Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of February 10, 2014

5 Ways to Lose Your Customers … For Good by Nicole Fallon

(Business News Daily) Keeping your customers happy is the key to earning their trust and their business. Some companies do this well, and go above and beyond to make sure their customers are satisfied. Others seem to view customer service as an afterthought.

My Comment: Who’s guilty of any of these five “mistakes” in dealing with the customer? Any one of these can lose the customer forever, or at least destroy the customer’s confidence and erode loyalty. Avoiding these five mistakes is common sense – that may not always be so common.

10 Shocking Statistics About Employee Engagement [Infographic] by J.P. Blackard

(Daily Infographic) Having a role is good. Doing well feels great. Being acknowledged for a job well done feels even better. That sensation we get when we do something right and you know that everyone around is thinking, “dang, you go!” instills a sense of pride that no one can take away.

My Comment: So much about the success of the company comes down to employees; how motivated they are to do a good job, take care of customers, take care of co-workers and more. This infographic gives some insight as to why some employees do great while others don’t quite live up to expectations or even fail. Great information.

Strive For A Stress-Free Customer Experience by Craig Menzies

(Forrester) For years, Forrester has been talking about customer experience in terms of a pyramid. While Forrester defines customer experience as simply “how customers perceive their interactions with your company,” we also subdivide this overall experience into three key aspects.

My Comment: This is an interesting concept; a stress-free customer experience.  The question is, what point in the customer journey, if any, could cause stress?  Creating a stress-free experience is another way to enhance the customer experience.

5 Retail Customer Experience Predictions for 2014 by Jeannie Walters

(MultiChannel Merchant) The customer experience is one of constant change.  And customers are expecting retailers to keep up, regardless of the channel.  Here are a few things we might get to see in 2014.

My Comment: You don’t have to be in the retail business to appreciate some of the ideas shared here. What appeals most to me is the idea of a “frictionless” experience. That’s a stress-free, totally customer-focused experience. And the last idea, about how customers don’t care anymore about big launches is spot on. Companies need to stop focusing on themselves and really focus more on how the customer is treated. Rather than launch a new logo, company name, etc., launch a new customer service initiative. That’s what will make customers want to do business with you.