By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD In Customer Service is a Strategy, Not a Slogan, I put forward the question: Do you actually provide quality customer service or just brag about it? I then offered a comparison study, based on personal experience in the area of automotive repair. Here is another consideration from the retail sector. […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I was a loyal customer of a national office supply chain (they’ll remain nameless to protect their otherwise good image). I was a preferred customer, which entitles me to special discounts and occasional rewards (on those rare quarters when I buy “enough” product.) They also send me an email, seemingly […]
Mishandling Leads Will Result in Lost Sales By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Over a decade ago, in my article “I Want To Buy Some Shoes,” I used my experience buying a pair of sneakers to talk about the TAS industry. Now, I’ll do it again. With my wife serving as my accomplice, she guided me […]
People Judge the Company We Represent on Every Single Phone Call By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I once had a call center agent work for me who had a compulsion to offer commentary at the end of every call. Her comments ranged from snarky to crass. Occasionally she voiced her opinion a bit too quickly, […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Though I no longer work in a call center, I remember those days well. There was always something demanding my attention, some urgent matter to attend to. I’d often spend an entire day, sometimes all week, just putting out fires. Charles Hummel called this the “tyranny of the urgent,” where […]
Great writers can teach us about writing and inspire us to write with excellence Here are some of my favorite quotes from great writers and other famous people: “Truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” -Flannery O’Connor “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.” -Muriel Rukeyser “Having fun isn’t […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Some 20 years ago, a shuttered restaurant—just down the street—was being renovated. Excited to have a nice eatery within a couple of minutes of home, our family paid them a visit within weeks of their re-opening. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, the food was tasty, and entrees were not […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Does your organization make customer service a priority? I expect that it does. In fact, I suspect that the phrase “customer service” is found somewhere in your mission or vision statement, etched on a wall plaque, proclaimed in your marketing material, and oft orated by upper management. However, as is […]
By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Several years ago, as I was mowing my lawn, a stranger pulled into my driveway. He approached with the determined look of a salesman. With no way to make myself scarce, I waited as he approached. He was taking a survey. Suspicious that it was really a guise for a […]
Though serving clients is the goal, what we call ourselves does matter By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Asking if you’re an answering service or a call center isn’t a matter of semantics, it’s a matter of perception. And since perceptions drive behaviors, this is an important discussion to have. First, let’s cover some definitions to […]