+ PLUS ONE

“plus ones” for phones/TEAMS/email - Examples

Scenario:
A student, Maya Chen, comes to her site director, Mike, visibly frustrated. She was double-billed for her course fee and needs it fixed before a payment deadline in two days. Mike can't fix billing directly, so he reaches out to the Business Office contact, Sara, to get it resolved. The difference between "customer service" and "raising the standard" here is whether Mike just forwards a ticket or hands Sara a person.

• The message from Mike to Sara

  • “Sara — I've got a double-billing issue on Maya Chen's account (student ID 8675309). She was charged the $340 course fee twice on the 7/28 statement, and she's got a payment plan deadline this Friday, so timing matters."

    • This instead of the flat version: "Can you look into a billing error for this student?" It names the exact problem, the amount, and why the clock is running.

• Use their language back

  • "Mike — got it. Maya was double-charged $340 on the 7/28 statement, nothing's posted against it yet, and she's got a Friday deadline. She wants this cleared before then, not just logged into the queue."

    • Sara doesn't just accept the ticket — she restates it back with the specifics, so Mike knows it landed and nothing got lost in translation.

    • Standard customer service: "Got it, I'll look into the billing issue."

• Name and context

  • Begin with: "Mike — thanks for flagging this and giving me the full picture; that actually helps a ton."

  • End with: “I've got this one — no need to follow up with me. I'll circle back to both of you once it's resolved.”

    • A standard reply just answers the question. This one opens by acknowledging the handoff itself, and closes by taking the worry off Mike’s plate.

• One small recap

  • Before you end: “Let me quickly recap what I’m working with: double charge, same invoice, no partial payments applied, deadline is Friday."

  • This extra 20–30 seconds makes people feel handled, not rushed.

    • She plays it back before acting, so if anything's off, it gets caught now instead of after the fix is wrong.

• “Plus-One” next step anticipation

  • Add one sentence: "I'll pull the transaction log this afternoon and issue a credit rather than a refund since the second charge never settled. I'll confirm with you both once it's done."

    • Standard customer service waits to be asked, "so what's the plan?" Raising the standard tells you the plan before you have to ask.

• Personal acknowledgment

  • "Since she's already anxious about the deadline, I'd rather send her a short note myself once it's fixed, if that's alright with you. If she hears it directly from the person who fixed it, hopefully it will help her feel settled."

    • Sara isn't just closing a ticket. She's thinking about how Maya will experience the resolution, not just whether the number is correct.

• Internal “plus one”

  • "I'll flag this one to my manager as an example so we can catch these before they become bigger disputes."

    • Standard customer service closes the ticket and moves on. Raising the standard uses the moment to make the good handling visible to Mike, to Maya, and for the team's own standard going forward.