Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of August 26, 2013

Top Customer Service and Business Articles

Each week I read a number of customer service 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.

The Secret To Amazing Customer Experience: Know Thy Customer By Michael Brenner

(SAP) Retailers not only want their customers to buy things, but to be loyal advocates of their brand. But making this significant connection with the modern consumer is a challenge – to be not only at the top of a customer’s mind, but at the tips of their fingers, too.

My Comment: No doubt that you can give a better customer experience when you know your customer.  And that means really knowing your customer. When you know their individual habits or preferences, you can customize an experience just for them. Big data helps you spot the trends of a group of customers. Little data is small, individual pieces of data about individual customers. Take advantage of Little Data and watch your customer loyalty grow.

Removing The ‘Grit’ From Your Customer Or Client Experience  by Adrian Swinscoe

(Forbes) Is there ‘grit’ in your customer service or customer experience?

My Comment: Even the smallest piece of “grit” in your show can cause pain over a long period of time. I like the suggestion of asking the customer the question about anything annoying about the experience, presently or in the past. It is important to see if other customers answer the question in the same way. If you have a number of customers who are annoyed by the same thing, you know you have something to improve on.

Making the Most Of Customer Complaints By Stefan Michel, David Bowen & Robert Johnston

(WSJ) Dealing with service failures means a lot more than just fixing the immediate problem. Here’s how to do it right.

My Comment: When something goes wrong for the customer, the goal should not only be to fix the problem, but to also restore the customer’s confidence so they will do business with you again. This WSJ article takes a deep dive into the look of customer recovery with some excellent ideas.

Seven Simple Building Blocks for Amazing Customer Service by Tish Hummer

(Assured Success) To clarify…SIMPLE doesn’t mean easy. But this is a great place to start.

My Comment: I love a list of simple, yet powerful, customer service strategies and tactics.  While I like all seven strategies that Tish Hummer offers up in this article, I’m especially partial to number two, which is to make each customer feel like they are the “only customer.”  What would happen if this really was your only customer?  How would you treat him/her?

What is Great Customer Experience? by Paige O’Neill

(B2Community) Marketers are struggling with a fundamental question right now “What is great customer experience?” Is it a marketing strategy? Is it just a fancy word for Customer Service? Does it really matter?

My Comment: While we might want to define our customers’ experience, we can’t. We can only hope that our customers’ perceptions of the experience they receive is the same as the one we want them to receive. This article is a very simple view of what to consider in creating a system to support the customer experience. Some things in the customer “journey map” are in your control, and some aren’t. And some are behind the scenes while others directly connect to the customer.

Professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314) 692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)