While it’s never easy or much fun to tell a customer “no,” you can write it the wrong way—causing write-backs, harming satisfaction, destroying rapport—or the better way. The...
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How to Write Email Templates That Build Rapport
If you can serve a bakery-bought birthday cake at the party you’re hosting for your mother, you can use email templates for customer service without destroying your relationship...
This 1973-Vintage Feminist Isn’t Giving Up
This is me in 1973 when the Supreme Court handed down the Roe v. Wade decision. I was 13 years old. I'd been menstruating for less than a year. To me, Roe was just another reason...
Trying, Failing, and Trying Again to Balance Parenthood and Your Career
If everything had gone as I’ve always planned, I’d be writing this article on a quiet workday in my pleasant home office. I’d have gone on a long walk in the woods before...
Set the Tone in Email: How You Say It Is as Important as What You Say
Setting the right tone in email writing is more than just choosing the right wine to go with the meal. Tone in email – how you say what you say – is so important that an...
“I’m tired of stupid comments”: How NOT To Respond to Social Media Followers Who Wear You Out
If you’ve ever had to endure customers’ negative comments about your company or products on social media, you may be giving Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland, a round of applause...
How to Write a Five-Star Response to a One-Star Rating or Poor Review
A gracious response may help to win over an unhappy customer and demonstrate that you’re listening and you care. Sometimes social media feels like the mean kids’ table in the...
Customer Service Chat by Vizio: Some Answers, But No Help
Customer service chat is popular with companies and customers alike. It's easy, it's quick, and it works well on mobile devices. But easy and popular doesn't always equal good....
Verizon customer service chat: How to kill your relationship with your customer
Someone needs to tell Verizon: "Customer service chat is supposed to help the customer." Read through the transcript of this truly painful chat, and you'll hardly believe your...