Top 5 Customer Service Articles for the Week of August 25, 2014

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.

8 Common Customer Complaints and How to Fix Them by Barry Moltz

(Open Forum) The key to outstanding customer service isn’t always what you offer, but how you respond. Here are your best answers to the 8 most frequently heard customer service complaints.

My Comment: Perfection is not reality, but the goal of perfection is. So, when it comes to customer service, while it is good to strive for perfection, complaints are going to happen. It’s how they are handled that makes great companies great. This article has eight of the most common complaints. Any organization will find at least one or two (or maybe all eight) that apply to them.

How to Intentionally Build Your Company Culture (Rather Than Leave It to Chance) by Drew McLellan

(Entrepreneur) Whether you see it or not, culture is a big deal for several reasons.

My Comment: A clearly defined culture is the compass that points everyone in an organization in the same direction. It starts at the top, is communicated, trained, demonstrated and celebrated by leadership and employees.  This article reminds us that culture shouldn’t develop by accident. It needs to be created and developed on purpose, and with purpose. 

Customer Experience Is Everyone’s Job by Dan McAuliffe

(CMSWire) Customer experience is a function of people. It’s fickle and fragile. It thrives on collaboration and is cultivated by the actions (both direct and indirect) of every employee at a company. It is a shared responsibility and vision. Any one person can help to improve customer experience, and, in the blink of an eye, any one person can destroy it.

My Comment: One of my favorite sayings is that customer service isn’t a department. It’s a philosophy. It should be embraced by everyone, from the CEO to the most recently hired. This article does an excellent job of explaining why some employees have a difficult time grasping this concept.

Neighborhood Vendors: How hyper-local businesses stay in business today by Robert Lerose

(Small Business Community)Although outsized competitors may be better financed or give deep discounts to customers, many local merchants can leverage their position in the neighborhood to gain a decided edge.

My Comment: While this article has some great ideas for local businesses to compete against bigger (national and international) competition, there are great ideas for any type of business.  Sometimes national businesses struggle because they don’t “do local well.” The companies that can localize their business, regardless of them being local, national, or global, can have an advantage.

The Keys To Exceptional Customer Experience, From Visionary CMOs Of Travel by Robert Reiss

(Forbes) Connectivity has transformed the travel experience. Bruce Speechley, a leader in IBM’s travel industry practice recently summed it up for me, “Technology is now enabling people to experience the vacation before they arrive”. I wondered how the leaders of this new world of travel developed customer strategy to create loyalty, engage the Millennial Generation, utilize data, and prepare for the future.  So I assembled the heads of marketing for three travel companies best known for top service in sea, land, and air.

My Comment: There is a lot we can learn about customer experience from three executives in the travel industry. Any business can take on a “hospitality mentality” to enhance their customers’ experiences.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, 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