Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of July 25, 2016

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.

The omni-channel strategy for customer service part 1: email by Heerd

(Heerd) If you’re finding your interactions with customers over email tend to end negatively or that you’re always on the back foot, perhaps this list of the essential practices of email customer service can help!

My Comment: Email is still a viable way to communicate with customers. This article has a number of excellent ideas to help ensure that your customer service email strategy is successful. Simple, yet effective tactics we can use right away. This is Part One of a series of articles, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.

An Amazing Experience: Personalize your CX Today! by Colin Shaw

(Beyond Philosophy) Many of you will have seen this video of a little girl whose parents surprised her with a new doll?

My Comment: One way to improve the customer experience is to personalize it. And, if you can add an emotional connection, even better. This is a heartwarming story of a personalized gift. If you like this story, you might like the author’s eBook which includes short stories that focus on customer experience.

Why You Have Customer Churn and What You Can Do About It by Vanessa Rombaut

(PieSync) Read all about why you have customer churn, why this metric is more important than customer acquisition, and what you can do to reduce it.

My Comment: I’m not a big fan of the term customer churn. Not because I don’t like the words. I don’t like what it means. It is something we hope to avoid. Who wants customer churn? (Rhetorical question, but the correct answer is “no one.”)  This article gives some insight into the reasons customers leave, and how you might lower your percentage of customer churn.

The 27 Best Customer Service Books by Mathew Patterson

(Help Scout) If you’re starting, growing or working in a customer service team, we’ve collected the books we think are most worth your valuable time.

My Comment: Looking for a “summer reading” business book? Our friends at Help Scout shares a great list of 27 books on customer service, experience, culture and more that will help keep you at the top of your game. I’ve read most of these, and if you haven’t already, you should, too!

5 Ways to Deliver an Unexpectedly Delightful Customer Experience by Square

(Square) Here are some ideas and strategies for delivering a memorable (in a good way) customer service experience.

My Comment: Here is a list of five great strategies to create a great customer experience that will get your customers to come back. The ideas seem slanted for B2C companies, but don’t think they wouldn’t work for any type of company.

BONUS

The Art of Amazing Your Customers – 11 Powerful Customer Service Lessons by Vala Afshar

(The Huffington Post) What can companies do today to bolster their ability to amaze customers? Amazing customers is a function of having a strong: culture, people, strategy, process, and technology (and the order matters).

My Comment: Here is a bonus article. (So, this week is a TOP SIX article week!) My friend and customer service/experience expert, Vala Afshar, interviewed me for a broadcast for Salesforce. Here is a Huff Post article he wrote based on the ideas and concepts we discussed in the interview. While I usually don’t include articles that have me as a primary feature in this Top Five roundup, Vala did such a great job capturing the ideas, I couldn’t resist. Also, if you don’t follow Vala on social media and become a regular reader of his column, you should.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken 

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