Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of October 17, 2022

Each week I read many 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.

Enough Already With Customer Feedback. Make Your Move by Jeb Dasteel

(CMS Wire) Surveys, especially, will ultimately bury you with customer malcontent and your own frustrated inaction. Should we ignore customers and what their needs are? Of course not. However, we do spend an awful lot of time collecting and measuring sentiment — and not nearly enough time engaging with customers in more impactful ways.

My Comment: I’ve always believed that surveys are very important. They are a history lesson of the customer’s most recent experience. Typically the data comes in the form of numbers, such as NPS or CSAT. However, there is a more important number, and that is the future sales of the customer. In other words, does the customer come back? This article pokes hard at the people/companies that are fixated on surveys – and suggests doing something more important than looking at numbers.

For Incredible Results: Surprise and Delight Your Most Devoted Customers by Laura Bassett

(CMS Wire) Who comes back for average customer experience? Nobody. Every interaction with a customer is a loyalty test. Customers expect in-store service whether their journeys start in search, include a chatbot or end with an agent conversation. These new, high service expectations leave businesses scrambling to deliver ideal service experiences across multiple entry points in customer journeys and in digital channels like apps, chat and self-service.

My Comment: I love the opening line of this article: “Who comes back for average customer experience? Nobody.” The author, Laura Bassett from NICE, and I are in sync with the idea that every interaction with a customer is an opportunity. Bassett says those interactions are loyalty tests. I love this concept. I don’t see enough companies breaking down the customer journey and examining every interaction point – but they should.

9 Commandments Of Client Service by Eric Gilbertsen

(Forbes) What is it that bonds clients to partners when so many alternatives exist? When does a vendor become a strategic partner, no longer at arm’s length but seated at the table?

My Comment: I love this list. Nine specific ideas, tips, strategies, and/or tactics (whatever you want to call them – even commandments) that will create a better customer or client experience. You will agree with all of them, and you already know them. Still, read them and consider if you’re really executing on each one. And after you read the article, share it with your team.

Retention Signals Success for Subscription Businesses by Guy Marion

(Total Retail) For subscription businesses, customer retention could be seen as just as important as customer acquisition, if not more. Strong retention strategies can improve average order values, drive purchase frequency, and even expand your reach through referrals and word-of-mouth.

My Comment: Have you ever noticed how your Internet/cable company offers first-time customers a much better “deal” than existing long-term customers? I’ve always preached you have to treat your existing customers at least as well, if not more so. This article approaches that topic and suggests the same. And you don’t have to be in the subscription business for this to apply. Yes, we want to get new customers. We also want to keep the ones we have.

A Decade of Dramatic Change in Digital Customer Experience by Scott Clark

(CMS Wire) The digital customer experience has exponentially evolved over the past decade, hurried along by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the huge increase in the number of digital interactions the typical customer has had over the past few years, customer expectations have grown while customer patience has decreased. The always-on customer expects brands to be ready to do business at all hours of the day, and they expect exceptional customer service to go with it.

My Comment: Think about the technology that has changed our lives in the past 50 years (if you’re that old). The microchip is behind much of this. There wasn’t an Internet before the ’80s (at least not one the public was using). There weren’t small mobile phones where the most important functions had nothing to do with a phone. The list can go on and on. This article looks at some major changes in customer experience, specifically the digital customer experience. Looking back over the past ten years, much has changed – and improved!