Complete the Picture with Feedback Surveys

We’re fond of saying that customer loyalty isn’t something you earn once—it’s something you must earn over and over again at every opportunity. You earn it with each interaction, whether it’s when a customer visits your retail store, calls your customer service, or receives a follow-up call from your salesperson.…
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What Makes The Brandt Group Different

Just as your customers have choices on where to buy, so too do our mystery-shopping clients. Here’s why our clients choose us: Real Shoppers The Brandt Group recruits shoppers local to your market to ensure you receive the most relevant and genuine feedback. Using your prescribed demographics and mystery-shopping frequency,…
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Customer Service Is Your Most Important Product

Think about what your most important product is. If you own a restaurant, perhaps it’s your bestselling dessert; if you run a retail store, it might be a popular item with a big gross margin; if you operate a computer repair service, it’s surely the skills of your technicians. While…
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The Value of Roleplay

Roleplay has long been used a training tool in the world of sales and customer service. In fact, one of the first articles to come up if you search the topic is an article from the May 1987 issue of the Harvard Business Review. In fact, this concept originates with…
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How to Show Employee Appreciation Through Engagement

Today is Employee Appreciation Day! This is the one day to say thank you to your employees, to show them you value the hard work they invest each and every day, and that you care about their well being. Right? Of course not. Just like Valentine’s Day isn’t the one…
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Commandment No. 10 – Thou Shalt Practice the CANEI Principle

We have finally arrived at the tenth entry on Shep Hyken’s Forbes article, The Ten Commandments of Superior Customer Service, titled “Thou Shalt Practice the CANEI Principle”. What does CANEI mean? As Hyken explains, “CANEI is Dr. Edward Deming’s concept that stands for Constant and Never Ending Improvement. It is…
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Commandment No. 9 – Thou Shalt Lighten the Lines

The penultimate entry on Shep Hyken’s Forbes article, The Ten Commandments of Superior Customer Service, is “Thou Shalt Lighten the Lines.” Hyken begins by observing that no one likes waiting in line. He goes on to explain “the word ‘line’ is a metaphor for making the customer wait unnecessarily for…
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Commandment No. 8 – Thou Shalt Take Responsibility

Next up on our review of Ten Commandments of Superior Customer Service by Shep Hyken at Forbes, is “Thou Shalt Take Responsibility”. As Hyken explains, “In customer service, taking responsibility means you own it.” As he further adds, “It may not be your fault, but now it’s your problem (to…
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Commandment No. 7 – Do What Is Necessary, Not What Is Comfortable

Commandment No. 7 from Shep Hyken’s Forbes article, The Ten Commandments of Superior Customer Service, is “Do What Is Necessary, Not What Is Comfortable”. Succinctly, Hyken puts it, “If you are focused on your customer, you will do what’s right and necessary, not what’s easy.” So how does one know…
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