I recently took a road trip to the tip of Florida and stopped at several restaurants and stores along the way. It struck me how differently these retail organizations approached customer service. At Cracker Barrel, there was always one of the staff in proximity to the front door who welcomed the visitors warmly; the hostessRead… Read more »
When President Obama issued an executive order in April this year compelling federal agencies to improve customer service, the future seemed a long way off. But as the first leaves begin to change color here in Washington, a deadline for action looms. By October 24, agencies are ordered to publish a plan for how theyRead… Read more »
One of things you hear over and over is the concern about managing a Twitter account or a Facebook account and how do you deal with the influx of all those questions and comments. In many cases, the fear of not having time to actively respond is so great that it results in scaring agenciesRead… Read more »
What is a reputation? It’s basically a preconceived expectation of behaviors based on previous direct experience and indirect assumptions. What is the reputation of your favorite restaurant, how about your doctor, or the last place you decided never to go back to? Every person you come into contact with every day is forming an impressionRead… Read more »
Picture great service as a three-legged bar stool. Your customer is sitting on top. What happens if one of the legs isn’t strong, or is flat out broken? That’s right, the customer falls off the stool and has a bad experience. Each of the elements represented by the bar stool can be given its ownRead… Read more »
So the 2+ week National Dialog on Government Websites is over. It ended last night with 436 ideas, 1,663 comments, and 8,259 votes submitted by 992 contributors. If you didn’t get a chance to participate, the whole thing is archived for reference. Take a look – I think you’ll be impressed by the quality ofRead… Read more »
Web Manager University, in conjunction with Customer Service week, is offering a free webinar this Wednesday, October 5 at 2pm ET. Get Serious about Customer Service: Best Practices for Implementing the Customer Service Initiative in Your Agency Our customers deserve competent, efficient, and responsive service from the government. In conjunction with customer service week, joinRead… Read more »
The National Dialog on Government Websites has been a resounding success. In fact, it’s gone so well that the .Gov Reform Task Force and GSA have extended the discussion to midnight Tuesday night, October 4. There’s still time for you to get in there to comment and vote on the ideas others have proposed andRead… Read more »
Come one – come all! This is your chance to help the U.S. government figure out how to serve better, online. I told you a few weeks ago about the ground-breaking .Gov Reform initiative the White House and the General Services Administration have underway. In a nutshell, they’re taking a hard look at U.S. governmentRead… Read more »
We know what our customers want. We’ve known for years. We don’t need to keep asking them because the answer is the same. We know what to do to make customer service better. We’ve known that for years, too, because we’ve listened to and watched our customers. So why do 79% of the respondents toRead… Read more »