IS YOUR BUSINESS DELIVERING OUTSTANDING SERVICE? by Emily Huling Most agencies want it, but few are successful at achieving it: consistent delivery of outstanding customer service. Organi...

KEEP ETHICS IN CUSTOMER SERVICE by Karen Flaherty As a customer service professional, you have a big job with huge responsibilities. Youre responsible for everything you do a...

KEEP THE HUMAN TOUCH IN CUSTOMER SERVICE by Jack Fries For better or worse, electronic commerce is changing the relationship between consumers and vendors. It's often for the worse in cu...

Every year sometime after Thanksgiving, my clothes shrink. My newest suit coat no longer buttons, and the pleats of the pants pull tight. This is confusing, because in my mind’s eye, I’m still the lean, mean, fighting machine who completed Army basic training in 1971. The truth is that my clothes are the same size, but the body the fabric must cover has grown and reshaped.

LEARNING PLANS FOR CSRs by Mary Beth Bolen Customer service is a dynamic, changing field. A stick-in-the-mud agency that clings to outdated practices often stays right where it started - in the ...

LEARNING TO MANAGE E-MAIL by Steve Anderson Communicating with someone used to be easy. You could just pick up the phone and give them a call, or sit down and write a note. Fast forward a...

This letter and questionnaire generated quite a response and helped one agency that sent it learn a lot about their image. The response rate to the letter was 13.23% --...

Third-party endorsements inspire confidence and increase your credibility. Make letters of recommendation part of your marketing mix. In this document, Bill Cates tells you how and when to ask for letters of recommendation.

LEVERAGE SELLING FOR CSRs by Mary Beth Bolen CSRs can use their networking skills to garner qualified leads. 'Selling through service' is a good motto for CSRs in any agency. But how do...

LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS by Troy Campbell To find out how the agency is perceived by customers requires continuous monitoring. Detailed perceptions can be obtained from a complaint log, a compli...