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Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 4, 2020

Each week I read a number of customer service and customer experience articles from various 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. Customer Experience is the way! But where is its value? by Thomas Wieberneit […]

Each week I read a number of customer service and customer experience articles from various 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.

Customer Experience is the way! But where is its value? by Thomas Wieberneit

(Epikonic) What is the experience gap? At the end of the day, it is the mismatch between brand and product promise and delivery to these promises.

My Comment: This is an important article. The topic has been around for years, but we must always keep it “top of mind.” This is the gap between what company leadership believes they are providing to customers in the way of an excellent customer experience and what the customer actually perceives it to be. Often there is a gap – and that gap is that the company execs believe they are better than they are. Note: The truth can sometimes hurt!

The Ultimate Customer Experience by Josh Linkner

(Josh Linkner) With glimpses of hope that our economy will reopen in the coming months, it’s time to start thinking about our businesses in a post-pandemic landscape. How will the world change and how will your industry be different? How will you adapt to the new circumstances?

My Comment: There are plenty of articles that are going to be about the economy opening back up and what businesses need to consider as this happens. (I have two of them in this TOP FIVE roundup this week.) Innovation guru, Josh Linkner, has his take, and it’s worthy of your consideration. He offers up an assignment; having a meeting, remote if necessary, to brainstorm the ultimate customer experience. He even gives us questions that will fuel the conversation.

Reopening Faces Its Next Challenge: Retail Marketing by PYMNTS

(PYMNTS) There’s no podcast, textbook or self-help guru that has a playbook on marketing a retail business after a pandemic. But while reopening is the order of the day, re-marketing will be the order of 2020 as retailers try to transcend simple survival and get back on their feet.

My Comment: Not everyone reading this TOP FIVE round up is in retail, but this article, while totally focused on retail, should make us think about how we “reopen” to our customers as we put COVID-19 behind us. Our customers have been impacted in a way that has them thinking and behaving differently. The way we come back is paramount to the long term success we hope to have with our existing customers, as well as new ones – regardless of the type of business we’re in (B2B or B2C).

7 Guidelines Starting Customer Experience by Christine Crandell

(B2Community) Based on our nine years of client engagements, here are seven guidelines to help companies figure out how to get started with their customer experience initiatives.

My Comment: Here is a seven-step list of how to get focused on customer experience. While much of this is a reminder, step two in this process made me want to include the article. Rather than try to “solve for everything,” just look at a few key cases. This turns a potentially daunting task into something much easier to manage. Look at several issues and determine what can be done to eliminate or mitigate problems. Smart idea!

BONUS

A Psychological Approach To Management And Leadership After A Socioeconomic Crisis by Matt Wujciak

(CCW) In the past few months, we’ve been thrown a curveball. The pitcher wasn’t on the scouting report and many of us have struck out. But there are innings left to be played. The game is not over.

My Comment: I see light at the end of the tunnel! The economy is starting to open up and we all hope we’re making the right decision to do so. I’m optimistic and know that if we manage this well, we’ll be back to a new “normal” in a few months. This article from our friends at CCW is about leadership and management after a crisis. The article covers productivity, burnout and a number of other topics we should all consider as we move into the post-COVID-19 world.

How To Flatten The Contact Center Curve, According To The Experts by Johnny Rosa

(Zappix) The coronavirus has totally changed all of our lives. Contact centers must adapt and industry experts agree on what they absolutely have to do flatten the contact center curve.

My Comment: The contact/support center was hit hard throughout the crisis. Customers experienced long wait times due to a much higher volume of calls. The term “flatten the curve” has been the term used to describe the strategy of our healthcare system in reducing the number of COVID-19 cases. It is also being used to describe other areas of life, and specifically our contact centers. This article features some expert commentary (honored that the author included my comments) about how companies are managing support and flattening their customer support curve.

5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 4, 2020Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.

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