Zeisler Consulting

DECEMBER 14, 2020

As an independent consultant, I’m always looking for work (perhaps you can relate). We know what bad service looks like, we know what poor support looks like. If you’re like me, you almost feel a sense of moral obligation to call it out when you see it (just peruse my blog or Twitter feed).

Course 93

Course Consulting Customers Brands 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 5, 2022

As a consultant, I can relate. And if part of your job is to physically go to another city, spend the night, and then go to another city, spend the night there (and so on), of course, your boss puts you up in a hotel, too. That’s how it works no matter what you do for a living.

Airlines 93

Airlines Hotels Course Consulting 93

Zeisler Consulting

AUGUST 24, 2022

And if you got some slick CX consultant to come in and convince you that this magical NPS thing is directly tied to sales and revenue figures, well I can understand. Then again, if there was no strategic reason for you to do CX in the first place, that question may have seemed just as logical as any other, right?

NPS 72

NPS Effort Score Comparison Consulting 72

Zeisler Consulting

DECEMBER 7, 2022

Fast forward now to my life as a Fractional Chief Customer Officer and CX consultant (and constant pest when it comes to preaching about the value of feedback), and it occurs to me: Maybe it’s okay sometimes to ask for a positive review. Last week I had (yet another…I live in Colorado, after all) pit fixed in my car’s windshield.

Chief Customer Officer 72

Chief Customer Officer Consulting Feedback Survey 72

Zeisler Consulting

JULY 19, 2023

This is obviously some sort of automated Jira- or Salesforce-generated (sorry, Jira and SF…it’s not your fault…although you should have consultants onboard who can explain ways your clients should and should not use your tools) message. Funny, I’m still out here with questions.

Consulting 72

Consulting System Customer Centricity CRM 72

Zeisler Consulting

JUNE 16, 2022

I knew it was coming, and frankly, it was my own fault; the desktop warning and request that I either pick a time or it’ll happen of its own accord “outside of active hours,” as if a self-employed consultant has such things. Nevertheless, I’ve been assimilated and do expect to fall prey to how The Borg chooses to run my electronic life.

Roadmap 72

Roadmap Consulting Software Brands 72

Zeisler Consulting

JUNE 21, 2023

Still, I couldn’t help but wonder how often Brand Promises are impacted—negatively, often—by the company we choose to keep; which is to say, our business partners.

Consulting 72

Consulting Brands System Course 72

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 5, 2022

As a consultant, I can relate. And if part of your job is to physically go to another city, spend the night, and then go to another city, spend the night there (and so on), of course, your boss puts you up in a hotel, too. That’s how it works no matter what you do for a living.

Airlines 72

Airlines Hotels Course Consulting 72

Zeisler Consulting

DECEMBER 10, 2024

I recently had a particularly silly experience with the US Postal Service.* I mailed an envelope (containing nothing more than a copy of my very thin, light book) from Denver across the country to a client. The estimated arrival time on the east coast was to be two days.

Government 93

Government Policies Customer Centricity Brands 93

Zeisler Consulting

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Having spent a lot of time in education—corporately doing plenty of L&D work, having had lots of clients delivering workshops and such, and of course as a professor—I’m intrigued by how folks learn. What’s lost on a lot of educators, unfortunately, I’ve found, is the purpose of education in the first place.

Tools 93

Tools Course Brands Training 93

Zeisler Consulting

OCTOBER 29, 2024

I used to say that I don’t know anything about Marketing. Then I started spending a lot of time with marketers. They’re an interesting bunch, and considering that, as I like to say, Marketing and CX share two sides of the same coin—that being the Brand Promise—I’ve had many conversations as our work compliments each other.

Course 93

Course Advertising Brands Marketing 93

Zeisler Consulting

AUGUST 6, 2024

I posted about this way back when it happened, but I’m enjoying working from the mountains these past couple weeks, so the experience is in mind, and I figure it’s worth drawing your attention to it in a more formal manner: Copper Mountain ski resort in Summit County, Colorado, is my mountain. I love it, so I’m partial to them anyway.

Fashion 93

Fashion Survey Feedback Brands 93

Zeisler Consulting

MAY 28, 2024

I’ve been thinking lately about what causes CX to go south. Well, okay, I do that a lot anyway. Naturally, considering my Framework , I concentrate a lot of my efforts on identifying processes and systems that are causing misalignment with a Brand Promise.

Policies 93

Policies System Brands Customer Care 93

Zeisler Consulting

MAY 14, 2024

Your mom may have told you to always read the fine print. Or maybe it was a college professor or something along those lines. If you’ve ever interacted with an attorney of course you’re familiar with the admonition. By and large that’s always a great idea, even when working with a trusted and Customer-centric brand.

Policies 93

Policies Hotels Course Customer Centricity 93

Zeisler Consulting

APRIL 30, 2024

I recently had to return a pair of shoes I’d purchased online. I realized immediately when I tried them on just after they were delivered that the size was wrong.

Communication 93

Communication Course Resources System 93

Zeisler Consulting

APRIL 16, 2024

Some of your Customers are idiots. Hey, full disclosure, that includes me. In fact, in some circles, I’m known as the “LCD,” or least-common denominator. As the joke goes, Z is the dimmest bulb in the group, and as such, if I get something, everybody should be able to understand it.

Contact Center 93

Contact Center System Policies Customer Centricity 93

Zeisler Consulting

MARCH 19, 2024

I wrote recently about how the term “representative” can take on a different meaning depending on whether you consider your front-line agents as representatives of you as a brand, or of your Customers as they navigate your systems. When dealing with a hospitality brand recently, that came to mind.

Policies 93

Policies Hospitality Brands System 93

Zeisler Consulting

MARCH 5, 2024

I once had a great co-worker and mentor who, when teaching his Lean Six Sigma courses, would drop the quote: “Never take ‘No’ as an answer from somebody who doesn’t have the authority to say ‘Yes.’” Now, in his context, we were talking about internal politics and change management in general.

Hotels 93

Hotels Conference Policies Customer Centricity 93

Zeisler Consulting

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

“Your feedback is important to us.” Sometimes those are just words. And some Customers are suckers and will fall for it. A while back, I had some work done with a service provider and, to say the least, the experience was not up to snuff whatsoever.

Feedback 93

Feedback Survey Customers Culture 93

Zeisler Consulting

FEBRUARY 6, 2024

Folks who work in your Customer-facing organizations have a lot of different names. Agents, technicians, associates (which always makes me chuckle a little bit ), service providers, and others. One that often makes me think is: Representative. It’s curious to me because it can go either way, can’t it?

Policies 93

Policies Hotels Brands System 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 23, 2024

I know I rail on about VoC (truth be known, that’s not my strongest topic of expertise; I’m much more of a Process Engineer)…Sure, VoC and Customer Insights inform the work we do to improve and better align our Customers’ Experiences with our Brand Promise, but it’s really just the first step.

Survey 93

Survey Meeting Video Feedback 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 9, 2024

It’d be a little melodramatic (not beyond me, mind you) to call it the bane of my existence , but yes it’s a bit of a task that complicates my days: Explaining, when I say I’m “in CX” or that I “do CX” that, no, I’m not a ‘contact center guy.’ I don’t do Customer Support or Service. I’m not in “Customer Care” or whatnot.

Contact Center 93

Contact Center System Customer Care Brands 93

Zeisler Consulting

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

There’s an adage in the Process Engineering world that one should never automate a bad process. I have friends who are in the automation business, and there are actually a lot of companies out there who are leveraging new technologies to streamline their operations.

Omni-Channel 93

Omni-Channel Brands Customer Experience System 93

Zeisler Consulting

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

It was a long time ago that I first wrote about the difference between CS and CX. Here, define CS as Customer Support, Customer Service, Customer Success, or Customer Care (that last one is actually CC, but you get the drift).

How To 93

How To Contact Center Customer Care Customer Success 93

Zeisler Consulting

OCTOBER 24, 2023

We recently needed a battery replacement in one of the household computers, so I made an appointment at the brand’s retail location in a local mall. The process of registering and scheduling an appointment was super easy, and the appointment times were remarkably specific, so I figured I was in for a very tightly-run experience.

Customer Centricity 93

Customer Centricity Retail Tips Course 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 26, 2022

A potential client contacted me a while back and was inquiring about my framework (well, thanks for asking, of course, you can check it out in my new book !).

Chief Customer Officer 93

Chief Customer Officer Culture Customer Centricity Course 93

Zeisler Consulting

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

If you follow my ramblings, you’re aware that I approach CX differently.

Brands 93

Brands Exercises Course Examples 93

Zeisler Consulting

MARCH 23, 2022

I wrote a while back about how a big-box home improvement retailer made it less convenient for military folks to receive their in-store discount, while saying the purpose was to make it more so for us.

Loyalty Programs 93

Loyalty Programs Retail Loyalty Marketing 93

Zeisler Consulting

MARCH 23, 2022

I wrote a while back about how a big-box home improvement retailer made it less convenient for military folks to receive their in-store discount, while saying the purpose was to make it more so for us.

Loyalty Programs 93

Loyalty Programs Retail Loyalty Marketing 93

Zeisler Consulting

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

We recently swapped service providers here at home for one of our communication services. The entire experience was a headache and we almost immediately regretted making the switch from our previous provider.

Omni-Channel 93

Omni-Channel Customer Centricity Resources Retail 93

Zeisler Consulting

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

If you follow my ramblings, you’re aware that I approach CX differently.

Brands 93

Brands Exercises Course Examples 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 26, 2022

A potential client contacted me a while back and was inquiring about my framework (well, thanks for asking, of course, you can check it out in my new book !).

Chief Customer Officer 93

Chief Customer Officer Culture Customer Centricity Course 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 19, 2022

Last week I wrote about an interaction I had with a large well-known brand that provides services for homeowners. It was a cautionary tale about how challenging it is to actually communicate with some brands.

System 93

System Brands Feedback Customer Centricity 93

Zeisler Consulting

JANUARY 12, 2022

I had a support incident a while back with one of the service providers we use in our home. In fact, I had two incidents in close succession with two different brands.

Effort Score 93

Effort Score Customer Centricity System Airlines 93

Zeisler Consulting

NOVEMBER 17, 2021

You’ve heard this before, right? “Due Due to current circumstances, we’re experiencing longer-than-usual wait times.” Those “circumstances” can vary. Over the past twenty months, of course, it has been Covid-19. Sometimes it’s the holidays. Sometimes brands stiff-arm you without even giving you the courtesy of telling you why.

Wait Times 93

Wait Times Entertainment Hotels Customer Centricity 93

Zeisler Consulting

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

I’m always championing active use of your Voice of the Customer (VoC) insights. After all, I say, if you’re just collecting your Customers’ insights but not doing anything with them, that’s a huge waste of resources.

Effort Score 93

Effort Score NPS Metrics Measurement 93

Zeisler Consulting

NOVEMBER 3, 2021

One of the roles we, as CX professionals, play, is that of change agents. I realize that’s a term people toss out there when they want to seem important or progressive in business, but when you think about it, one of the core jobs we have is to challenge people to take a different perspective; that of the Customer.

NPS 93

NPS Metrics Survey Culture 93