Don’s Blog

Seven Ways to Improve Your Empathy

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One of the 5 principles of IT customer service success is empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the other person’s position, to feel and understand what they’re experiencing. Empathy, combined with technical ability, is a powerful formula for success at work. How Can You Be More Empathetic? Listen. Truly listen to the other person. Listen […]

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7 Ways to Become More Compassionate

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One of the four traits of the customer service masters is compassion. People who have mastered the art of customer service are naturally compassionate, they have a profound awareness of other’s suffering combined with a desire to alleviate it. One of author Mitch Albom’s friends once described him as noticing people in pain and trying

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5 Rules for How to Deliver Bad News

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Sometimes, it’s necessary to deliver bad news to a customer or end user. For example, an order might not be ready when it was promised, a project might end up costing more than was projected, or a software application might not be ready for installation according to schedule. Regardless of the nature of the bad

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The Importance of Listening in Business Communication

The Importance of listening in business communication can not be overstated. In fact, one of the five principles of customer service success is to be a good listener. Good listeners don’t assume they know what a customer is going to say. They’re always respectful of a customer, even when the customer is saying something the

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If a Customer is Reluctant to Try a New Product: How to Support the Reluctant User

What can you do if a customer is reluctant to try a new product? Customer care skills often hinge on being aware of the psychological and social needs of our customer or end-user. In a recent training session, several of the students (client service agents) talked about a user who might sound familiar to you.

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A Customer Service Reminder: We’re All Clueless Sometimes

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Customer service basics: It’s common in a group of IT folks to tell stories about some of the crazy things our end users do. I’ve certainly told my share of such stories, but I think we often forget that no one is an expert on everything. When our end users sometimes ask questions that seem stupid,

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Defying the Odds: The Tenacity of Starcia Ague

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Motivational Stories and Speeches: I want to share a story from the new edition of The Compassionate Geek about a woman who defied the odds and is re-making herself into a great model of tenacity, perseverance, and compassion. I first heard about Starcia Ague in a story on KUOW-FM here in Seattle. Starcia’s mother kicked

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