Siger’s...
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Just a couple notes to share...First, I wanted to welcome Phil Gerbyshak of Make It Great! to the Know More Media family. Phil is the new author of Help Desk Notes and I’m thrilled to be in good company in...
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A friend of mine (who happens to be a flight attendant herself) sent over this Nicoderm commercial posted over at YouTube. I happen to find it a bit funny so I thought I’d share it with you to give you...
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The title of this blog I discovered last night, Genuine Curiosity, spurred my own curiosity - so of course I had to pay a visit to satisfy the cat in me ;) For those of you who need a feel-good...
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Jan 2
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Meikah over at Custserv has a challenge from her boss for the upcoming New Year: find good customer service stories. Now, why is that a challenge to Meikah? Because more people “bawl” (to use Meikah’s word) instead of praising and...
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Not too long ago I discovered Brian Massey’s blog, Customer Chaos where his focus is on building customer-based communities. Power to the people! (Sorry, had to just throw in that line there). Now, the word “chaos” stirred up some memories...
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As I’m browsing the web for inspiring customer service posts, I stumbled upon the St. Mary’s County (Maryland) Department of Public Works and Transportation’s 2007 Customer Service Plan. It’s a ten-page .PDF file that outlines in detail what the customer...
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For those of you who don’t know, I’m pretty addicted to building websites. When I was in college I used to stay up until 3 a.m. surfing the internet and working on my personal website. Until now I try to...
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Via What About Clients? I discovered a new blog, More Partner Income by Tom Collins. Although this blog is dedicated to information on managing a law firm, I found the post on Cost Cutting Tips for the Law Firm to...
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