Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of March 27, 2017

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.

Customer Experience, Innovation and the Slow Death of Famed Brands by Augie Ray

(Which-50 ) Now is perhaps a good time to look back and consider how Sears’ struggles are similar to those of other famed brands that failed, such as Borders, Kodak and Circuit City. We can also look at those competitive brands that have, if not flourished, at least survived, such as Barnes & Noble, Fujifilm, and Best Buy.

My Comment: In 1984 Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, Jr. wrote one of the great business books of all time, “In Search of Excellence.” The focus was on the 43 best run companies from the Fortune 500. Today many of those companies are gone. This article takes on the same topic and recognizes the main reason some of the greatest brands of today may not be around in the near future. The reason comes in the form of a question: Is your brand preparing for tomorrow’s customers’ needs?”

5 New Rules To Winning The Customer Loyalty In The Digital Age by Shama Hyder

(Forbes) Traditionally, the approach to creating customer loyalty has had a particular formula and countenance. It looked like a mix of good advertising, good values, and good product. And though that formula is still important, there are other considerations that businesses can’t afford to neglect.

My Comment: Loyalty in the “digital age”… is it really that different from any other age? Sure, things have changed, but the fundamentals can still be found in many of the “new ways” we approach creating customer loyalty. They just need to be updated to keep up, and this excellent article includes five ways to do exactly that.

100 Call Center Management Tips: Expert Insights and Advice for Hiring and Training Call Center Agents, Motivating and Engaging Your Team, Workforce Management, Technology, the Metrics That Matter, and More by Robert Stanley

(Callminer) From hiring for the right fit to effective training, motivating and engaging your team, workforce management, and more, we’ve rounded up 101 tips and sage advice from some of the most influential leaders in call center management, leadership, customer service, and more.

My Comment: This is a HUGE list of 100 tips. While they focus on the contact center world, many of them are appropriate for any company (and department) that is customer-focused.

NPSBenchmarks.com Becomes The World’s First Open Source Net Promoter® Benchmarking Community by Cvetilena Gocheva

(LinkedIn) Leading Net Promoter® community challenges the status quo by providing a free and open space repository for NPS benchmarking.

My Comment: Have you ever wondered how your company compares to some of the iconic brands like Apple, Amazon, Tesla, Starbucks and many others? Our friends at CustomerGauge have a report that you can download (for free) that includes the Net Promoter Scores of these brands and many others (more than 2,000). Also included are articles with many tips and ideas to help increase your organization’s score!

My Comment: There is a lot that any business can learn from Elon Musk and Tesla. Don’t let the title fool you into thinking this is an article just for entrepreneurs. The author, Lisa Calhoun, shares a Musk philosophy that applies to any business. He has the ability to “paint the road backwards from his vision, and forward from his customer.”

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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