The PATLive Blog

The way your customers experience your business is paramount to your success. Focusing your attention on a great product and high service levels is a start, but your customer should be front of mind when you begin exploring every touchpoint they have with your brand. Touchpoints that miss the mark – delivering ads to the…

Hyper-personalization: It’s time you start stalking your customers. I’m not saying you need to be a creeper and sit in your car outside their houses at night – please don’t do that. What I am saying is that it’s time to pay attention to all of the data your customers are creating when they interact…

Your Customer Experience: Starting and running your own business is no easy task. The fact that any business gets customers seems like kismet. The stars have to align and your paths cross. It’s pretty romantic, but what do you do when the honeymoon period is over? How do you ensure your customers decide it’s worth…

No one should have to prep their nerves to place a phone call to a business.Yet, that’s what we find ourselves doing when placing a call to a business where we know we won’t get through to human support staff. And if we do, it’s takes a big chunk of our precious time wading through…

Call Management: The phone is the cornerstone of your business. Not only does it connect you with customers or clients, but the fact that you have a phone shows how much you value the customer experience. One way to make your calls more efficient is to build out a call flow. In this post, you…

The past twenty years have been more like a hundred, when it comes to customer service expectations. We’ve reached a point where technology and globalization are challenging brands across the world. And those brands are loosening their purse strings in order to meet these elevated expectations. According to a Salesforce study, 80% of service decision…

Is your telephone ringing? (No, this post is not about prank calls.)Due to the popularity of social media, email and website forms, many owners have forgotten about or have eliminated the phone from their businesses. This could be a major mistake.

Startups and Customer Service: Startups are buzzing and busy. So much work is going into getting them off the ground, and sometimes customer service gets lost in the shuffle. Regardless of whether your startup is an app, software, or service, it’s imperative to have dedicated customer service staff in place. Here are 3 ways a…

Losing a Customer: Two weeks ago, I was getting some grocery shopping done at one of those big box retailers. The new year had just crept its way into the world and I was celebrating by not buying carbs. It’s the worst way to celebrate anything, in case you were wondering. I rounded a corner…

You are living the dream. The online business you’ve always longed to have is quite successful. Who knew so many people wanted a t-shirt that features a cat in a smoking jacket? You did. With all of its success, your online business is far from perfection. You have an inbox loaded with customer emails, unanswered…

Let’s face the facts: lawyers don’t necessarily need to practice fundamentals of exceptional customer service. Much like the funeral business, people will always have a need for an attorney. Because of that necessity it seems as if law professionals could be successful without upholding any kind of customer service standards. If the people are always…

The New Wave of Marketing: I am a marketer by trade. There. I said it. I adore the marketing world and love living in the content and social media sector which I inhabit. SEO, analytics, impressions, reach, and click-through rates are not dirty words to me, but rather the empirical proof that your efforts are…

You’ve taken your company from a tiny, one-person show operating out of your basement and turned it into a business that’s expanding quicker than you can utter the phrase, “I need help!” Your revenue stream is steady, your product is selling like crazy and you have a strong customer base. This is amazing, fantastic, everything…

Social Media Customer Service You just got a notification that your business received a tweet. Fun! You immediately swipe left on your phone to see what this person had to say only to realize it’s a customer complaint. Oh no! Now what do you do? Read on to explore more effective handling of social media…

Getting Personal With Customers: The power of human connection is undeniably strong. From the moment we are thrown into this world, we are constantly seeking out connection from those around us – it is vastly important in how we perceive ourselves and our world. Matthew Lieberman, scientist and author of Social, explains to Scientific American…

A Multi-Channel Approach When considering your multi-channel customer service options it’s easy to think of social media as only useful for keeping up with Aunt Bertha or staying connected to your college buddy everyone called “Keg Stand.” The thing is, social media has evolved into so much more than its initial purpose; it has swiftly…

The customer service industry is bogged down with lies. From the patently false to the outrageous, it’s easy for a business owner to get lost in a sea of misinformation on providing good customer service. It’s also easy to trust those old customer service myths as gospel. The good news is that no one has…

There may be no greater miracle than getting through the holidays in one piece. Between the stress over finding just the right gifts, the events, all of the junk food (delicious, delicious junk food) and the rush to ingest it all within the span of a month – it’s a wonder we get past the…

Customer Service vs. Customer Support I’ll admit it: I am not at my best when I’m behind the wheel. If I get cut off in traffic, I immediately say something along the lines of, “(insert expletive or name calling)! Learn how to drive!” Yet a second thought always occurs after my standard reaction. While I…

You don’t have the time or money to acquire new customers. Well, that may not be true, but it is a costly undertaking to build a customer base. It also takes quite a bit of money to bring new customers in and even more money to get them to even spend a dollar. Your true…

“Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it.” ― Salvador Dalí It’s hard to admit this, but we aren’t perfect. There, I said it. What business is flawless? As humans we are naturally destined to err. It’s what you do with the customer service mistakes that sets you apart from the crowd. PATLive…

Engaging in taking blame: I had a battle royale with my toddler during shower time last night. She is currently in the midst of an internal struggle between the desire to be big enough to take a shower and really hating water spraying in her face. It may not sound like a big deal to…

Growing up, getting called “easy” was an insult. The I’ll-see-you-at-the-flagpole-after-school type of an insult. But in the world of customer service, being called “easy”, or a customer-friendly business, is one of the greatest compliments a company can receive. It’s sad to say, but people expect difficulty when communicating with most companies. We have trained ourselves…

Your customers are happy and they’re telling everyone about you, creating a bevy of new leads and customers. This is every business owner’s dream come true. A flood of new customers is never, ever a bad thing! But what if you aren’t seeing a flood of new customers pouring in? You are probably wondering why…

It’s the zombie apocalypse in the world of customer service. Your customer is in a dark room, her heart racing and body trembling. A cold sweat drips from her brow. Her fists clench tightly to the phone. Frightened of what she might find on the other end of the line, she bravely dials the number….

Horror movies can be abhorrent, spine-chilling and downright gross. Statistics on bad customer service can conjure up similar feelings; unlike a movie, these statistics have very real implications for businesses of all sizes, and they don’t end after 2 hours of white-knuckling an armrest and spilling popcorn. Feel like you need to scream? Go ahead….

Customer Journey Mapping and the Customer Experience It’s 3:30 a.m. I’m sitting in a rocking chair, my eyelids are begging for closure, and I’m feeding my youngest her first bottle of the day. This is where my day begins. Once she’s asleep again, I force my body to wakefulness by sipping a French press carafe…

What do Otis Redding, the Jackson 5 and Sister Sledge have to do with improving your customer service? Honestly, not a lot. We can, however, glean a few lessons on how to treat people better from some of their biggest hits. Yet, many businesses choose to ignore the smooth advice of 70’s soul singers and…

It’s October and Halloween is just around the corner, and we all know Halloween means piles and piles of free candy. Free candy is usually a good thing. When I was growing up, my grandpa Tommy had a whole bread box brimming with full-sized candy bars. My sister and I put away at least 3…

Our customer service agents love their jobs. We can say that and know it’s the truth without feeling braggadocious. The PATLive culture is one that creates a fun, family feeling while also praising hard work, creative thinking and sticktoitiveness. We believe it’s our culture that allows us to create the high-touch, quality customer experience we…

It’s easy to assume that your customers are well taken care of and content with their experience using your product.  It can be hard to take a good, long look at your customer service strategy to find out the truth: is your company really as customer-centric as you believe?

Science and customer service don’t seem like they could possibly belong together. When some hear the word science they might envision a person in a lab coat, swishing some sort of colorful chemical around in a beaker. That guy is doing science! What gets overlooked is the science behind what makes our customers happy. It’s…

Take a look around your business. See those folks answering your customers’ calls and solving their problems? Those people are the heroes of your business – the ones who keep your customers happy and help them when issues arise. We have to ask: What have you done for your customer service representatives lately? If your…

Many small businesses live and die by their ability to connect and make a good impression with customers over the phone – so it’s integral that all channels are open for contact night and day. An after hours answering service can help you grow your business by creating memorable experiences 24 hours a day, 7…

If you were to be on the lookout for a new in-office receptionist, you’d almost certainly take a decent amount of time to find the right person. You’d review resumes, interview multiple candidates, and make sure that your future employee had all the skills and traits necessary to do the job well while fitting in…

Congratulations! The day is here when you’re getting so many calls that it’s interrupting your day-to-day life or you simply can’t handle them all. While this doesn’t feel like an exciting thing, it means that your business has grown, and you need help managing incoming calls. At this point, growing businesses like yours turn to…

If you’re reading this, there’s a solid chance that you’re considering hiring an answering service for your small business. Congratulations – this is an exciting step, and it means that your business is growing and you’re being proactive about providing excellent customer service. Choosing a small business answering service or knowing how to get the…

When large corporations make a sale, that’s it; a sale happens, a customer is hopefully pleased, and somebody maybe gets a commission check. That’s typically not the case with small and even medium-sized businesses, where every sale can make a difference. Small businesses see sales coming in and it can make their day. They care…

Customers have higher expectations than ever before. Customers know it, and businesses know it, and it’s true all over the world. It’s not enough to simply answer a call fast, or even to just be friendly while rattling off your strict company policies. Customers want more than that. Personalized customer service is the new standard of…

Customer service standards have shifted dramatically over the past decade, thanks to a combination of more competition in the market and an abundance of increasingly-accessible technology. All businesses understand that the customer experience is a powerful differentiator, and it absolutely will impact who customers buy from, how long they stay loyal, and even what they’re…

Customer service today looks vastly different than it did even ten years ago. Ten years ago, mediocre customer service was almost the expected standard, with long wait-times on phone calls or help emails that wouldn’t be returned for days. And sometimes, even if the customer service wasn’t great, you’d still stay on as a customer. …

If you’re a small business owner, you’re taking stock of what helped your business to grow in 2020 and what can be improved in the upcoming year.One area you should definitely assess is how to improve customer service. You need to ask yourself what your customers liked, what they didn’t, and figure out how to adjust in a way…

Greg Gianforte from RightNow Technologies, Inc. defines customer experience (CX) as “the sum of all interactions that customers have with a brand, and the perception they form as a result.” Though customer experience is a general term, there’s a reason we hear it so often – it’s what makes businesses competitive in the times we’re…

Customer service can be the make-it-or-break-it factor for businesses in 2020. It’s well established by now that customers will actively seek out businesses with outstanding service, and that they’ll stick around longer if they find it. This is the differentiator that will help you land and keep clients, allowing your business to thrive. While implementing…

The importance of a business providing a great customer experience is nothing new. In fact, some large corporations have entire departments dedicated to delivering an exceptional experience for their customers. But for most businesses, especially small businesses, that’s not necessarily feasible.  The good news is 91% of customers prefer small businesses when the option is…

All small business owners have their bugaboos. Some may be terrible at following a budget or tracking finances. Another may avoid marketing like the plague, while others may have a tough time managing a difficult customer. Do complaining customers freak you out? Does it drive you crazy when your customers are overly agreeable? Or if…