Let’s talk about true customer service skills. Are you still under the belief that simply having a smile on your face, and being nice to a customer, is all that it takes to keep your customer base satisfied and attract new customers? In today’s world, consumers expect more. Much more.

Even if you don’t fall into the 20 percent of the population that has a chronic problem with procrastination, the remaining 80 percent of people still experience procrastination from time to time. Procrastinating can jeopardize some of our goals; it’s self-sabotaging. So why do we do it?

Let’s imagine a call is booked with your company, but the customer calls in to cancel. What happens next? Do your customer service representatives (CSRs) simply say, “OK, thanks”? Every successful company should have a plan for following up on lost opportunities along with missed opportunities.

Ask my wife and she’ll pull out a list a half-mile long referencing every time I’ve been guilty of hearing, but not really listening. But what’s the difference between hearing and listening, and why is one so much more important when it comes to our relationships with others?

Have you forgotten how to have fun? Have laughter, happy faces, and a positive atmosphere become extinct in your workplace? Here are a few tips on how to bring back a little fun to your office while still getting the work done.

One source indicates that up to 40 percent of our daily activities are executed on autopilot without giving much thought to what we’re doing.  So when someone mentions the word change, we often want to put on the brakes and tell them they can keep their change.

I need everyone to take a look at how their company dispatches calls to technicians. I’m not talking about your technology, or whatever fancy system you have come up with that includes a map to the customer, etc. I am talking about how the calls are distributed to your team.

Fail to prepare and you’re preparing to fail. It’s a common phrase we’ve all heard and frequently comes to mind when I think of hiring a new employee. All too often in our industry we give new technicians what amounts to a crash course in training before sending them on their way and expecting them to learn the rest on their own. 

Often times when I ask the question about a clear call board, people think I am trying to trick them somehow. The idea behind that question is not meant to be a trick; it is simply attempting to find out if you are preparing to grow. 

Have you ever been “in the zone”? It’s that state of mind where you’re firing on all cylinders. Ideas and answers are coming to you rapidly — and they’re good ones. Professional athletes have games like this, in which they break records and carry their teams to the top. It would be nice to be able to create this state of mind every day.