PODCAST · business
Stepping Up Service
by The MESH
Customer service is the cornerstone of most successful organizations. But with the business world evolving, thanks to technology and online communications, maintaining high customer service can become even more of a challenge. This program features Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions, a leading expert in the area of customer service and process improvement, talking about how organizations can keep "stepping up" the service they provide.
Episodes
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Stepping Up Service: ”Be Good When Things Go Bad”
There are some industries where customer perceptions are more based on how you handle the tough situations than on whether or not you deliver the “WOW” experience. In this episode, Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions explains to Alan some of these examples, and then the key things the…
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Stepping Up Service: Customer Service is the New Marketing
This month's episode addresses how many market professionals are claiming that customer service is really just a form of marketing... and how that’s a good thing. Alan and Ed talk through examples of how marketers are co-opting customer service and using as a core element of their marketing...
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Stepping Up Service: Connecting the Dots
Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) shares a personal story about his experience with a telecommunications company and how their poor internal communications resulted in a unsatisfactory customer experience. Ed and Alan Jackson (Bivarus) discuss the various failure points of the experience and...
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Stepping Up Service: The 10 Contradictory Values of a Great Customer Service Team
There are many great values that come to mind when thinking about what makes a great customer service team. But Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions (www.cssamerica.com) talks with Alan about how some of these terms - while seemingly contradictory - actually mesh very well to showcase…
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Stepping Up Service: Appreciating the Employee
Employees of any organization play a critical role in the level of service that is delivered to customers. And employees that feel appreciated by the organization for the work they perform are going to have more incentive to deliver the best service possible. Alan and Ed discuss why showing...
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Stepping Up Service: Alan’s Epic Customer Service Story (Rant)
This month’s episode is different than previous installments; in this episode, Alan Jackson (Bivarus/The Jackson Group) takes over the microphone to relay a recent customer service experience that has him a bit frazzled. Along the way, Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) offers insight as to…
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Stepping Up Service: Designing the Future Employee
As customer service needs continue to change and evolve with time, it is important to make sure the employees we have in the future exhibit the qualities that are going to meet those needs. Like the example of the "Six Million Dollar Man", Alan and Ed discuss how to design the ideal future…
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Stepping Up Service: Defining Disrespect
Many customers nowadays note that “respect” is very important to them and they get angry when they feel “disrespected.” Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions) discuss what customers see as “respect" and what the idea of “disrespect" looks like to them. Ed…
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Stepping Up Service: Creating Emotional Engagement with Employees
Alan Jackson (The Jackson Group, www.thejacksongroup.com) and Ed Gagnon (Customer Service Solutions, www.cssamerica.com) discuss how employee engagement requires an emotional connection between the organization and its employees…and how emotional engagement with employees is so important…
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Stepping Up Service: 20 great Customer Service Quotes for 2016
Sometimes all we need are simple, everyday reminders about the importance of customer service in our organization. Quotes by famous – and sometimes not-so-famous – people can provide us with those reminders in a very memorable way. In this episode, Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions shares...
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Stepping Up Service: Predicting the Exit
In many organizations, losing a customer could come as a shock or surprise…. but there may have been pieces of information that could have helped you predict which customers are planning to leave. Gathering and using this information is critical to helping “predict the exit” of a customer or...
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Stepping Up Service: Instilling the 4 S’s of the Customer Experience
In this episode, Ed explains to Alan the four “Must Do’s” to have the foundation your organization needs for a successful customer experience. Some of these aren’t what you’d think – there are surprises galore! This topic is based on one of Customer Service Solution's "Tip of the Week” which can…
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Stepping Up Service: Making the Most of the Millennial Moment
The generation known as “Millennials" are a large and growing segment of the customer base of many businesses. They are a unique – and in some ways – very demanding group. When it comes to providing them with the customer service they are expecting, there are a few tips we all need to keep in…
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Stepping Up Service: Avoid Being Called ”Rude”
If there is one phrase that is heard commonly when describing poor customer service experiences, it is “that person was RUDE.” The term “rudeness” is used to describe a variety of ways customers may feel neglected, talked to in a condescending way, or treated with harshness. But what is the cost…
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Stepping Up Service: Know the Customer’s Story
Alan and Ed talk about the concept of having “empathy” for your customers and why it is so important to delivering outstanding customer service. Empathy is explained through the idea of “knowing the customer’s story”… understanding where they are coming from and what is driving their needs or...
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Stepping Up Service: A Customer Service Approach to E-mail Marketing
E-mail has become one of the most useful tools for marketing your organization… but many people forget that there is also a customer service element to using email to communicate with current or potential customers. Alan Jackson of The Jackson Group talks with Ed Gagnon of Customer Service...
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Stepping Up Service: Listening to the Employee’s Voice
We talk a lot on “Stepping Up Service” about listening to the “voice” of the customer to see how we can improve the customer service they receive. But few realize that asking our employees is the second best way of learning about our customers! Alan Jackson of The Jackson Group...
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Stepping Up Service: When Customer Service Defines Your Brand
There are several examples of how a company’s actual customer service experience impacted their brand (positively and negatively). Alan and Ed talk through some of these real-life examples and how the company’s reputation for customer service - or lack thereof - has helped create a brand image…
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Stepping Up Service: Cuban and Branson and Bezos - Oh My!
What makes a “Customer-Centric Leader”? Ed shares three examples of high-profile leaders that spend a great deal of their time and energy focusing on the customer experience and why it helps their companies be successful. Mark Cuban’s fan-focused activities, Richard Branson’s “2nd Impression”...
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Stepping Up Service: Key Customer Service Trends for 2015
It’s the start of a new year, so Alan and Ed bring out their crystal ball as they predict Customer Service Trends for 2015! What will customers be wanting more of in the coming year? And what should companies be paying more attention to with regards to their customer service approach? Ed has some...
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Stepping Up Service: Companies We’re Thankful For
It’s Thanksgiving, so Alan and Ed decided to show a little love to some companies that have set high standards for customer service during recent encounters. Ed talks about four companies, from various industries, that have made big impressions on him recently, and have caused him to be truly...
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Stepping Up Service: Your Service Culture Checklist
Let’s say you want to better understand your organization’s customer service “culture”, and you need a straightforward way to self-assess the culture and opportunities for improvement. Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions walks Alan through such an assessment for his fictional Halloween…
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Stepping Up Service: Tips for the New Business Leader
Imagine if you had the opportunity to completely rebuild your organization’s “service culture”, defining how you are going to serve your clients and customers and the values that will be communicated at all levels. For some new organizations, or new leaders in an existing organization, those...
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Stepping Up Service: Dissecting the Comcast Retention Call
A customer of one of the largest internet providers in the nation tried to have their service disconnected… and in the process had a very frustrating “retention call” experience that he then recorded and posted for the whole Internet to hear. Alan and Ed discuss this infamous call, and point out...
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Stepping Up Service: Making it Easy to Say ”Yes” to the Customer
We’ve all had those experiences where we hear that dreaded word “NO” from a customer service representative, whether we are asking for assistance in a matter or looking for a company to do something a bit outside of their normal operations. Unfortunately, in many situations, those people we are...
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Stepping Up Service: Creating your ”Voice of the Customer” Strategy
Ed and Alan have always discussed the importance of listening to the “Voice of the Customer” whether through surveys, focus groups, etc. However, effectively using that customer “voice” information takes more than just conducting the survey or gathering the data. Ed and Alan discuss how to…
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Stepping Up Service: Motivating the Unmotivated Employee
You may think of yourself as a strong advocate for customer service in your organization … but what about that employee that is obviously not engaged in their work or in providing the best service possible? How can we motivate the “unmotivated employee”? Alan and Ed talk through four ideas to…
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Stepping Up Service: Research Based Retention
Keep your your clients and customers happy is critical… so the idea of managing “retention” becomes very important for every business or organization. There are many ways to use research and data to help manage and improve your customer retention, and in this episode Alan and Ed discuss several…
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Stepping Up Service: Creating An ”Always Culture”
Many organizations are adopting the concept of creating an "Always Culture", especially in the healthcare industry where standardized satisfaction surveys ask patients to tell us how often good customer service takes place. The goal is to not have customer service be a light switch (turning on…
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Stepping Up Service: Jumpstart The Customer Service Experience
So let's say you're wanting to enhance your organization's Customer Service Experience, and you want to do it quickly. Sometimes the best way to get something started quickly is to adapt what others have done... even if those other organizations are from other industries. In this episode, Ed...
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Stepping Up Service: 2014 Customer Service Trends
After a full year of “Stepping Up Service” episodes wrapped up for 2013, it’s time to start looking into the future… what are the trends we see for the Customer Service world in 2014? Ed shares his predictions with Alan, as they talk about the potential shift to a more holistic, face-to-face...
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Stepping Up Service: Customer Service Stories... to Help Your Business
For your listening pleasure this holiday season, Ed and Alan become storytellers for this episode of “Stepping Up Service”. Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions shares five stories (with almost all of them true!) about customer service experiences… and discusses what we can learn from these...
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Stepping Up Service: Is Customer Experience a Reason to Stay or Go?
Ed brought up a blog post recently where an avid NFL fan explained that they were not renewing their season tickets because of the "fan experience". This leads Ed and Alan to define "Customer Experience Management", and address how what brings your customers in often differs from what keeps them....
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Stepping Up Service: Setting Customer Service Standards
Everyone has their own definition of good customer service... so leaving it to employees of an organization to provide their own defined level of customer service could result in an inconsistent experience for your customers. Many organizations are setting "Customer Service Standards", which…
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Stepping Up Service: Lessons Learned From A Young Hitchhiker
Alan and Ed take a bit of a break from their normal discussion format as they decide to sit back and listen to Ed tell us the "Lessons Learned from a Young Hitchhiker." Ed came into contact with an individual who had hitchhiked over 200 times in the past, and found that many of the things this...
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Stepping Up Service: Measuring Customer Satisfaction
So you've been trying to improve the level of customer service in your organization, and you feel that things are starting to improve. But how do you find out if your changes are truly affecting your customers' satisfaction? It's time for some measurement! Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions...
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Stepping Up Service: Simplifying Communications in the Workplace
If communications within your office or organization are complex and prone to errors, then your customers are the ones that may ultimately pay the price. To help serve customers, clients and partners more effectively, we need to make sure our communications are as simple as possible within our...
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Stepping Up Service: Great Service Examples from Large Businesses
A while back, we discussed "Great Service Examples from Small Businesses" and received very positive feedback from listeners. We realize, though, that there are just as many stories of some big, household name companies providing excellent customer service to their customers. In many ways, the...
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Stepping Up Service: Being Willing To Share The Bad News
This episode focuses on getting employees not to fear confrontations when they have bad news to share. Alan and Ed address the benefits of being proactive when you have to share bad news with a co-worker or a customer. They also discuss keys to setting up those conversations so they’re bigger on...
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Stepping Up Service: Creating a Continuous Improvement Mindset
Most of the episodes of this show so far have talked about what businesses and organizations can do to improve their customer service abilities and ensure that service continues to improve. But what about the individual employee? What can they do to create a "continuous improvement mindset" and...
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Stepping Up Service: 2013 Trends in Customer Service
The new year is upon us; what better time to gaze into the crystal ball and talk about the trends we can expect to see in the world of customer service in 2013? In this episode, Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions talks Alan through his four top trends for customer service for the coming…
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Stepping Up Service: Compassion in Customer Service
When confronted with hostile Black Friday shoppers, "compassion" is an emotion that can be hard to have and show to others in the customer service world. Yet, studies have shown that compassion is one of the most important attitudes traits for someone in customer service to have when dealing with...
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Stepping Up Service: The Four Keys to Customer Retention and Growth
For most of this podcast series, Alan and Ed have been talking about improving overall customer service at your company or organization. But how can a customer service strategy actually lead to improving customer retention, and - even better - customer growth? Ed educates Alan about the four keys...
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Stepping Up Service: Defusing the Irate Customer
The irate customer can be like a time bomb, and its important for anyone in a customer service role to know how to properly "defuse" that customer before things blow up. To help as an example, Ed leads Alan through a story of "Alan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" to illustrate...
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Stepping Up Service: The Politics of Customer Service
With the election in full swing, the latest “Stepping Up Service” podcast focuses on “The Politics of Customer Service.” Hosts Ed Gagnon, President of Charlotte-based Customer Service Solutions, Inc. (www.cssamerica.com) and MESH Executive Producer Alan Jackson, also with The Jackson Group...
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Stepping Up Service: Olympic Customer Service Stories
With the London Summer Olympics taking place, Alan decides to provide Ed with some of the breaking news headlines from the Olympics to see if he can relate each item to a customer service lesson. Can Ed connect the recent badminton team controversy with how to provide excellence service to our...
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Stepping Up Service: Great Service Excellence Examples from Small Businesses
Small businesses have the same need for delivering excellent customer service as the big ones... but they often feel they have limited resources, time and money to work with. To help owners, managers and employees understand how they can achieve service excellence in a small business environment,...
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Stepping Up Service: Delivering the WOW Experience
On this episode of Stepping Up Service, hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnon premiere their new hit game show “Alan, What Do You Expect?” We expect the Game Show network will be calling anytime now about syndication rights…little do they know Alan has a contract that states he must always be a...
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Stepping Up Service: Easy Dos and Don’ts
On this episode of Stepping Up Service, hosts Alan Jackson and Ed Gagnon lead off discussing three simple things you can do to help improve customer service. Then they flip the coin and discuss three simple pitfalls to avoid in serving your customers. The episode then rounds out with the guys…
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Stepping Up Service: Handle Complaints Like Scoring in Golf
The Masters are happening at the time of this month's recording... which got us thinking: how is handling customer complaints like scoring in golf? Ed Gagnon with Customer Service Solutions (www.cssamerica.com) and Alan Jackson with The Jackson Group (www.thejacksongroup.com) tackle this question...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Customer service is the cornerstone of most successful organizations. But with the business world evolving, thanks to technology and online communications, maintaining high customer service can become even more of a challenge. This program features Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions, a leading expert in the area of customer service and process improvement, talking about how organizations can keep "stepping up" the service they provide.
HOSTED BY
The MESH
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Stepping Up Service have?
Stepping Up Service currently has 58 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Stepping Up Service about?
Customer service is the cornerstone of most successful organizations. But with the business world evolving, thanks to technology and online communications, maintaining high customer service can become even more of a challenge. This program features Ed Gagnon of Customer Service Solutions, a leading...
How often does Stepping Up Service release new episodes?
Stepping Up Service has 58 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Stepping Up Service?
You can listen to Stepping Up Service on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Stepping Up Service?
Stepping Up Service is created and hosted by The MESH.
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