Jeff Toister's Blog

Greetings are expected in customer service. They’re intended to make customers feel welcome and are the starting point for building rapport.

A field study proves that how we greet customers has a big impact.

One greeting routinely gets ignored. Another greeting completely changes customers' demeanors. The timing of a customer service greeting is also crucial.

This study can help you set clear standards for how customers should be greeted and when.

This plan will help you train employees to effectively manage customer expectations.

Service failures are caused by an experience that falls short of expectations. Expectation management helps customers avoid unpleasant surprises.

Managing expectations will result in:

Fewer complaints

Happier customers

More repeat business

This guide helps you facilitate the Customer Service: Managing Customer Expectations course on LinkedIn Learning. Make sure your team has access to LinkedIn Learning before you begi...

This plan will help you train employees who serve internal customers.

An internal customer is anyone you serve inside your own organization. This can include several groups of coworkers:

People on your team

Your boss

People in other departments

You can also broaden it to include contractors, vendors, and other third-parties you work closely with to get your job done and ultimately serve your external customers. (See more here.)

The training plan guides you through the Serving Internal Customers course...

A customer emailed me with an unusual problem.

My first instinct was to help him quickly and move on. But I paused and wondered if this could be an iceberg.

Icebergs are hidden customer service issues that cost you time, money, and customers. It's something customer service leaders don't talk about enough.

In this article, I'll explain the iceberg concept, share an example, and give you some practical steps find icebergs in your own organization.

Imagine a customer service training program for your team.

Most managers I talk to picture a big, annual program. It might be a formal class where everyone gathers for a half-day or a series of self-paced courses that take hours.

The all-at-once approach creates a lot of problems.

Low retention. Reps never remember all that's covered.

Too long. Full or half-day workshops disrupt your operation.

Bad timing. Employees don't get any training at all if they're out sick, on vacation, or hired after the an...

This plan will help you train employees who serve customers over the phone.

It guides you through the Phone-Based Customer Service course on LinkedIn Learning. Make sure your team has access to LinkedIn Learning before you begin.

Phone-Based Customer Service focuses on essential phone skills:

Building rapport

Exceeding expectations

Solving problems

The course is ideal for anyone who serves customers over the phone. This includes contact center agents, customer support representatives, and office recep...

I'm an accidental customer service trainer.

One day, I was working in customer service as a retail associate. The next day, my boss asked me to train. No materials, no facilitator's guide, no nothing. Figure it out.

I've now been a customer service trainer for more than 30 years. I love it.

Today, I talk to a lot of people who want to become customer service trainers. My goal is to share from my experience.

I'm going to share three steps you can take right now to jumpstart your career as a customer ...

You want to create a customer experience vision.

A CX vision is the foundation of any service culture. It's a shared definition of an outstanding customer experience that gets everyone on the same page.

The one thing stopping you is time.

You cringe at the thought of endless focus groups, exhaustive committee meetings, and months of back-and-forth. All that to create an incomprehensible word salad that nobody likes.

There's another way.

My proven process takes just two hours. The result is a razor-sh...

Consistency is a hallmark of service culture.

Imagine if every employee, on every team, in every location served customers the same way. Service so consistent, it became part of your brand.

This level of service is not organic.

Customer-focused companies use carefully cultivated steps of service to guide their employees. These service steps ensure employees take the same approach every time.

There's plenty of flexibility (more on that later). Employees are not robots. They're members of a high-perfo...

Service culture starts with leadership.

Providing clear direction is a core part of a leader's job. Customer-focused leaders do this with a customer experience (CX) vision.

A CX vision is a shared definition of an outstanding customer experience that gets everyone on the same page. It’s unique to your company and brand.

Think of it like a North Star that always guides you in the right direction. The best leaders use the CX vision to guide their growth strategy.

Here are three mini-case studies.