Customer Service Skills for Success 6th by Robert W. Lucas Now Available

Customer Service Skills for Success 6th by Robert W. Lucas Now Available
Customer Service Skills for Success 6th by Robert W. Lucas Now Available

Customer Service Skills for Success 6th by Robert W. Lucas Now Available

The top-selling customer service textbook in the United States, Customer Service Skills for Success by Robert W. Lucas, is now in print from McGraw-Hill. This 6th edition includes a four-color layout with more images to enhance the content and a completely changed graphic appearance.

In the book, readers will find real-world customer service issues and provides a variety of updated resources, activities, and examples for customer service representatives at different levels in an organization. It also includes tips from the author and other active professionals in the industry designed to gain and hold readers’ interest while providing additional insights into the concepts and skills related to customer service that is found throughout the book.

The text begins with a macro view of what customer service involves today and provides projections for the future of the customer service profession, then focuses on specific customer service skills and related topics.

Here’s what readers will find inside the book:

Part One – The Profession

  • The Customer Service Profession
  • Contributing to the Service Culture

Part Two – Skills for Success

  • Verbal Communication Skills
  • Nonverbal Communication Skills
  • Listening Skills

Part Three – Building and Maintaining Relationships

  • Customer Service and Behavior
  • Service Breakdowns and Service Recovery
  • Customer Service in a Diverse World
  • Customer Service via Technology’
  • Encouraging Customer Loyalty

This book answers everything from “What is Customer Service?” to “How do I handle a variety of diverse customers in various customer service situations?”.

To gain thousands of ideas, strategies and customer service tips for interacting successfully with internal and external customers in any type of customer service environment and deliver excellent customer service, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success 6th edition.

What is Great Customer Service?

What is Great Customer Service?

What is Great Customer Service?

What is great customer service? This is a question often asked in my customer service workshops and by people trying to determine how to get the best value for their money when searching out businesses where they might spend it. Unfortunately, this is a very subjective question based on the person asking. Since each individual has differing needs, wants and expectations based on their experiences and perceptions; what is excellent customer service to one person might only be considered good customer service to another.

In my opinion, in order for organizations to provide great customer service consistently, they must provide ongoing customer service training to their staff. In addition, customer service representatives must demonstrate at least the following qualities to earn trust, business, and customer or brand loyalty.

  • Excellent customer service skills;
  • Positive verbal and non-verbal communication skills;
  • Positive employee attitude;
  • Appreciation for customers;
  • Friendliness and a true interest in people;
  • Honesty;
  • Trustworthiness;
  • Demonstrate Integrity;
  • Have sound business acumen;
  • Possess solid product and service knowledge.

If you are looking for ideas and strategies on creating a positive customer-centric service environment in which customers feel appreciated, get copies of my books Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and Customer Service Skills for Success.

About Robert C. Lucas and why he can answer the question – what is great customer service?

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Sound Customer Relations Strategies at TBS Travel Keeps Cruisers Coming Back

Sound Customer Relations Strategies at TBS Travel Keeps Cruisers Coming Back

Sound Customer Relations Strategies at

TBS Travel Keeps Cruisers Coming Back

I thought I’d take time to share a real jewel in the travel industry if you love to travel as much as my wife and I do. We are enthusiastic cruisers and world travelers. There are so many beautiful and unique things to see and be awed by that we leap at any opportunity to visit our own country and distant lands. Unfortunately, we have yet to win a lottery and neither have rich relatives who might someday leave use the wealth necessary to keep us in a lifestyle to which we’d love to get accustomed!

To compensate for the conundrum of inadequate funds to cruise at the drop of a hat, we did quite a bit of research to find qualified and competent travel agents. The group that we use whenever we cruise are the travel agents at TBS Travel (http://ourcruiseagent.com/). The husband and wife owners (Steve and Barbara Tanzer) of the agency possess credentials from several cruise companies and from international certifying agencies for cruise agents. In addition to being knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the complicated cruise industry, they also very customer-centric and have the customer service skills to deal with any type of customer situation that they encounter.

Some of the attributes that we looked for in cruise agents were friendliness, solid communication skills, honesty, integrity, business acumen, positive employee attitude, industry and world knowledge (they cruise regularly and have been on over 60 cruises themselves on various cruise line ships), and a sincere desire to do whatever it takes to help their clients. They possess these qualities and more. With their extensive personal travel experience, they have proven to be a tremendous asset in recommending the pros and cons of different lines, ships, itineraries and shore excursions, destinations, and associated travel needs, such as hotels, airlines, and trains.

By taking an interest in their customers and providing customer support before, during and after a cruise, Steve and Barbara have proven to be a benchmark for other agencies to copy by providing exceptional customer service. If you’d like to see some additional qualities that we used to identify a worthy organization with which we do business, get a copy of my Customer Service Skills for Success book.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Motivational Customer Service Quote – Robert W. Lucas

Motivational Customer Service Quote - Robert W. Lucas

Motivational Customer Service Quote – Robert W. Lucas

Professional customer service is all about providing high-quality products and services that can meet your customer’s needs, wants and expectations. If you are a customer service representative, it is your responsibility to master as many customer service skills as possible in order to deliver excellent customer service to those with whom you come into contact in the workplace. This can ultimately lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and customer retention.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

The Impact of Customer Expectations on Customer Service

The Impact of Customer Expectations on Customer Service

The Impact of Customer Expectations

on Customer Service

Customers come to you and your organization expecting that certain things will occur in regard to the products and services they desire. If you and other customer service representatives or employees fail to deliver them, your customers can easily desert to a brick and mortar or online competitor.

If you pay attention to your customers and strive for excellent customer service, you increase the chance that customer and brand loyalty will more likely result.

Typical customer expectations include one or more of the following things when they patronize an organization:

Expectations Related to People

  • Friendly, knowledgeable service providers.
  • Respect (to be treated like they are intelligent).
  • Empathy (to have feelings and emotions be recognized).
  • Courtesy (to be recognized as “the customer” and as someone who is important to you and your organization).
  • Equity (not to feel that one individual or group gets preferential benefits or treatment over another).

 Expectations Related to Products and Services

  • Ease of accessibility.
  • Availability of products and services (no lengthy delays).
  • Reasonable and competitive pricing.
  • Products and services that adequately address needs.
  • Quality (appropriate value for money and time invested).
  • Ease of use.
  • Safety (warranty available and product free of defects that might cause physical injury)
  • State-of-the-art products and service delivery.
  • Easy-to-understand instructions (and follow-up assistance availability).
  • Ease of return or exchange (flexible policies that provide alternatives depending on the situation).
  • Appropriate and expedient problem resolution.
  • Restitution for the inconvenience, damage or loss.

For proven strategies for meeting customer needs, wants and expectations and for creating a customer-centric organization, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills.

Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.

He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.

Learn more about Bob and his organization at www.robertwlucas.com and follow his blogs at www.robertwlucas.com/wordpress,
www.customerserviceskillsbook.com, and www.thecreativetrainer.com. Like Bob at www.facebook.com/robertwlucasenterprises

Customer Service Quote – Michael LeBoeuf

Customer Service Quote – Michael LeBoeuf

Customer Service Quote - Michael LeBoeuf

Organizations and customer service representatives that go out of their way to identify customer needs, wants and expectations, have a better chance of increasing brand and customer loyalty than competitors who do not.

By working hard to create a customer-centric organization, businesses increase the likelihood that customers will return and tell others about their positive service experiences.

For proven customer service ideas and strategies for building a strong service culture and delivering stellar customer service in your organization, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and How to Be a Great Call Center Representative.

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

In my book Customer Service Skills for Success, I define customer service as “the ability of knowledgeable, capable, and enthusiastic employees to deliver products and services to their internal and external customers in a manner that satisfies identified and unidentified needs and ultimately results in positive word-of-mouth publicity and return business.”

Here are a few more quotes from Michael LaBoeuf…

  1. A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all.
  2. The world is your mirror and your mind is a magnet. What you perceive in this world is largely a reflection of your own attitudes and beliefs. Life will give you what you attract with your thoughts think, act and talk negatively and your world will be negative. Think and act and talk with enthusiasm and you will attract positive results.
  3. Every company’s greatest assets are its customers because without customers there is no company.
  4. The greatest management principle in the world is: ‘the things that get rewarded and appreciated get done.’
  5. All of us live at the feeling level, and our feelings are in large part a result of the way we perceive things. You observe or are told something, you interpret it, and only then do you have a reaction at the feeling level. The point is that feeling is preceded by perception, and all of us are capable of controlling our interpretation [the associations and assumptions] of what we see. If we can control our interpretation, then it logically follows that we can exercise some control over our feelings as well.
  6. The most important key to successful investing can be summed up in just two words-asset allocations.
  7. When you write down your ideas you automatically focus your full attention on them. Few if any of us can write one thought and think another at the same time. Thus a pencil and paper make excellent concentration tools.
  8. Too many start-up business fail simply because their owners continue to think and act like employees.
  9. The ultimate goal of a more effective and efficient life is to provide you with enough time to enjoy some of it.
  10. It’s important for you to understand that stock and bonds go up-and they go down. You need to be comfortable with that fact.
  11. As for worrying about what other people might think – forget it. They aren’t concerned about yours. They’re too busy worrying about what you and other people think of theirs.
  12. We talk about saving time and killing time when actually we can’t do either. We have no choice but to spend it at a constant and flowing rate.
  13. The things that get rewarded, get done
  14. Knowing nothing about investing might be a benefit. You won’t have to unlearn many popular beliefs propagated by Wall Street and the media that aren’t true.
  15. Index investing is an investment strategy that Walter Mitty would love. It takes very little investment knowledge, no skill, practically no time or effort-and outperforms about 80 percent of all investors.
  16. Adversity is an experience, not a final act.

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

The face of higher education is continuing to evolve. Ethnicity, the numbers of attendees in terms of age and sex, expectations, the manner in which information is delivered and virtually every aspect of the way you do business and education has been touched in some way by events over which you sometimes have no control.

Customer Service Tip for Adult Educators

Things such as world events, the economy, changing technology, competition from new sources, and the values of learners shift rapidly. The potential student population is also expected to grow in coming years as Generation Yers (Millennials – 1980s to early 2000s) are aging, since this is the largest generation behind the Boomers (1946-1964).

The one aspect of the whole process over which you and your organization do have control  — is the level and quality of service that you and your institution provide to your customers – your students.

To deal with this trend…

If you remember nothing else related to customer service, think about this. EVERYONE that you and your institution come into contact is either a customer or potential customer! If you can get your mind around that fact and treat students and their caregivers with the best quality of service possible; then, you have tremendous opportunity to compete effectively with all other institutions of higher learning and knowledge sources.

This action alone can lead to customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth publicity for you as an educator and your institution.

For information, ideas and strategies on how to deliver excellent customer service get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible – Jeff Bezos

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible – Jeff Bezos

Customers are a funny lot… they pay you money that they worked hard for and in exchange only expect to receive what they need, want, expect and are promised by you and your organization.  They truly do not expect that, when they contact you or someone else in your organization, they will encounter problems with the product and services received.

To help ensure that you meet their expectations, put yourself in their position and deliver the best possible customer service. Ensure that you have the knowledge, skills, and attitude that will provide you the tools necessary to effectively interact and communicate with them to determine what you need to do to satisfy them and help build customer and brand loyalty.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com summed this sentiment up in a quote:

“The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.” Jeff Bezos

Quote on Delivering the Best Customer Service Possible - Jeff Bezos

For ideas and strategies for delivering exceptional customer service to all potential and current customers get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures, and How to Be A Great Call Center Representative.

Here are a few more Jeff Bezos quotes to enjoy reading…

  1. “I believe you have to be willing to be misunderstood if you’re going to innovate.”
  2. “If you’re competitor-focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”
  3. “What’s dangerous is not to evolve.”
  4. “Part of company culture is path-dependent – it’s the lessons you learn along the way.” – Jeff Bezos
  5. “My own view is that every company requires a long-term view.”
  6. “We’ve had three big ideas at Amazon that we’ve stuck with for 18 years, and they’re the reason we’re successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient.”
  7. “A company shouldn’t get addicted to being shiny, because shiny doesn’t last.”
  8. “The best customer service is if the customer doesn’t need to call you, doesn’t need to talk to you. It just works.”
  9. “There’ll always be serendipity involved in the discovery.”
  10. “I strongly believe that missionaries make better products. They care more. For a missionary, it’s not just about the business. There has to be a business, and the business has to make sense, but that’s not why you do it. You do it because you have something meaningful that motivates you.” – Jeff Bezos
  11. “The thing that motivates me is a very common form of motivation. And that is, with other folks counting on me, it’s so easy to be motivated.”
  12. “Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.”
  13. “If you don’t understand the details of your business you are going to fail.”
  14. “The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’ That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why not?’”
  15. “We expect all our businesses to have a positive impact on our top and bottom lines. Profitability is very important to us or we wouldn’t be in this business.” – Jeff Bezos
  16. “The human brain is an incredible pattern-matching machine.”
  17. “We are stubborn on vision. We are flexible on details…”
  18. “It’s not an experiment if you know it’s going to work.”
  19. “Your margin is my opportunity.” – Jeff Bezos
  20. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”
  21. “Work Hard, have fun, make history.”
  22. “You don’t want to negotiate the price of simple things you buy every day.”
  23. “If you never want to be criticized, for goodness’ sake don’t do anything new.”
  24. “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.”
  25. “Maintain a firm grasp of the obvious at all times.” – Jeff Bezos
  26. “If you do build a great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.” – Jeff Bezos

About Robert C. Lucas, Your Customer Service Guru that is a big fan of Jeff Bezos

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills.

Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.

He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.

Customer Satisfaction Quote – Donald Porter

Customer Satisfaction Quote – Donald Porter

Loyal customers are the most valuable asset of an organization that an organization can have. By identifying and meeting their needs, wants and expectations, customer service representatives and other employees can help ensure that they not only demonstrate customer and brand loyalty but also tell others about their positive service experiences.

“Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” Donald Porter

As Donald Porter, a V.P. at British Airways once said:

Customer Satisfaction Quote - Donald Porter

For strategies and techniques on how to build effective customer and brand loyalty in your organization, get a copy of Customer Service Skills for Success by Robert W. Lucas.

Here are a few more cool quotes from Donald Porter…

  • “No matter how great the reputation, all organisations are only as good as today’s performance.” – Donald Porter
  • “legions of disappointed customers have taken the opportunity to vent their frustration online”

Learn about the Customer Service Blogger – Robert C. Lucas who is a big fan of Donald Porter

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills.

Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Bob Lucas B.S., M.A., M.A, CPLP is the principal in Robert W. Lucas Enterprises, Inc and an internationally-known author; learning and performance professionals. He has written and contributed to numerous books on the subject of customer service skill training.

He regularly conducts workshops on creative training, train-the-trainer, customer service, interpersonal communication, and management,
and supervisory skills.

Learn more about Bob and his organization at www.robertwlucas.com and follow his blogs at www.robertwlucas.com/wordpress,
www.customerserviceskillsbook.com, and www.thecreativetrainer.com. Like Bob at www.facebook.com/robertwlucasenterprises

Three Ways to Enhance Customer Service in Any Organization

Three Ways to Enhance Customer Service in Any Organization

Finding ways to build a strong customer-centric organization and help build customer and brand loyalty seems to take a lot of time in organizations today.

Three Ways to Enhance Customer Service in Any Organization

Here are three ways that customer service representatives and others in the organization can help ensure service success and better needs the changing needs wants and expectations of current and potential customers.

  1. Decide on an appropriate course of action for resolution of problems or satisfaction of needs only after adequate information has been gathered through effective questioning.
  2. Ensure that all employees have the same level of training and knowledge pertaining to products, services and that they adhere to policies and procedures for dealing with all customer situations.
  3. Find ways to make sure that positive customer service becomes second nature to employees throughout the organization. This includes creating an environment in which service providers are proud of the organization, themselves, and the service that they provide.

For more ideas on effectively creating an environment that encourages customer and brand loyalty, get copies of Customer Service Skills for Success, How to Be a Great Call Center Representative and Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures.

About Robert C. Lucas

Bob Lucas has been a trainer, presenter, customer service expert, and adult educator for over four decades. He has written hundreds of articles on training, writing, self-publishing, and workplace learning skills and issues. He is also an award-winning author who has written thirty-seven books on topics such as, writing, relationships, customer service, brain-based learning, and creative training strategies, interpersonal communication, diversity, and supervisory skills. Additionally, he has contributed articles, chapters, and activities to eighteen compilation books. Bob retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 1991 after twenty-two years of active and reserve service.

Make Money Writing Books: Proven Profit Making Strategies for Authors by Robert W. Lucas at Amazon.com.

The key to successfully making money as an author and/or self-publisher is to brand yourself and your company and to make yourself and your book(s) a household name. Part of this is face-to-face interaction with people at trade shows, library events, book readings, book store signings, blogging or guest blogging on a topic related to their book(s). Another strategy involves writing articles and other materials that show up online and are found when people search for a given topic related to a topic about which the author has written.

If you need help building an author platform, branding yourself and your book(s) or generating recognition for what you do, Make Money Writing Books will help. Bob’s popular book addresses a multitude of ideas and strategies that you can use to help sell more books and create residual and passive income streams. The tips outlined in the book are focused to help authors but apply to virtually any professional trying to increase personal and product recognition and visibility.

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