We're not here to make customers happy
This article is a modified version of one I wrote for my team at Campaign Monitor. I'm sharing it here because I think it has broader applicability. My two sons, with their barely-making-a-venn-diagram sets of food allergies, visit a paediatric
The 7 elements of an effective apology
Nobody can make "sorry" sound less genuine than a three-year-old can. Eyes down, body turned away, fists clenched and a foot that could clearly stomp at any moment. Every parent has seen it. Eventually they manage to force out a
The cost of policies in customer service
When I joined Campaign Monitor there were only four of us, and as the sole support person each day was a constant series of decisions; should I give this person a refund? Do I make this change for the customer
Do job titles matter?
On stage at this year's Chicago UserConf, I put up these slides. I was using those increasingly wacky titles as an introduction the main point of my talk: Instead of making your support team be heroic in order to get
Norwegian Curling Pants and the customer service manager
Tracky Dacks is an Australian term for sweat pants; comfortable, casual and desparately uncool. I like to think that my approach to customer service is fairly similar. Customer service isn't cool, but it can be done honestly and in a
The best service can be no service at all
Mary pointed her finger at me accusingly: "We thought you were sending us the worst of the worst! We spent hours trying to work out what was wrong with them!" It was March in Austin, SXSW time, and I'd just
Calm customer service: still easier than labour
Some customers are a right pain in the inbox, there's no denying it. They have a way of frustrating all attempts to help them, or of interpreting everything in the worst way. But still, they're our customers and we want
You don't have to be a super hero to give great service
On May 1st, 2014 I gave a talk at the always excellent UserConf in Chicago. These are the notes and related resources to go along with that talk. You can now watch the whole talk on video over at UserConf.
What my mechanic taught me about customer service
I got my first car when I was about 19. It was a 1983~ Ford Laser hatch. It had burnt orange paint and purple tinted windows, a choke that required a peg to hold it in place and a sports
Not so great expectations for email support
In short: Your customers have spent their lives dealing with customer service which has probably been very poor. That changes the way they interpret all your communication and that has repercussions for the way you write. When you work in
Answer, Anticipate, Elaborate
Adam Levine (or was it that Lost guy) was onto a good thing with his moves like Jagger. Mick knows that getting what you want is not the same as getting what you need, and great service means going beyond
Technically correct, the worst kind of correct
This is an article I posted previously on my personal blog, but that really should live here. A while back my wife returned to a local kitchen goods store, toddler and pre-schooler in tow. She wanted to ask about repairs
Planning customer service during a major outage
Dave and Ben (our directors at Campaign Monitor) often used to go on holidays together. This time, the worst time, they were off surfing from a boat in the ocean somewhere near Indonesia. That's why we couldn't contact them when
Marketing tricks make customer service harder
In short: Obtaining customers through dubious or outright deceptive behaviour can be measurably effective in the short term, but has consequences for the customer service team and your customer relationships. In Australia it is compulsory to hold third party insurance
My Origin Story
How do you take a perfectly happy customer, and turn them into an anti-evangelist for your company? Hint: It doesn't require radioactive spiders, cosmic rays or labaoratory explosions. Origin Energy are an electricity provider, the largest in Australia by customer
Negative feedback and defensiveness in customer service
In Short: Receiving and handling negative comments can be tough, but controlling your reaction and handling it well is a skill worth working on. Our pediatric allergist is very popular, and it's hard to get an appointment. She had offered