Don Crawley, Author.

Part of good customer service is knowing how to say no to a customer without being a jerk. How to Say No Successfully I needed to refill a prescription. I had recently changed to a different physician who wanted to see me before authorizing the refill. The problem was that her office didn’t tell me that […]

How to Say No to a Customer Without Being a Jerk

Don Crawley, Author.

We’ve all seen websites designed by someone’s neighbor’s cousin’s step-son’s friend. We’ve probably also had to deal with network problems on a network set up by the business owner’s daughter’s best friend’s uncle. Such scenarios usually include a comment about how it may not be the greatest website or the most perfect network, but at […]

Why You Must Market Your Value as an IT Professional

Don Crawley, Author.

I recently submitted a question through a pre-sales form on a company’s website. I asked them to contrast their product with a competitor’s product. The response I received was too long and didn’t answer my question. It was a canned response that pretended to be a personal response. There was no customer focus. They went on […]

Customer Focus: It’s Not About Technology, It’s About People

Don Crawley, Author.

When I was seventeen, I hitchhiked from Kansas City to Denver overnight. When I arrived that morning, I decided to try to find a job right away. I planned to hitchhike to a shopping mall in hopes of finding work as a delivery person or doing some other form of manual labor. I’m standing at […]

The Danger of No Communication

Don Crawley, Author.

As IT people, we work with people in nearly every part of an organization. That means we may have to support and work with people in positions of great authority such as police officers, executives, physicians, or attorneys. Sometimes, that can be uncomfortable or even intimidating. Many of the actions to use when dealing with […]

11 Powerful Tips for Dealing with Authority Figures in IT Customer Service (Includes Video)