Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of August 15, 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.

We Listen to Our Customers. Really? by Melissa Henley

(CMSWire) Listening doesn’t just matter in your personal relationships — it’s vital to your professional ones, too. We’ve all heard the stat that 84% of companies that focus on the customer experience see a corresponding jump in revenue. For customers, trusting that their feedback is being heard and that it matters is vital to building a longstanding, trusting relationship. It helps build eVoicngagement, nurture advocates, and, most importantly, build brand fidelity.

My Comment: Feedback is a gift, so accept it with open arms. There’s a great line in the article: “Getting feedback isn’t the end of the process – it’s just the beginning.” I’ve seen companies do a great job of collecting feedback, and then nothing happens after that. Why ask the customer to spend time giving you feedback if you don’t plan to do anything with it? (Rhetorical question!)

Post-Purchase Marketing Strategy: 8 Tips on How to Stay in Touch With Customers And Boost CX by Jenna Bunnell

(RIS News) How do you make the most of post-purchase marketing, helping to retain customers and create a sense of loyalty to your brand? It doesn’t have to be difficult and it’s likely your business already uses post-purchase marketing strategies. Instead, it’s a matter of using these in line with your customer service objective and continuing to show interest in your customers. Here are eight tips for the post-purchase customer experience.

My Comment: It’s been said that the most abused customer is a sold customer. In other words, the effort made to get the customer to buy is substantially higher than after the purchase. Sometimes, once a customer buys, the company and its salespeople seem to disappear – until the customer decides to buy again. Here’s a great article with “post-purchase” marketing strategies to keep in touch with existing customers.

4 Ways To Prioritize Customers In Difficult Times by Serenity Gibbons

(Forbes) Despite these realities, you have a business to run. And you can’t run it without a constant stream of customers. Yet it’s safe to say that your customers need something different from you now than they did even a year ago. They need your concern, your care, and your creativity in helping them get through their challenges. As a reward, you’ll be more apt to receive their loyalty in return, which will help you overcome your company’s own economic-related struggles.

My Comment: In difficult times, such as the economy, COVID, etc., it’s important to focus on the customer’s success with whatever you sell. Tough times allow you an opportunity to be a partner, not just a vendor, with your customers. Showing customers a little more love during trying times can go a long way to building loyalty.

Top Customer Survey Questions for Valuable Feedback by The InMoment Team

(InMoment) How do you respond when someone asks, “Are you doing okay today?” What if someone asked, “How do you feel today?” Most likely, you would answer these two questions slightly differently. One question asks you just generally how you feel while the other implies that you might not be doing well in the first place, so you might answer differently. There was bias in the wording of one question while the other stayed more open-ended.

My Comment: If you’ve ever struggled to come up with great questions to ask on a customer survey, this article may be exactly what you’re looking for. It looks at four types of questions – open-ended questions, yes/no questions, options questions, and scale questions. In addition, the article covers survey formats.

In Times of Economic Uncertainty, Invest in CX Technologies by Robin Gareiss

(No Jitter) Going by the classic definition of a recession— two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth — the U.S. is now in a recession. Recessions typically necessitate a re-evaluation of spending and growth plans, and in years past, it meant a reduction in spending on technologies to address customer experience (CX).

My Comment: When and why should you invest in CX technologies? The why is obvious. Because that’s been a main decision-making driver for the customer. Our customer service research confirms that focusing on CX is a priority. But when to make the investment? It’s not too late, and according to this article, especially during times of economic uncertainty. Want to know why? Read the article to find out!