CustomersAreAlways: June 2007 Archives

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Jun28	An Inspiring Customer Service Story Maria Palma June 28, 2007 Know More: Good Customer Service Story, Inspiration There's nothing better in this world than to meet people who are passionate about what they do and who help people out of the pure kindness of their hearts. I was very touched after watching The Simple Truth of Service movie that Mike Sansone sent over to me. To think that most people who are grocery baggers wouldn't find much meaning in their job, but Johnny found just one simple thing to make a difference in his customers' lives. People love to be inspired and inspiring them is certainly part of the customer experience. Why do you think movies like The Pursuit of Happyness are such great hits? Customers are drawn to good energy and inspiring stories. So, the next time you think you're job doesn't have any meaning, think of Johnny...and do something creative to surprise and put a smile on your customer's face! Who knew you could find inspiration in a grocery bag? Posted at 7:28 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun25	The Math Problem We Never Learned in School Maria Palma June 25, 2007 It’s Monday morning and I’m sure many of you were out shopping this weekend - maybe it’s a new BBQ grill for summer get-togethers or maybe it’s a new bathing suit for that trip to the beach. Whatever it is,... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun22	Carnivale of Customer Service Hits the Big Tents Maria Palma June 22, 2007 Ok, I’ve taken the Carnivale of Customer Service to the big tents, folks…and it has a new name. Drumroll please…The Customer Service Carnivale is making it’s mark in the blogosphere and a call for submissions has been posted over at... Continue Reading Posted at 4:42 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Making It Easy For Customers To Return Products Maria Palma June 22, 2007 For many retail stores, handling returns is a major concern. Did you know that consumers rank “making products easy to return” as the second most important service in the apparel industry? Epicor\|CRS recently came out with a white paper that... Continue Reading Posted at 2:21 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun20	Wanted: Guest Bloggers Maria Palma June 20, 2007 As you may or may not have noticed, I haven’t been around much here lately. I’ve been working on a couple projects (one of them is to get one of my Squidoo lenses in the top 100 of Squidoo), traveling... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun18	Sierra Nevada Beer: Above and Beyond or Just Doing What They’re Supposed to Be Doing? Maria Palma June 18, 2007 As I was browsing through the customer service news this morning, I stumbled upon this post over at The Consumerist. The reason it stood out because I’m quite familiar with Sierra Nevada beer. (I attended Chico State where people drink... Continue Reading Posted at 5:43 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun14	A Lesson From Ellen DeGeneres Maria Palma June 14, 2007 I was watching Ellen Degeneres a couple weeks ago and during her stand-up monologue she told the story about a car buying experience…Ellen bought two cars from a car dealership where the sales guy assured her that “I’m not making... Continue Reading Posted at 1:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Good Ole Fashioned Communication Maria Palma June 14, 2007 For the past two weeks a few of our authors here at Know More Media have been meeting up on Mondays for a weekly teleconference to share ideas and thoughts about our blogs. It’s pretty nice to actually hear someone’s... Continue Reading Posted at 11:46 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun13	Funny Customer Service Video: Customer Service Back in the Day Maria Palma June 13, 2007 For those of you who have been following this blog, you know how much I love searching for funny customer service YouTube videos. I just came across this one titled “First Customer Service in History”… The guy showed so much... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Transparency in Corporate Blogging Maria Palma June 13, 2007 “It's okay to let the world see that your company isn't perfect on your blog”That’s what Suzanne Davis of Pierce Mattie Public Relations said in a post about brand advocacy and “ghost blogging”. With the ever increasing popularity of blogs... Continue Reading Posted at 3:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun12	A Voice to Talk To Maria Palma June 12, 2007 The 1to1 blog says “No” to Call Centers. In theory, that sounds great, doesn’t it? No more phone trees and being on hold for endless amounts of time. Ah, yes, that would be customer service Heaven. However, the point here... Continue Reading Posted at 1:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Celebrity Marketing vs Good Ole Fashioned Customer Service Maria Palma June 12, 2007 Nowadays marketing departments of most big companies are not as creative as they used to be. The reason I say that is because every time I flip through a fashion magazine or see a TV commercial, we see a celebrity... Continue Reading Posted at 11:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun11	Do You Think Dell Really Understands Customer Service? Maria Palma June 11, 2007 Dell, oh, Dell…We often wonder if you truly understand customer service. We know that you are making efforts to improve the customer experience. You started a blog, which we applaud. You made the $100M commitment…cut the rebates…but now you decide... Continue Reading Posted at 11:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Every Call Is Valuable Maria Palma June 11, 2007 I’ve mentioned before that I worked in a call center. First as a reservation sales agent for Travelodge and then years later I worked for a tour company. During those times I never once was part of any team meeting... Continue Reading Posted at 11:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 8	For Those Companies That Still Don't Get It Maria Palma June 8, 2007 The CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited shares some interesting statistics on customer service. Do any of them surprise you? He then asks the question that goes through all of our minds – the people who are customer service oriented, at... Continue Reading Posted at 11:44 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 6	Where Customer Service and Productivity Meet Maria Palma June 6, 2007 Well, it’s official! Carolyn Manning over at ProductivityGoal will be hosting the Carnivale of Customer Service on June 18! This past Monday, Know More Media held a tele-conference for the authors, so it was nice to be able to chat... Continue Reading Posted at 5:26 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Move Over Starbucks, Here Comes Caribou Coffee Maria Palma June 6, 2007 As many of you know, I’m a big-time coffee drinker and talk about Starbucks quite often. I think I visited Starbucks just about every other day last year and this year, well, I’ve been frequenting other coffee shops just to... Continue Reading Posted at 3:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 5	Carnivale of Customer Service: Good Stories and Tips Edition Maria Palma June 5, 2007 Come one, come all! Wow, do we have some great treats for this week’s Carnivale of Customer Service! If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog, I welcome you ;) Please stick around for some great customer service stories and tips…Darryl... Continue Reading Posted at 8:00 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Customer Service Outsourcing: Yay or Nay? Maria Palma June 5, 2007 A 2005 Gartner study predicted that 60% of organizations that outsource will see significant numbers of customers switching to competitors. (Source: Chasing Cool)Sixty percent - that’s a pretty significant number. There has been this growing frustration among consumers who call... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 4	Carnivale of Customer Service Postponed Maria Palma June 4, 2007 Last week literally flew by for me and I realized that I failed to post reminders about the Carnivale of Customer Service! Because of that I didn’t receive any submissions…You’ll have to excuse me as I’ve been inundated with email... Continue Reading Posted at 6:00 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 2	Are You the LeBron James Of Your Team? Maria Palma June 2, 2007 For the past month my little getaway from blogging and working on my business is to watch the NBA Finals. Warning: if you don’t like sports talk, then stop reading! However, I will tie this in with customer service if... Continue Reading Posted at 12:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Funny Customer Service Video: The Coupon Guy Maria Palma June 2, 2007 You’ve worked hard this week and now it’s time to rest and relax! For those of you who work in the retail sector, well, you’re probably working right now… I know those weekends can be very busy. Screaming kids, customers... Continue Reading Posted at 11:15 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 1	Thrill Them...Excite Them... Maria Palma June 1, 2007 In this day and age we are all about short-cuts…doing things more efficiently, finding the quickest way to work, 30-minute meals, etc. etc. If you can find a way to give back someone some of that precious time that we all so crave, believe me, you will have a loyal customer. Continue Reading Posted at 7:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Will Changes At Starbucks Affect Their Customer Service? Maria Palma June 1, 2007 I had a chat with a friend who is a manager at a Starbucks here in San Diego. We got to talking about how Starbucks is turning into the McDonald’s of coffee shops…Well, my friend’s theory on why Starbucks has... Continue Reading Posted at 5:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Top 25 Marketing Blogs and Blogtipping Maria Palma June 1, 2007 Mack of The Viral Garden has put together a list of the Top 25 Marketing Blogs and I’d like to say “Congratulations!” to those blogs that I read often, including:#1 Creating Passionate Users#2 Seth Godin#6 Converstations#10 Church of the Customer#12... Continue Reading Posted at 3:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Are You Contagious? Maria Palma June 1, 2007 Endless amounts of time and energy are spent thinking about and developing viral marketing campaigns. With so many modes of communication available to us, it’s so easy to transmit information to thousands, if not millions, of people.But how do you... Continue Reading Posted at 2:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	11 Ways to Lose Customers Maria Palma June 1, 2007 1. Ignore them when it’s obvious they need your help2. “Sell” to them instead of talking to them3. Don’t smile4. Don’t take their feedback seriously - even if it’s a complaint5. Forget about the customer after the first sale6. Push... Continue Reading Posted at 11:26 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »

Jun28	An Inspiring Customer Service Story Maria Palma June 28, 2007 Know More: Good Customer Service Story, Inspiration There's nothing better in this world than to meet people who are passionate about what they do and who help people out of the pure kindness of their hearts. I was very touched after watching The Simple Truth of Service movie that Mike Sansone sent over to me. To think that most people who are grocery baggers wouldn't find much meaning in their job, but Johnny found just one simple thing to make a difference in his customers' lives. People love to be inspired and inspiring them is certainly part of the customer experience. Why do you think movies like The Pursuit of Happyness are such great hits? Customers are drawn to good energy and inspiring stories. So, the next time you think you're job doesn't have any meaning, think of Johnny...and do something creative to surprise and put a smile on your customer's face! Who knew you could find inspiration in a grocery bag? Posted at 7:28 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun25	The Math Problem We Never Learned in School Maria Palma June 25, 2007 It’s Monday morning and I’m sure many of you were out shopping this weekend - maybe it’s a new BBQ grill for summer get-togethers or maybe it’s a new bathing suit for that trip to the beach. Whatever it is,... Continue Reading Posted at 6:45 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun22	Carnivale of Customer Service Hits the Big Tents Maria Palma June 22, 2007 Ok, I’ve taken the Carnivale of Customer Service to the big tents, folks…and it has a new name. Drumroll please…The Customer Service Carnivale is making it’s mark in the blogosphere and a call for submissions has been posted over at... Continue Reading Posted at 4:42 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Making It Easy For Customers To Return Products Maria Palma June 22, 2007 For many retail stores, handling returns is a major concern. Did you know that consumers rank “making products easy to return” as the second most important service in the apparel industry? Epicor\|CRS recently came out with a white paper that... Continue Reading Posted at 2:21 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun20	Wanted: Guest Bloggers Maria Palma June 20, 2007 As you may or may not have noticed, I haven’t been around much here lately. I’ve been working on a couple projects (one of them is to get one of my Squidoo lenses in the top 100 of Squidoo), traveling... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun18	Sierra Nevada Beer: Above and Beyond or Just Doing What They’re Supposed to Be Doing? Maria Palma June 18, 2007 As I was browsing through the customer service news this morning, I stumbled upon this post over at The Consumerist. The reason it stood out because I’m quite familiar with Sierra Nevada beer. (I attended Chico State where people drink... Continue Reading Posted at 5:43 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun14	A Lesson From Ellen DeGeneres Maria Palma June 14, 2007 I was watching Ellen Degeneres a couple weeks ago and during her stand-up monologue she told the story about a car buying experience…Ellen bought two cars from a car dealership where the sales guy assured her that “I’m not making... Continue Reading Posted at 1:53 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Good Ole Fashioned Communication Maria Palma June 14, 2007 For the past two weeks a few of our authors here at Know More Media have been meeting up on Mondays for a weekly teleconference to share ideas and thoughts about our blogs. It’s pretty nice to actually hear someone’s... Continue Reading Posted at 11:46 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun13	Funny Customer Service Video: Customer Service Back in the Day Maria Palma June 13, 2007 For those of you who have been following this blog, you know how much I love searching for funny customer service YouTube videos. I just came across this one titled “First Customer Service in History”… The guy showed so much... Continue Reading Posted at 6:30 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Transparency in Corporate Blogging Maria Palma June 13, 2007 “It's okay to let the world see that your company isn't perfect on your blog”That’s what Suzanne Davis of Pierce Mattie Public Relations said in a post about brand advocacy and “ghost blogging”. With the ever increasing popularity of blogs... Continue Reading Posted at 3:29 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun12	A Voice to Talk To Maria Palma June 12, 2007 The 1to1 blog says “No” to Call Centers. In theory, that sounds great, doesn’t it? No more phone trees and being on hold for endless amounts of time. Ah, yes, that would be customer service Heaven. However, the point here... Continue Reading Posted at 1:47 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Celebrity Marketing vs Good Ole Fashioned Customer Service Maria Palma June 12, 2007 Nowadays marketing departments of most big companies are not as creative as they used to be. The reason I say that is because every time I flip through a fashion magazine or see a TV commercial, we see a celebrity... Continue Reading Posted at 11:04 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun11	Do You Think Dell Really Understands Customer Service? Maria Palma June 11, 2007 Dell, oh, Dell…We often wonder if you truly understand customer service. We know that you are making efforts to improve the customer experience. You started a blog, which we applaud. You made the $100M commitment…cut the rebates…but now you decide... Continue Reading Posted at 11:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Every Call Is Valuable Maria Palma June 11, 2007 I’ve mentioned before that I worked in a call center. First as a reservation sales agent for Travelodge and then years later I worked for a tour company. During those times I never once was part of any team meeting... Continue Reading Posted at 11:21 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 8	For Those Companies That Still Don't Get It Maria Palma June 8, 2007 The CEO of Conference Calls Unlimited shares some interesting statistics on customer service. Do any of them surprise you? He then asks the question that goes through all of our minds – the people who are customer service oriented, at... Continue Reading Posted at 11:44 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 6	Where Customer Service and Productivity Meet Maria Palma June 6, 2007 Well, it’s official! Carolyn Manning over at ProductivityGoal will be hosting the Carnivale of Customer Service on June 18! This past Monday, Know More Media held a tele-conference for the authors, so it was nice to be able to chat... Continue Reading Posted at 5:26 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Move Over Starbucks, Here Comes Caribou Coffee Maria Palma June 6, 2007 As many of you know, I’m a big-time coffee drinker and talk about Starbucks quite often. I think I visited Starbucks just about every other day last year and this year, well, I’ve been frequenting other coffee shops just to... Continue Reading Posted at 3:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 5	Carnivale of Customer Service: Good Stories and Tips Edition Maria Palma June 5, 2007 Come one, come all! Wow, do we have some great treats for this week’s Carnivale of Customer Service! If you’ve just stumbled upon this blog, I welcome you ;) Please stick around for some great customer service stories and tips…Darryl... Continue Reading Posted at 8:00 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Customer Service Outsourcing: Yay or Nay? Maria Palma June 5, 2007 A 2005 Gartner study predicted that 60% of organizations that outsource will see significant numbers of customers switching to competitors. (Source: Chasing Cool)Sixty percent - that’s a pretty significant number. There has been this growing frustration among consumers who call... Continue Reading Posted at 7:02 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 4	Carnivale of Customer Service Postponed Maria Palma June 4, 2007 Last week literally flew by for me and I realized that I failed to post reminders about the Carnivale of Customer Service! Because of that I didn’t receive any submissions…You’ll have to excuse me as I’ve been inundated with email... Continue Reading Posted at 6:00 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 2	Are You the LeBron James Of Your Team? Maria Palma June 2, 2007 For the past month my little getaway from blogging and working on my business is to watch the NBA Finals. Warning: if you don’t like sports talk, then stop reading! However, I will tie this in with customer service if... Continue Reading Posted at 12:40 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Funny Customer Service Video: The Coupon Guy Maria Palma June 2, 2007 You’ve worked hard this week and now it’s time to rest and relax! For those of you who work in the retail sector, well, you’re probably working right now… I know those weekends can be very busy. Screaming kids, customers... Continue Reading Posted at 11:15 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
Jun 1	Thrill Them...Excite Them... Maria Palma June 1, 2007 In this day and age we are all about short-cuts…doing things more efficiently, finding the quickest way to work, 30-minute meals, etc. etc. If you can find a way to give back someone some of that precious time that we all so crave, believe me, you will have a loyal customer. Continue Reading Posted at 7:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Will Changes At Starbucks Affect Their Customer Service? Maria Palma June 1, 2007 I had a chat with a friend who is a manager at a Starbucks here in San Diego. We got to talking about how Starbucks is turning into the McDonald’s of coffee shops…Well, my friend’s theory on why Starbucks has... Continue Reading Posted at 5:07 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Top 25 Marketing Blogs and Blogtipping Maria Palma June 1, 2007 Mack of The Viral Garden has put together a list of the Top 25 Marketing Blogs and I’d like to say “Congratulations!” to those blogs that I read often, including:#1 Creating Passionate Users#2 Seth Godin#6 Converstations#10 Church of the Customer#12... Continue Reading Posted at 3:43 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	Are You Contagious? Maria Palma June 1, 2007 Endless amounts of time and energy are spent thinking about and developing viral marketing campaigns. With so many modes of communication available to us, it’s so easy to transmit information to thousands, if not millions, of people.But how do you... Continue Reading Posted at 2:00 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	11 Ways to Lose Customers Maria Palma June 1, 2007 1. Ignore them when it’s obvious they need your help2. “Sell” to them instead of talking to them3. Don’t smile4. Don’t take their feedback seriously - even if it’s a complaint5. Forget about the customer after the first sale6. Push... Continue Reading Posted at 11:26 AM \| Permalink \| Comments

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