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Customer Service Information |
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What's in a Name?
Different people call their Customers by different names. If they don't have Customers, they have Clients, purchasers, licensees, users, patients, members, franchisees, or buyers. Each of these words carries meaning to those who say them. And those meanings say something about the health and long term success of the enterprise. What do I mean? Take a minute to do this right now. Write down the word or phrase that you use for your "Customer". Then write down all of the connections or associations you make to that word. Write down everything that comes to your mind. After completing your list, take a look at the resulting list of words and phrases. This list speaks volumes about how you feel about and think about those people who give you money for your products and services. Would you be pleased and proud to have those people read your list? Replicate this exercise with others on your team or in your organization. Compare other people's lists of words and phrases with your own. Then have a discussion about what you find. What do you learn from this exercise? My Experience While I didn't do the exercise, I came to a conclusion earlier this year. In the past, I used a couple of different words interchangeably. I talked about Customer and Clients, sometimes in the same sentence. I started to notice confusion on the faces of people on my team. Eventually we had a conversation where I learned that for others the words Client and Customer meant two different things. I learned that, in the minds of others, a Customer might buy a product one time, but a Client implied a long term relationship. While these meanings weren't my meanings, I quickly applied them for myself. Why? Because I want every person or firm who buys from us to be a Client for life, not a one time purchaser - and just as importantly, I want everyone on my team to be thinking that way too. Just this week, I read a quote from Harris Ginsberg, IBM's director of global executive and organizational capability who said, "A customer is transactional. A client is somebody with whom you have a longstanding relationship and a personal investment." Apparently others agree with my team's definitions. Your Conversation The names and labels matter, but not as much as the common definitions. If you are in a medical practice it is fine to use the word patients, as long as everyone on the team has a clear understanding of what that means and how important patients are within your practice. Once you've had a conversation in your organization about the language you use and definitions you share, as a leader you need to solidify and communicate the right definitions and meanings for your organization so that everyone is truly on the same page. Here are some specific steps you can take once you have opened this conversation: 1. Talk to people about how important the Customer (Client, etc.) is to your business. (How important are they? Make sure that every person understands that the people that purchase your products or services that write their paychecks - they are that important!) 2. Discuss how you want these VIPs to experience your organization. 3. Talk about work processes that may be keeping you from providing that kind of experience and service. 4. If your Customers are typically one time buyers, think about what you can do strategically to change that. 5. Review everyone's daily routines. If your goal is to develop long term relationships, then make sure your daily actions are in step with this goal, and that your language supports these goals. The words we choose are the words we use and they play a powerful role in our beliefs and actions. I encourage you to think about your Customer language. If there is a disconnect within your organization, this exercise can begin to close those gaps and improve your results. If everyone does agree on terminology and meaning, these questions will re-invigorate your efforts to make your Clients/Customers/Purchasers yours forever. p.s. I've capitalized the word Customer throughout this page to let you know how important Customers are. Capitalizing the word is just one way we can remind ourselves of the great importance Customers have for our businesses. After all, without them, we wouldn't be in business. Kevin is Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group (http://KevinEikenberry.com), a learning consulting company that helps Clients reach their potential through a variety of training, consulting and speaking services. Kevin publishes Unleash Your Potential, a free weekly ezine designed to provide ideas, tools, techniques and inspiration to enhance your professional skills. Go to http://www.kevineikenberry.com/uypw/current.asp to read the current issue and subscribe.
MORE RESOURCES: Pricing, AI, DPA, Customer Service Tools; Bill Emerson Interview; Training This Week; STRATMOR CD Workshop Mortgage News Daily AI Chatbots Are Ready to Talk to Customers. Sort of. The Wall Street Journal Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Yahoo Finance Qme secures $3M funding to streamline customer service across Africa Techpoint Africa Building Competitive Advantage in Customer Care Through AI The Business of Fashion 311 Customer Service Center City and County of San Francisco FTC Finalizes Order with H&R Block Requiring Them to Pay $7 Million and Overhaul Advertising and Customer Service Practices for 2025 and 2026 Tax Seasons Federal Trade Commission News Samsung Electronics Canada Customer Service Wins Bronze in ‘Best Use of Omni Channel' at International CX Awards 2024 Business Wire JEA is inviting bids for 19-story downtown tower that used to be its headquarters The Florida Times-Union American Lamprecht Enhances Visibility for Air and Ocean Shipments Using Descartes Solution Supply Chain Dive Neterra Enhances Its Customer Service Monitoring System Total Telecom Women in Fintech: A Conversation About Loyalty Ecosystems in Financial Services with Becky Hill Finovate Gladly Named a Leader in Constellation ShortList™ for Digital Customer Service and Support PR Newswire QueueKiosk™: Saving Thousands of Active-Duty Man Hours & Improving Customer Service at the MPF Office Kiosk Marketplace Finally, hard data on a real-world AI business use case: It’s huge for customer service Sherwood News Liverpool reinvents customer service through digital platform ComputerWeekly.com Firm to expand customer service in Yorkshire with new service centre Golf Business News CSPI & Nutrition Action Customer Service CSPI Newsroom Textron Aviation to Open New Service Facility at Essendon Fields Airport, Expanding Capabilities in Australia Pittsburg Morning Sun Help Department of Taxation and Finance Six Game-Changing AI Customer Service and CX Strategies Hospitality Net Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP) New York State Department of Health Cigna's customer-centric strategy could ripple across the sector Modern Healthcare Major AI Success Story: Giftify Achieves 40% Faster Customer Response Times with Enterprise AI StockTitan Community advocacy group accuses RG&E of shutting off service to record number of customers in 2024 Spectrum News Contact Us About Your Bill myclearwater.com Customer Service Center apps.tampagov.net Customer Support | Department of Corrections Governor Tom Wolf 311 - Birmingham’s Customer Service Center City of Birmingham (.gov) DESCO's meeting held to enhance customer service and power reliability The Business Standard 70% of customer service to rely on AI by 2028: Gartner Outsource Accelerator Customer Service & Support Hillsborough County (.gov) My experience as a Customer Service and Sales Intern Toby Shapiro's Experience at A.D. Sutton and Sons Chapman University Delta’s annual profit-sharing day spotlights ‘people first’ strategy The Atlanta Journal Constitution 3 Ways To Quickly Make $50 GOBankingRates Welcome to Riverside Public Utilities City of Riverside (.gov) Celebrate Customer Service Week City of Riverside (.gov) Which companies have the best customer service? Amazon, Shein, Costco among top-rated brands USA TODAY Con Edison Proposes Investments to Meet Growing Demand for Clean Energy, Enhance Customer Support T&D World Contact Reverb Support Reverb America's Best Customer Service 2025 Newsweek 8 strategies for using AI for customer service in 2025 Sprout Social Attorney General Bonta Demands Better Customer Service for Californians California Department of Justice AI for Customer Service Market worth $47.82 Billion by 2030 - Exclusive Report by MarketsandMarkets™ PR Newswire Can artificial intelligence rescue customer service? The Economist Permits–customer services King County Lifeline Support for Affordable Communications Federal Communications Commission Department of Transportation Governor Tom Wolf 11 key elements of excellent customer service Business.com Shep Hyken, HPU Customer Service Expert, Mentors Students and Staff High Point University Summer EBT | Department of Human Services Governor Tom Wolf How Intercom Achieves 86% Resolution Rates with Claude AI: A Customer Service Revolution - Anthropic Office of Developmental Programs Governor Tom Wolf |
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