Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of November 7, 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.

If You Don’t Love Your Customers, Someone Else Will by Melissa Henley

(CMSWire) Can you power an organization with love? Whether you call it compassion, or kindness or respect, love for customers is key to setting your organization apart. “All You Need Is Love.” It’s not just a Beatles song, it should be your customer experience ethos. Because if you aren’t showing your customers that you love them, you can bet someone else is knocking at the door to show them just how important they are.

My Comment: The title says it all. The author plays off of Gary Chapman’s international bestselling book, “The Five Love Languages,” and applies the ideas to our customer relationships. While all five ideas may not apply to every type of business, at least one or two of them will. Show your customers some love, and watch how they respond. I think you’ll like it!

4 Questions to Measure — and Boost — Customer Trust by Ashley Reichheld and Amelia Dunlop

(Harvard Business Review) Every business leader knows that trust is critical to a company’s success and that lost trust often has financial consequences. An Economist magazine analysis of Volkswagen, Wells Fargo, and six other corporations calculated that a company loses 30% of its value when it loses trust, at least in the short term.

My Comment: People like doing business with companies and brands that they know, like, and trust. The knowing and liking is easy. The tough part is trust. That’s what this article is all about. The most trusted companies outperform the stock market and “are more than 2.5 times more likely to be high-performing revenue organizations.” Here are four areas to focus on when you want to build trust with your customers. I’ll add a fifth, and that’s customer experience. Our CX research finds that 83% of customers trust a brand more if they provide an excellent customer experience.

Surveying the New Landscape of Customer Loyalty in the Wake of the Pandemic by Fastco Works

(Fast Company) In recent years, much has been written about the shifting relationships between consumers and companies. Consumers these days expect more from the companies they patronize, from elevated customer experiences to more personalized attention. Meanwhile, companies’ business-to-business relationships have undergone a similar transformation, as B2B customers are expecting more from the companies they work with. To navigate this new environment, many firms have turned to partners to help them better serve both their business and retail customers.

My Comment: The pandemic (just two years ago) forced most companies to step up their customer service game. Customers expected a different level of service that was more than just good service. They wanted more empathy and understanding than usual. Customers wanted a connection, and the companies and brands that delivered found a new type of customer loyalty.

6 Tips for Offering Better Customer Service by Phone (Even in a Tiny Company) by José Luis Martín Cara

(MITechNews.com) The quality of the customer service and support you provide has to be solid, regardless of the scale at which your business operates. If you’re failing to meet expectations, loyalty will take a hit, and growth will be out of reach. When it comes to communicating with customers over the phone, there are thankfully a number of ways to keep them happy and engaged, in spite of having limited resources available.

My Comment: You don’t have to be a big company with a contact center to provide excellent customer service over the phone. These six tips are a “back to basics” reminder about what customers appreciate when they reach out for support. By the way, our customer service research finds that 71% of customers prefer the phone as their first option for customer support. Regardless of the size of your company, some of these “basics” are essential to giving your customers the experience they want.

Strategizing for a downturn: CX leaders prepare for 2023 by Anna McKibben

(CX Network) Earlier this month, British newspaper The Independent reported that economists foresee a “0.3 percent fall in gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023 as a whole” – and that’s only in the UK. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook report, projects that global growth will slow from 3.2 percent this year to 2.7 percent in 2023. Post-pandemic financial restraints have prompted many businesses to change how they deliver the customer experience, but the scale of that change is far more significant than initially realized.

My Comment: This short article is a reminder that in spite of the economy, customer service must continue to be a priority. Supply chain issues, employment problems, and the economy are going to be tough on some companies. If there are going to be cost-cutting measures, stay away from anything the customer might notice, especially your customer service.

BONUSES

The Intersection of Public Relations and Customer Experience by Brianna Langley

(CMSWire) At its core, public relations (PR) is all about managing the reputation of a company. It’s about crafting and disseminating stories that will either make people want to associate with your brand or run from it. Whereas customer experience (CX), as we know, is all about creating positive interactions between a customer and a business.

My Comment: If you were to ask me for a theme song to describe a good customer experience, it would be Bonnie Raitt’s song, “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About.” For many years I’ve said that a good customer experience can be some of your best marketing. That also includes PR. You want people to talk, tweet, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, etc., about you. That’s PR and marketing. Yes, there is an intersection between PR and CX.

14 Best Customer Service Blogs to Follow in 2022 by Tetiana Shataieva

(HelpCrunch) In this post, you can find the top 14 customer service blogs to follow in 2022. Feel free to subscribe to one or all of them, so you can keep up to date with trends and practices in customer service.

My Comment: HelpCrunch listed the top customer service blogs, and it is an honor to be included at the top of this list with some other amazing and smart customer service experts. Read some of these blogs and increase your customer service IQ.