The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Busin

Lifestyle entrepreneurs Genevieve Gauvin and Nick Pineault of The Great Anomaly blog and podcast share their pros and cons of outsourcing and humanizing their customer service with their clients, all while travelling the world. Word of the Week: Outsourcing In the show, Russel, Gen and Nick discuss: their tactic for adding their personal, human tone while using a virtual assistant (VA) how they deal with customer service while travelling the benefit of engaging with your customers the challenges of balancing time and responding to a mailing list of 20,000+ For more on Gen and Nick and their “The Great Anomaly” work, connect with her on Twitter and on her website. The post Episode 10 – Lifestyle Entrepreneurs Gen and Nick of The Great Anomaly appeared first on The Upsell Podcast.

Social Media Instructor and Consultant, Rebecca Coleman, sits down with host Russel Lolacher to talk about why you should be on social media as a customer service channel. Word of the Week: SOCIAL (seemed obvious) In the show, Russel and Rebecca discuss: actionable tips to get you started on social the dangers of not being on social media examples of companies doing it right. Rebecca’s background in theatre and how it helps online engagement. We also find out the industry that she thinks is generally doing customer service best. For more on Rebecca Coleman and her work, connect with her on Twitter and on her website. The post Episode 9 – Social Media Consultant Rebecca Coleman on Starting Social Service appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

It’s episode eight of The Upsell Podcast. Another solo episode as I dig into a few things that are on my mind or have happened to me recently.  Segment #1 – Top of Mind “Let’s Flip Customer Service” The term customer service is losing it’s effect. It’s a department. It’s something company’s play lip service to. What if we moved the words around to inspire and provide a call to action? The smallest moves can have the biggest impacts on mindset. Segment #2 – Word of the Week: Ripples Like ripples in a pond, our actions have consequences. Customer service is no different. In person, online or at work, good service actions can inspire while bad ones can bring the whole place down. For example: In your store, the way you treat a customer can be seen by all the other customers there. Whether it’s neglect, failure to fix a problem or blow them away with value, those moments are on display. Online, no interaction is private. Whether it’s on a forum like YELP, an exchange on Twitter or Facebook, a blog comment or even an email, one interaction can be blown and go viral with a screenshot or a share. At work, coworkers see how others work with customers. Those actions can really impact culture What can you do to address those ripples? listen and engage with all your customers. show true empathy. give and follow up on internal surveys of your employees. Segment #3 – Tell Me an Upsell Story After a recent email exchange with a social media management company, I was less than impressed with how they spoke to me, as a prospective client and someone they didn’t have a prior relationship with. Whether it was the sales associate’s condescending, “From what I can see, you’re doing a great job.” to his manager’s excuse that the sales guy is great, I’m just “outside his personality.” Some lessons to share: Words can be perceived badly, even if that’s not the intent. Everyone is “outside the personality” of your staff. Segment #4 – A the Q: Answer the Question Our latest question: “What industry provides great customer service, generally?” I heard AMAZING answers from our last two questions on customer service and leadership and I can’t wait to hear your responses to this one. Let me know yours. Segment #5 – We Sum it All Up And quick one this time. Thanks so much for listening to the latest show, were we… tried to get more meaning out of the term “customer service” by making it more dynamic. touched on a few ways your customer service actions have consequences, like ripples in a pond, in store, online or at work. looked at a recent experience of mine that demonstrated that even if not intentional, your words can hurt your relationship building. Thanks again for being a listener. Can’t tell you how much it means. (OK, I’ll try. It means a lot) If you haven’t yet, please think about subscribing to The Upsell Newsletter. It’s monthly. It’s short. It’s got some value and you’ll get free (read: FREE) ebook out of it. Not shabby. The post Episode 8 – Your Customer Service Actions Have Consequences appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

In episode seven of the The Upsell Podcast, host Russel Lolacher talks to customer and employee experience expert Michel Falcon, founder of the Experience Academy. Word of the Week: EXAMPLE (as in “leading by…”) In the show, Russel and Michel discuss: why companies aren’t providing better customer and employee engagement with so many great examples of how to do it right. the gap in business school education around customer service training. how important surveys are for employees and customers. Michel’s love/hate relationship with the internet. We also find out the one word Michel would use to describe great leadership. For more on our guest and his books, check him out on Twitter and on his website. The post Episode 7 – Consultant Michel Falcon Founder of Experience Academy appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

It’s episode six of the podcast, The Upsell host Russel Lolacher (that’s me) talks to author, speaker and customer experience architect Stan Phelps, who is know for his “Goldfish Series”. Most notably, “What’s Your Purple Goldfish” about differentiation via added value and marketing to your existing customers via G.L.U.E (giving little unexpected extras). Word of the Week: LAGNIAPPE In the show, Russel and Stan discuss why he has such a fascination with goldfish, how customer service and business have changed since he founded 9 Inch Marketing, the biggest gaps to success for companies in customer experience, some details about his upcoming book Blue Goldfish, the Amazon Effect and why we should all aspire to be a little “blue”. We also find out the one word Stan would use to describe great leadership. For more on our guest and his books, check him out on Twitter and on his website. The post Episode 6 – Author Stan Phelps from 9 Inch Marketing appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

Welcome to the fifth episode of The Upsell Podcast. First, thank you for the great feedback and support you’ve shared since I launched. It’s amazing the people who come from every direction, seeing you put out something they feel a connection to and showing their care and attention. I’m only a few episodes in and with your conversations, ratings, reviews… it’s been humbling. So on to the show, another solo-cast.  Segment #1 – Top of Mind “I’m an idiot.” I share one of the dumbest things I’ve done. I was invited to speak on a panel at a joint CPRS/IABC event in Victoria to a budding group of communicators, looking to get into the market. When the emcee asked how the audience could follow up with us, I told them not to. It was a very stupid move and one I regret, even a few years later. Add humanity and empathy, even when it’s not easy to do. Segment #2 – Word of the Week: Easy “Make it easy for me to give you my money” – John Hoffman MAKE IT EASY for your customers, for others in your life and for your employees. In life, make it easy for people: to like you. Have you ever had an encounter with someone and thought, “why did I say that? I didn’t have to be a jerk there.” You know it was the wrong thing by just looking at the reaction from the other person. to get where they are going (car, doorway, etc). Always such a pain point for people to overcome their obstacles (if you see someone struggling with their career or family life, if you see someone looking for knowledge, etc.) In business, make it easy for customers to: access your service or buy your product – goes back to John’s comment. How many obstacles do you put in the way? find information – if I want to know something about your company, how readily available is the information? Make sure your FAQs are up to date. Make sure you’re transparent. contact you – Stop hiding from your customers. Quit you. At work, make it easy for your staff or employees to: get your time – When you say you have an open door policy, do you really? And if that door is open and you notice no one using it…are you really that approachable. Make it easy for people to get your time. get your ear – Listen. And when they have your time, be actively listening. Be present. We can tell when you wander off in your brain. Put the email typing away. work with you – are you collaborative or difficult. Are you putting up more obstacles or are you solving problems and helping? Offer a path of least resistance by being friend and helping them. By making it easy for others, there’s great benefits for you, including: becoming a trusted resource to those you help. actions speak louder than words, and by putting others before yourself you show leadership to those around you. you’ll feel good. Psychology Today says it reduces stress, helps you feel closer to others, increases compassion and empathy. Segment #3 – Tell Me an Upsell Story A great and positive customer experience…nay, a human experience, courtesy of Brock Lewis from Sacramento, California: After enduring a 108 degree day (I do work in an air conditioned office though) and on my way home from a tiring gym sesh (session?), I decided to have someone else make my dinner instead of turning on my stove or oven. I stopped at a Chipotle, placed my order, and approached the register to pay as a lady was attempting to snap open a paper bag in which to place my to-go order. Instead of opening, the bag flew out of her hand, slid across the counter, and was drifting its way to the floor. Since I’ve played sports all my life, I usually try to take advantage of these little “sporting” moments. As I was already in the process of moving in the direction of the fluttering bag, I was able to take an extra stride and reach out to catch the bag between my thumb and index fingers just before it landed on the floor (there was actually quite a bit of a lunging action involved). The attempt was really all upside as it was going to be either a, “hey, that was a really nice catch” or a “that was a nice try, but you really had no chance to catch it” kind of moment. The lady who “threw” the bag was quite impressed with my “athletic feat” and said, “That was such an amazing catch; your meal is on us tonight.” I actually had to confirm she was serious (which she was), thanked her profusely, walked out with free Chipotle, and now sharing that experience. It turned out she was a manager and it’s nice to know Chipotle gives its management discretion to make such gestures. Segment #4 – A the Q: Answer the Question This week, I pose the question: “What is ONE WORD for great leadership?” and share the great responses we got from the last question around one word for good customer service. I was absolutely amazed at those that shared their very brief summary of great customer service.   Segment #5 – We Sum it All Up Thanks again for listening. In this episode, I learned from my mistakes, we discussed the various ways you can make it easier on others and the benefits it holds, we shared a fun example of a great customer experience and wrapped it with a question posed to you. Hope you’re enjoying the show. Your ratings and reviews helped get this show far more exposure and awareness than I could have hoped for. Thank YOU! If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments or the Speakpipe feature (on the left).             The post Episode 5 – Make it Easy for Customers, You and Your Business appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

In the fourth episode of the podcast, The Upsell host Russel Lolacher talks to Victoria BC Police Department’s Mike Russell, who has significantly helped grow the brand and engagement in the community for his organization. Word of the Week: COMMUNITY In the show, Russel and Mike discuss the importance of community building to build trust; the many ways the Victoria Police Dept is engaging with citizens, including on Reddit; how strategy is not a one-size fits all; and how someone with no communications training can be so successful in adding humanity to his engagement. We also find out the one word Mike would use to describe great leadership. His Twitter: www.twitter.com/communitymike Victoria Police Department: www.vidpd.ca and www.twitter.com/vicpdcanada Connect to The Upsell at theupsell@gmail.com Get a FREE ebook when you join The Upsell Podcast mailing list. The post Episode 4 – Mike Russell from Victoria Police Department appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

It’s the Upsell podcast, episode number three. I’m Russel Lolacher and I’m excited. I’m thrilled. We have our very first guest. It’s going to be Tricia Morris from Parature of Microsoft. We’re going to talk customer service. We’re going to talk omni channel. We’re going to talk self-service and what we really need to do is not keep her waiting. Let’s get to it. TRANSCRIPT Host Russel Lolacher: Hello and welcome again to the Upsell podcast. I’m Russel Lolacher and thank you once again for joining me. A little excited, a little happy, I have a chance to talk to somebody today that I’ve been meaning to talk to for a really long time. In the customer service circles of blogging and social media as a whole, Tricia Morris and I had been kind of circling each other being on particular lists of customer service this and that and her work with Parature I’ve been a huge fan of, for a long time. I try to share all her content the minute I get a chance to and I have her on the show today. Hello Tricia. Tricia Morris:            Hi Russel. Great to be here. Thanks for the warm welcome. Russel:      Oh, thank you very much. Now, your title, I just want to make I get sure this right, Senior Product Marketing Manager, is that correct? Tricia:            That’s me. Russel:      Okay, that’s you. I didn’t want to add any words or subtract any words. I wanted to make sure I covered everything. Tricia:            It’s perfect. Russel:      Now I do want to talk a little bit about Parature and I want to dig in actually in a lot into your look at customer service, sort of how you look at it because believe me, you’re pumping out so much content that I’m sure you’re seeing it from a lot of different angles that I think people will get a lot of benefit from. One thing I did notice, and just to be fair, Tricia hasn’t seen any of these questions. She has no idea what I’m going to ask her. I will start with something you many have mentioned on your Twitter bio, that you’re a bit of a science fiction nerd. Now I like to start any conversations off with something that’s a little more unrelated to the conversation at hand. So I’m going to go right in here Tricia and I’m going to test one question here. Which science fiction movie do you think people should see more of? Tricia:            That’s a great question. I really like the Prometheus recently. I don’t think a lot of people went to see that. Russel:      There you go. Okay, fair enough. I did see it. Creepy, creepy movie. So I know where you’re coming from Tricia, thank you for that. Tricia:            Excellent. Glad you saw it. We were the only two. Russel:      I think we might have been the only two and the director. I think that was end of list. So let’s get right into the customer service. Looking a bit, I want to talk about Parature a bit, because what they’re doing I find really interesting, just from a knowledge base but first looking at your background, it’s very marketing-based, very editorial-based. Why customer service? Why such a love for this? Tricia:            To tell you the truth, I don’t know what hit me. When I signed up for Parature, I signed up for a marketing writer role and the more I started learning about customer service and especially all the technology that empowers people today and then also the human side that we always have to keep in mind. I just really drank the Kool-Aid and I have the passion for the delivery of great customer service. Russel:      Okay, now what about Parature sort of has really resonated with you. I know a bit about Parature just from digging into the website and the blog itself, but Parature, just correct me if I’m wrong, it’s a service, it’s from Microsoft as well. You guys were bought out last year? You were bought last year? Tricia:            That’s right, in January of 2014. Russel:      Obviously, this is big stuff. When that announcement and I saw you report on that, I was like, “Okay, this is kind of a big deal.” Knowledge based live chat, basically. It’s about finding information readily available for a customer service team, is that right? Tricia:            Absolutely. Multi-channel service desks, but we specialize in knowledge based and knowledge for customer service is really what powers the self-service and multi-channel experiences so that was definitely something that brought us to focus for my Microsoft. The other thing was that our tagline was “Customer service software that revolves around you.” So being a smaller company competing with big companies like Oracle and Salesforce and Microsoft at the time, our differentiator was actually providing great customer service, as a customer service company so that’s another reason why I had such a passion for customer service and blogging about it. Russel:      Knowledge base is huge. I can’t tell you how important it is. If you’re calling into an organization and they have that information at their fingertips, that’s freaking huge. That just serves the customer better. Now in a blog you recently wrote, you were highlighting something, Econsultancy had a survey where they said 89% of brands think they’re doing a great job. However, those customers that took the same survey said 28% of those brands are doing a good job. Why do you think there’s such a disconnect between what the brands believe and what customers believe? Tricia:            I don’t why that is, why it’s such a huge difference, but I think one thing is customers have, and you know we talk about this so much, but they really have great expectations for customer service that it will be seamless, that it will be everything that a lot of the companies, brands and organizations promised in their grand promise that they offer exceptional customer experience. So we’re giving them these great expectations and they’re powered by so much technology themselves and with that, service really have to be satisfying. Sometimes it’s not, most times it’s not. Russel:      And the expectations from customers are just going to keep going up and up. Tricia:            They are. We just finished up our second multi-channel survey and customer expectations I think are up 3% from last year, so you’re right, it just keeps going up and up. Russel:      Now, another phrase actually that I saw in a lot of your writings has been the phrase “authentic customer service.” Authentic is thrown around quite a bit, so I want to ask you how do you define authentic customer service? Tricia:            Well, there’s a lot of ways to define that or I guess a lot of attributes, especially for assisted service. It’s customer service representatives that are empowered to be themselves and to provide you with the best customer experience, even if it takes a little bit longer or even if they need to do a little bit extra. The brand and the person really shows through. Then maybe for online customer service and web self-service, it’s those brands that will flip the information out there that they might have kept behind closed doors before but that they want to empower and inform their customers with. Russel:      Now, and something Parature does really well is the self-service model where customers actually can find their own information and I know that’s only becoming a bigger deal, with a lot of the surveys I’ve seen, even from my own experiences where customers are feeling, well they feel dumb if they can’t find the information or they get frustrated with the brand. So why do you think self-service is so important? Tricia:            I really think it’s about the amount of technology and the time expectations that customers have now. I think 77% in the Forrester research survey said that valuing their time was the greatest aspect of a good customer service experience and I think it’s the right answer, right time, right channel mentality that if customers can find what they’re looking for without having to speak to someone, it gives them a great feeling of empowerment, satisfaction, and they want to use it again every single time. It has great benefits for the brand as well. Russel:      Do you think that’s how organizations can address that growing expectation we were talking about earlier? Tricia :            I do, I think putting more information online and keeping it current and the key to a knowledge base is really organizing the information and making it searchable, and with that, you can really empower your customers with the information they want that keeps them from being frustrated. A lot of people call in or they email in frustration because they can’t find their answer online. So you’re really setting up your assisted agents for success if you can provide more information online. Russel:      No argument from me whatsoever. Now, as I’ve mentioned, I have been enjoying your blog already for quite a while, and you’re definitely a bit of a survey nerd. I hope you’re not offended by this- Tricia:            I am, no, I love my statistics. Russel:      So from reading all those surveys and really digging in to the numbers, have you seen any bigger trends, positive or negative or I don’t want to say negative, but maybe opportunities, that you see over maybe in the last week, year? Tricia:            That’s a great question. I think there’s a lot of opportunities and most companies aren’t there yet because it’s just so difficult to do, but there’s a lot of opportunities around omni-channel customer service, you know, creating that seamless service across channels. I think a lot of companies are starting to do multi-channel customer service well, where they offer customer service on three to five customer service channels. But omni-channel, that seamless experience, I think that will probably be the next big differentiator for brands. Russel:      I can’t even tell you personally how frustrated I’ve been where tried to phone in to somebody, had a terrible or even frustrating experience but gone on, say Twitter or Facebook and gotten back almost immediately what I was looking for. Tricia:            That’s true. Russel:      Do you think that’s a resourcing issue or just a priority issue? Tricia:            I’m not sure, that’s another good question. I think a lot of times, that the agents are still working inside siloed channels where they’re managing one channel and one solution and another channel and another, so they don’t really see that real time view of the customer. Russel:      Good point. Now, from that research you were mentioning, and even your experience, because you may write about this but you’re also a customer yourself. What’s one thing you think organizations could do right now? Right now, actionable right now that would improve their service? Tricia:            I really think it does revolve around knowledge. I mean, that’s just the foundation for everything and that seems to be one of the things that a lot of brands and organizations give the least credit and the least investment to. But it can mean a huge difference for your agents and for your customers, giving them the right information or more information. Russel:      Yeah, it seems to be some organizations take their frontline staff and put them so much separation between them and the subject matter experts, or maybe it’s just an integration issue. Tricia:            It could be. I think you’re right, probably both. Russel:      I did fall in love with one of your recent blogs, it was called 10 Things Mom Can Teach Us About Customer Service. I did enjoy that one, and one of the things I want to pull out, because it was your favorite was if it were easy, everyone would be doing it. Tricia:            That’s right, that’s what makes it such a great differentiator when it comes to customer service. Russel:      Why was that your favorite? Tricia:            I just think that says it all. So many brands promise a fantastic or exceptional customer experience but it’s really hard to do. Agents don’t get enough credit, the brands that do it right don’t get enough credit and there are few, according to that survey that you cited before, the difference between brands thinking they offer a great customer experience and the customers’ perception, it’s really hard to do. Russel:      It’s so funny, with the Upsell, I’m all about adding humanity and adding that human element to those metrics that we love and need so much, but I really love how you put that you really need a lot of commitment and passion to walk the walk. For me as somebody that’s a buyer and talker about this stuff, I don’t always understand how you can’t understand how commitment and passion are so important when it comes to your business. Why do you think that is? Tricia:            I don’t know why that is. I think it takes the right person, honestly. I’ve seen several of our customers that really excel, they really take the technology, and our solution is just a small part of it, but if they put their commitment and passion into it … we have one customer, Erick McKirdy, he’s the global customer care manager for ask.com, he even puts a picture of himself on their self-service portal and says call me, email me, contact me if you can’t find your answer here. That’s really putting a lot of passion and yourself behind your customer service . Russel:      People relate to people, not logos. Tricia:            Absolutely, that makes all the difference. Russel:      As you’ve been writing this blog for quite a while, you’ve got quite a bit of notoriety actually for the Parature blog. What have you learned the most from writing this? What’s been one of your biggest takeaways, personally or professionally? Tricia:            I think professionally that customer service is a really tough job and that agents don’t enough credit for what they do and sometimes they’re not empowered to do their job. As customers, sometimes we have to put ourselves in their shoes and vice versa. Coming back to that human element, if you can do that and put an authentic voice into your customer service and just put your passion behind it, that will make a world of difference. Russel:      On the Upsell podcast, I always like to ask a question, either to people I’m talking to one on one or out into the socialsphere, and I’d love to ask you as well your word and what the question is, is in one word, what is good customer service? Tricia:            That’s a great question. In what word, what is good customer service? Hhmm … Russel:      Ooh, I got you thinking. Tricia:            You really do. Okay, can I put a hyphen in it? Russel Lolacher:      You’re the guest, absolutely you can put a hyphen in it. Tricia:            I’d say time-savings. Russel:      Nice. For the customer or the employee or employer, I guess for everybody. Tricia:            Absolutely, and definitely for the customer. I think if you can get the right answer on the first contact, that makes a huge difference in your day, just getting that time back that you thought you might have to spend 30 minutes to an hour on customer service and it goes perfectly on the first try, that really makes your day. Russel:      That’s a great hyphenated word. Thank you again for speaking to us here at Upsell. I want to wrap it up with a quick question about, and I wonder if you have one, hopefully you have one, is maybe a recent story of customer service that happened to you that you sort of want to showcase. I really like sharing stories on the podcast that aren’t necessarily negative, because I’m not here to shame organizations, I want to more share opportunities that you can learn from or to give the kudos. Like you said earlier, those that don’t get recognized as much as they should. So is there any recent upsell stories you’d like to share? Tricia:            Well, one that’s pretty memorable for me is I was talking with my financial institution and they were able to take me from the phone over to the web, and then on to social media after that for the follow-up. Honestly, in all my experiences recently, that’s the first time I’ve experienced a seamless customer experience over multiple channels. Russel:      You have to say financial institutions do not have the best reputation when it comes to that. Tricia:            That’s right. Very impressive. Russel:      Fantastic. I just want to say thank you again for joining us, Tricia. Tricia:            My pleasure, thank you for asking me. Russel:      My pleasure. Again, that was Tricia Morris who you can find on Twitter @dessertcontent, now that’s dessert as in two “ss”, as in the tasty treat you have afterwards, not like the sandy area. Yeah, dessertcontent or of course @parature, which you can certainly find here there and engage as well, and I also love that you’re consistently pumping out those blogs on the blog itself at Parature, also in LinkedIn as well. Tricia:            I appreciate your content as well, Russel. Russel:      Thank you so much for your time, Tricia. Tricia:            Thank you. EXTRO Russel Lolacher:      That was episode 3 in the can for Upsell podcast, thanks again for listening. Thank you to Tricia Morris for being our guest, for being our inaugural guest, that’s all bright and shiny and special. Well, it is to me, anyway. Got into some great topics there, got into the importance of trying to keep up with customers’ demands and expectations when it comes to level of customer service, how important the omni-channel is, and a little more insight into Parature, which is very much about knowledge and having access to knowledge. Also the self-service thing, where your customers can have access to that same knowledge as well. So again, it was great, my brain got a little bit bigger, and I hope yours did too. Thanks for listening, check us out on the upsellpodcast.com and the upsell.com, maybe sign up for the mailing list, we got an ebook coming out very very soon. Again, thanks. Take care, talk to you later.   The post Episode 3 – Tricia Morris from Parature of Microsoft appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

It’s our second show of The Upsell Podcast and we discuss how important situational awareness is in the customer experience. You need to know what’s going on around you and make it a priority to act. If not, what is that saying about your interest in your customers or their business?  Segment #1 – Top of Mind “Is Customer Service Dead?” I had an interesting discussion with Stephanie Fowler, a practitioner of PR in Vancouver, on engagement, public relations and customer service. She asked the question, “Is customer service dead?” and it stopped me. It stopped me because I’d heard it from so many people before. Segment #2 – Word of the Week: Situational Awareness We look at the standard definition of the phrase and it’s roots in military culture. Some examples in customer service include: Have you ever been in line, waiting to be served, when the cashier is busy focused on some task at hand, finally looks up and seems startled to notice you’re there? (Happened to me 2 days ago) Have you ever been out for dinner and the server hasn’t been by in ages, yet they seem to be visiting every other table no problem…even tables that were seated after you? Have you ever called into a customer service call centre and the person seems more interested in following a script than listening to you?  Three ways to understand situational awareness in regards to customer service: Emotionally, Physically and Spiritually. Learn to be more situationally aware. Examples include making a conscious effort and the OODA Loop We dig into a method that could really work, created by onPoint Tactical founder Kevin Reeve. Monitor the Baseline. Fight Normalcy Bias. Avoid using the obvious focus locks in transition areas. Learn why having situational awareness is important as a business and as an employee. Segment #3 – Tell Me an Upsell Story In part two of the Dirty Bird Scrap Car & Truck Removal story from last week’s show, I share the reaction of the scrap removal owner when my dad asked him how many trucks he had: “I have two, and I drive both of them” I was blown away by that statement and what it really meant. Segment #4 – A the Q: Answer the Question A repeat from last week: “What one word would you use to describe good customer service?” Segment #5 – We Sum it All Up Thanks again for listening. Hope you’re enjoying the show. If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments or the speakpipe feature.     The post Episode 2 – Learning Situational Awareness appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.

Hello and welcome to the first episode of The Upsell Podcast. In this show, I talk about taking back the term “upselling” from its negative roots of manipulation and put a more meaningful spin on it. I think we can do better than just trying to get a bit more money out of customers without adding value.  Segment #1 – Top of Mind Origins of The Upsell. Topics I discuss: Why a podcast after starting as a blog since 2009 My customer service background. My honour to be on various lists naming customer service influencers and leaders, including Huffington Post and GetApp.com Why customer service is important to me. Hint: It’s about people and relationship building. I also share my biggest influences: Simon Sinek’s book and TEDx Talk: Start with WHY Jay Baer’s book Youtility, on being useful to your customers. Segment #2 – WORD OF THE WEEK: Upsell We’ll discuss the various standard definitions and what upselling has traditionally meant What “The Upsell” should be and that by changing the definition it can help your business, and how you approach life. This podcast is about learning and understanding how to improve the customer experience, the employee experience and the human experience. Specifically, the 3 things this podcast will focus on are: Upsell your Business, Upsell your Organization, and Upsell your Life. Segment #3 – Tell Me an Upsell Story I share my Dad’s recent Dirty Bird Scrap Car and Truck Removal experience. A business that understands their customers and how they are relevant to their lives. This company doesn’t remove scrap, they fix problems by removing emotional baggage. Yes, I said it. Segment #4 – A the Q, Answer the Question “In one word, what is good customer service?” Before I wrap up, I need to share the names of those who motivated me to podcast and who have been nothing but supportive in this new project. Jared Easley (Starve the Doubts), Reece Sims (The Lovenoteworthy Show), Mike Vardy (Productivityist Podcast), Megan Pangan (Get in the Lab), Janice Mansfield (Real Food Made Easy), Dennis O’Neill (BCIT radio instructor) Dr Ryan Gray, Nick Seuberling, Addy Saucedo Segment # 5 – We Sum it All Up You got to learn a little about me and what got me to talking to you. I really believe understanding emotion and how we connect with each other can only make things better for everyone, in business and in life. We looked at the old school definition of Upselling, basically “adding a product or a service you weren’t planning on purchasing through suggestion” My definition of The Upsell: Compassion, Humanity. Empathy Nothing will help your long term business or your interactions with others more Podcast focuses on 3 Things: Upsell your business, your organization and your life Shared a story about how an unassuming business can have a huge impact but understanding what they really do to help their customers. Thanks for listening. Subscribe to the show on iTunes, Stitcher and Soundcloud  The post Episode 1 – Introducing the New Meaning of The Upsell appeared first on The Upsell Podcast - Adding Humanity to Your Business and Life.