shep hyken

You Shouldn’t Have Told Me That

Shep Hyken | December 5, 2019

By Shep Hyken The other day I went out to breakfast with some friends. There were eight of us, so we needed two tables pushed together. The restaurant was crowded. The hostess pointed to a table and said when that party got up, we could have their table and the table next to them, which was empty. It looked like they were almost finished with their breakfast, but we had no idea how long that might be. I noticed that on the other side of the occupied table there was another empty table. It looked like there was enough room to bring that table over to the empty one she was holding for us. I asked if she could do that. Her response was, �...

When Things Aren’t Going Well, Will You Accept Blame?

Shep Hyken | November 27, 2019

By Shep Hyken In a recent Shepard Letter, I wrote about the concept of giving recognition to the people who deserve it. Someone being recognized for what they bring to the organization is often overlooked. That’s a shame. People need to be recognized for their contribution to the team’s success. One of our faithful readers, Drew Smith, responded to the article and shared that he was reading a biography about the 34th President of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower, who was known for “pushing praise down and blame up—to himself.” This is an interesting concept. The idea of praising people for the good job they do is powerful....

A Dramatic Change Doesn’t Have to Be a Traumatic Change

Shep Hyken | November 21, 2019

By Shep Hyken The word dramatic is a great word. When you use it to describe changes you make to improve customer service, it has a positive meaning. It sounds like you’re making big changes for the better. However, if you shorten the word to drama, it takes on an entirely different meaning—one that’s negative. Merriam-Webster’s definition for how the word is used in this context is that it is “a state, situation, or series of events involving interesting or intense conflict of forces.” So, make dramatic changes, but don’t let them cause any drama. That drama could turn your dramatically positive experience into a traumati...

10 Years Ago, Customer Service Was Appreciated—Today, It’s Expected

Shep Hyken | November 14, 2019

By Shep Hyken It wasn’t that long ago that you would go to a store, dine at a restaurant, do business with a vendor or call a customer support center and notice how good the customer service was. A great service experience stood out. It was noticed. It was a differentiator. I started my speaking business in the 1980s. I know, I look much younger than I actually am, but it really was that long ago. Back then, the rock star company that was known for customer service was IBM. They recognized that if they created enough value beyond the actual product, that price would seem less important. That brings me to Lou Sterns, Distinguished Prof...

Give Recognition Where It’s Due

Shep Hyken | October 31, 2019

By Shep Hyken There are some pretty important people in your organization, and I bet many of them don’t know just how important they are. Most likely, they aren’t getting the recognition they deserve. I was talking about this concept with my friend, Kent Higginbotham, and he shared a perfect example of this. Kent was in the Navy, and we affectionally nicknamed him “Admiral.” While in the Navy, Kent flew helicopters. Kent mentioned that most people think the pilot and co-pilot are the most important jobs on a helicopter. No doubt, without these two—or at least one of them—the helicopter can’t take off and land. However, Ken...

Bad Timing or Bad Decision

Shep Hyken | October 29, 2019

By Shep Hyken Recently, my wife and I went out to dinner. We planned to go to a movie afterward but couldn’t decide what to see. Easy solution—we decided to go home and watch one of our favorite shows on Netflix. We arrived home, got comfortable, turned on the TV and… nothing. The TV went on, but there was no cable or Internet signal. There was an outage. Obviously, the cable company didn’t do this on purpose. It was out of their control. Sometimes things happen. It was just bad timing. A couple of weeks later, I attended a conference at a hotel in Orlando. We enjoyed the speakers in the morning session, and after about two hour...

The Survey Shouldn’t Be the Last Thing the Customer Remembers About You

Shep Hyken | October 25, 2019

By Shep Hyken I’m all for getting customer feedback. There are different ways to go about it. Ask customers on the way out of a store, call them on a phone or send follow-up surveys via email. I wrote about surveys a few years ago. The gist of that article was about getting more customers to fill out those surveys. Two areas were covered: timing (when the survey was sent) and length (how long it takes customers to complete). Without rehashing the entire article, timing is important. Don’t wait two weeks to send the survey. And don’t make it too long. Think about what you’re asking the customer to do when you send them a survey. ...

Live Up to a Higher Standard of Service

Shep Hyken | October 9, 2019

By Shep Hyken A friend of mine recently told me about their bad experience at a restaurant. The server was very nice and extremely apologetic about the problems that happened throughout the evening—but there were still problems. The food took a long time to get to the table. When it got there, it wasn’t prepared properly. On the next attempt, the food came out uncooked. The drinks were mixed up. And there were a few other issues, too. The manager came over and apologized profusely. Finally, it was time to pay the check. When my friend opened the leather portfolio there wasn’t a check. Instead, there was a note that read, “Thank you...