Research shows stress for those in customer service often results from dealing with the adverse emotional reaction of customers. You can influence reactions for the better and reduce your stress. Try this emotional intelligence (EI)-boosting exercise to observe this dynamic up close. For the next couple of days, observe the emotions of your customers. Notice how and when these emotional reactions change and whether they are positive, negative, or neutral. Consider your role in influencing…

You may be an external-customer-service pro, but are you internal-customer-service savvy? Internal customer service means taking care of those persons or departments in your organization and their needs with high-quality service and assistance. Knowing the key elements of internal customer service will help you so you can deliver the "wow!" factor inside as well as outside your organization:

1) Promptness - think responsiveness, speediness, and moving obstacles to "deliver the goods."

2) Compe…

The high street used to be the main - or only - shopping destination. Now, we can shop from the comfort of our own homes, and can choose delivery options to fit around our lives. But it's important to realize that physical shops can still be a valuable part of the customer experience. 

The web is not just not where customers go to order products; it's also a crucial channel which influences where customers first find new products, and where they choose to purchase. Research found retail…

This year Motiff Shop online customers will be able to use the new feature in the online store. The Paypal payment center will allow customers to choose the options to have their products shipped to store if they are local. Customers will be able to bring in the paid invoice and request their package from the front register. Motiff Shop will have a back fulfillment center that will take care of these online orders. Motiff Shop looks forward to using this new service and helping customers out…

According to research done in June of 2016, only 29% of U.S. retail firms are actively using SMS marketing. Another mobile marketing survey released last year proved that over half of US consumers prefer receiving loyalty based text offers. When you cross examine these two statistics, opportunity arises. If the majority of US based consumers want to be rewarded with text promos, what's the hold-up? 

Currently, our retail customers make the most of our MMS messaging, text to win contests,…

If you are on the front line of customer service, you've heard it a thousand times--"Smile!" What you may not know is the effect of smiling. Smiling is not just about looking inviting to customers. It is also a tool to help influence their attitude to produce a state of agreeability. Customer service is about pleasing the customers, of course, but engaging them in an atmosphere of positivity reduces your stress, minimizes risk of conflict, improves the bottom line, transforms your attitude, and…

New IBM research reveals retailers must transform fast if they hope to inspire customer loyalty as consumers are busy shopping on their phones, online and in stores.

While nearly all Generation Z shoppers, 98 percent, still hit brick-and-mortar retailers, more than half, 66 percent are now using more than one device and 60 percent won't use an app or hit a website if the site loads slow, according to IBM's IBV study of 15,000 Generation Z consumers. The demographic represents $44 billion in…

You won't be able to solve all your customers' problems and deal with their inquiries immediately, but you can reduce their stress (and have a better day yourself) if you do the following: 1) let them know they are heard; 2) let them know that you are concerned as much as they are about an issue; and 3) let them know that you are working on the solution. Nothing feels worse than being ignored. An example is the inattentive host/hostess ignoring your wait at a restaurant. Recall the busy hostess…

Difficult customers are easier to manage if you use simple typologies to understand them. Consider these five types of customers: Aggressive, Uncommunicative, Entitled, Know-it-all, and Complainer. Manage aggressive customers by remaining calm and politely offering solutions. This extinguishes their volatility. Uncommunicative customers expect you to read their minds. Know your product, and ask questions to determine their needs. Entitled customers want you to see them as special. Respond to…