communication

Four Magical Customer Service Phrases (What to Say in Nearly Any Situation)

Play

Customer service has many definitions. I think of a quote often attributed to the late Dr. Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you do, they’ll forget what you say, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” As providers of customer service, the feelings our customers have about us show […]

Four Magical Customer Service Phrases (What to Say in Nearly Any Situation) Read More »

How to Deal with an Angry Type A Customer

Play

You’ve probably heard people talk about Type A personalities and you may have some ideas about what that means. In a landmark 1976 study of some 3000 healthy men, aged 35 to 59, Drs. Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman, both cardiologists, looked at stress as a predictor of heart disease. For the purpose of their

How to Deal with an Angry Type A Customer Read More »

Four Success-Blocking Character Traits (Don’t Do These Things!)

Play

In recent blog posts and podcasts, I’ve talked about the critical IT career success factors. Just as important as what TO do are the things NOT to do. Here, in no particular order, are four behaviors which are commonly seen in the workplace and which can torpedo your career. Dishonesty This may seem obvious, but if it’s so

Four Success-Blocking Character Traits (Don’t Do These Things!) Read More »

The Mysterious Tattooed Barista (or How to be a Good Listener)

Play

One of my favorite Seattle coffee shops is in the Capitol Hill district of Seattle. My wife and I stopped there this past weekend for a coffee (this is Seattle, after all) and a pastry. While we were waiting in line, one of the baristas, an attractive and mysterious-looking woman, her shoulders festooned with tattoos, was

The Mysterious Tattooed Barista (or How to be a Good Listener) Read More »

How to Change Perceptions of Your IT Department

Play

Are perceptions reality? The ways in which our customers, end-users, and co-workers perceive us is certainly their reality. Since our relationships with each of those groups of people can affect our career success, our personal and professional reality is affected by their perceptions. I recently received an email from a client asking for some ways

How to Change Perceptions of Your IT Department Read More »

Emotional Intelligence Interview with George A. Harris, Ph.D.

Play

George A. Harris, Ph.D. is a well-known psychologist and author. I interviewed him this week on the subject of emotional intelligence. Transcript Don Crawley (00:00): Welcome to the Compassionate Geek podcast and videocast for IT professionals who are interested in improving their customer service and communication skills. My name is Don Crawley and today I’m

Emotional Intelligence Interview with George A. Harris, Ph.D. Read More »

The Five Principles of IT Customer Service

Play

In last week’s blog post, I talked about the most critical customer service skill for IT career success. There are an additional four critical skills you must learn for IT career success. These skills are the Five Principles of IT Customer Service. They will, when mastered, allow you to positively influence your career, the people

The Five Principles of IT Customer Service Read More »

Scroll to Top