Customer Service Blog, Customer Service Article

Below are blog posts, articles and tips focused on customer service and experience. To view just the articles (typically longer than a blog post), click here.

This week we feature an article by Gemma Baker about the importance of offering help to your website visitors. I like the live chat option because I can immediately get in touch with a representative to ask my questions without having to wait. – Shep Hyken Continue reading →

My buddy went to dinner with his wife to celebrate their anniversary. The server overheard them talking about how many years they had been married and was flattered they chose to spend their special night at the restaurant. So, he brought them over complimentary champagne. They were surprised and most appreciative. That is, until the bill came.

As my friend looked over the bill he noticed there were two complimentary glasses of champagne on the bill had a charge of two dollars per glass. Since it was only four dollars, and rather than have a confrontation with the server, he just paid the bill. A perfect evening derailed when the surprise champagne turned out to be a bigger surprise than he expected. Continue reading →

John Hall Shares Tips on Building Trust and Influence with Your Customers

How do you increase your influence with your customers?

Shep Hyken interviews John Hall, author and CEO/co-founder of Influence & Co., a content marketing agency that helps brands and individuals leverage expertise to create, publish, and distribute content. John shares how everyone can overcome trust barriers and build confidence and top-of-mind awareness through content marketing.

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This week we feature an article by Felix Winstone who says that while technology has impacted our approach to customer service, the oldest channel of communication, voice, is the most important. – Shep Hyken Continue reading →

We must always be honest with our customers. Even if it is something the customer doesn’t want to hear.

Many of you will be able to relate to this. My wife holds up two pairs of shoes and asks me, “Which pair of shoes do you like better?” I know I’m in trouble. Is she really interested in my opinion? Or is it a trick question? In her mind she already knows the answer. She just wants me to confirm the answer. I have a 50/50 chance of giving her the correct response. And, even if I choose the correct pair of shoes, she is going to wonder why I didn’t choose the other. Only one other question she asks could get me in more trouble: “Does this dress look good on me?” But at least she didn’t ask, “Does this dress make my butt look big?” Although she just might as well have. Continue reading →

John Rossman on How to Innovate Like Amazon

What makes Amazon great?

Shep Hyken interviews John Rossman, author of The Amazon Way: 14 Leadership Principles of the World’s Most Disruptive Company and former executive at Amazon. John shares how Amazon creates a culture of operational excellence and innovation – and why you should, too.

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Each week I read a number of customer service and experience articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too. Continue reading →

This week we feature an article by Josh Brown about the importance of cultivating long-term relationships with relational customers who want to get more out of their experience with your company. – Shep Hyken Continue reading →

Every week, I’m asked, “What is changing in customer service?” The expected answer is that I’ll talk about all the new ways customer service and support is conducted – and I do. There’s self-service solutions that include robust frequently asked questions and video. There’s social media customer service with multiple channels like Facebook and Twitter. And, AI (Artificial Intelligence) that the experts – myself included – say will potentially change everything. Continue reading →

Bryan Eisenberg Tells Us The Secrets of Amazon’s Success

How can your business be more like Amazon?

Shep Hyken interviews Bryan Eisenberg co-author of the book, Be Like Amazon: Even a Lemonade Stand Can Do It.

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This week we feature an article by Matt Nolan who talks about what a great customer service experience really is. We can learn a lot when we look at what companies around the world are doing to adopt new service models. – Shep Hyken Continue reading →

I’m often asked, “How many people in an organization does it take to create a culture focused on Customer Amazement?” The short answer is: all of them. But, the process has to start somewhere. Usually it’s at the top with leadership. But sometimes it can come from someone inside the organization at a different level. I refer to that person as The Force Within. That person delivers Amazement within the larger group, which may not necessarily be operating at the same standard as he or she is. Continue reading →

Nick Friedman Explains What It Takes to “Move the World”

How can you create a purpose-driven, values-based, socially-conscious company that can deliver both success and significance?

Shep Hyken interviews Nick Friedman, co-founder of College Hunks Hauling Junk and Moving about how to develop a customer-focused, values-based company that can benefit you, your employees and your customers. Continue reading →

This week we feature an article by Ganesh Mukundan about how important customer experience metrics are to your business. Companies that track and measure their customer service have a competitive advantage. They know when they are doing a great job, and more importantly, they know when they aren’t. – Shep Hyken Continue reading →

Not long ago I was interviewing Kevin Berk, founder and CEO of ServiceGuru, on Amazing Business Radio. We were talking about the word fine. He commented that it is a four letter that begins with the letter F that you never want to hear from your customer. I then joked that fine is the “F-Bomb” of customer service.

Ask someone how their experience with your company is. If they say, “Fine,” and you dig a little deeper, you may find out things really aren’t so fine. Continue reading →

Megan Singh on How to Create the Best Place to Work and the Best Place for Customers to Buy

What are some ways that you can show your customers, and your employees, that you are truly customer focused?

Shep Hyken interviews Megan Singh, Project Management Director at Squaremouth, a four-time Gold Stevie Award winner for Customer Service Department of the Year, to get ideas that you can implement in your organization. Continue reading →

This week we feature an article by Kevin J. Berk about the importance of responding quickly to customer comments and reviews. Ask your customers to post online reviews. This shows that you have confidence that you will take care of your customers by delivering a great customer service experience and taking care of any problems that may arise – in such a way that will earn you a glowing online review. – Shep Hyken
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Kevin Berk on How to get Customers to Want to Leave Reviews

How can you improve both customer and employee satisfaction? By getting customers to provide feedback on individual employee service performance.

Shep Hyken interviews Kevin Berk, creator of a new customer rating platform called ServiceGuru, about how using services like these can improve your company revenues. Continue reading →