Top 5 Customer Service Articles for the Week of October 14, 2019

Each week I read a number of 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.

6 Customer Service Tenets Used By Amazon To Create Effortless Experiences by Dan Gingiss

(Forbes) Amazon’s six “Customer Service Tenets” – posted throughout its offices — explain a lot about why Amazon is so easy and pleasurable to do business with, and can be used as inspiration for any company looking to improve its customer service.

My Comment: Whenever there is an article about Amazon, teaching how they do what they do, I take the time to read it. Dan Gingiss shares the Six Customer Service Tenets that Amazon posts in its offices and shares some commentary about each one. Its nothing you wouldn’t expect from a company recognized for being truly customer-focused. As a matter of fact, it’s something you should expect from every company you do business with.

4 Ways to Celebrate Customer Service Week by Whitney Puidokas

(Lose It!) Here are the four ways we celebrated the hard work our Customer Care team puts in every day. We hope one of these ideas can make their way into how you think about honoring your customer-facing employees!

My Comment: Last week was Customer Service Week. While many people think the “holiday” (That’s how I refer to it.) is focused on the customer, it was originally created to recognize all the people in a business who take care of customers. That said, this short article has four great ideas you can use year-round! Even though the celebration lasts for the week, the concepts should be practiced all 52 weeks throughout the year.

A Foundation in Customer Experience Should Start in College by Janelle Estes and Lija Hogan

(CMSWire) Every business school touts its ability to develop the next generation of business leaders by providing a foundation in finance, economics, operations, marketing, management and strategy. But most could be doing a better job training students in what has become one of the most important areas of business today: digital customer experience.

My Comment: It’s never to early to start teaching our kids about customer service and experience. As a matter of fact, the authors of this article believe the foundation of customer experience should start in college. As we move into an era where customer experience is becoming one of the most important strategies in business, a foundation and understanding should start in school. The students that understand the importance of customer service and experience as they enter the workforce will have a great advantage over those that don’t.

Crash and Churn: survey reveals the customer service fails that cause attrition by Andrew Mort

(CustomerThink) The days of long-term customer brand loyalty to brands are over. Today, consumer stickiness is far more dependent upon people’s specific experiences and the level of service they receive. Some turnover must always be expected – that’s the nature of competition, after all – but a high churn rate due to substandard customer service is unacceptable, and often entirely avoidable.

My Comment: What causes your customers to leave and not come back? A big part of it may be the high effort you cause customers when they want to do business with you. Here’s a short article with a link to an excellent report. Be sure to download the report.

Customer Experience Around The World: 25 Examples Of Best Practices You Haven’t Heard Of by Blake Morgan

(Forbes)  These 25 global experiences showcase customer-centric companies from around the world.

My Comment: My friend Blake Morgan has written an interesting article on customer experience that showcases 25 best practices we haven’t heard of. This is a great opportunity to read a number of ideas from some customer experience rock star companies. Bring some of these ideas to your next strategy meeting and plan to have a fascinating and important conversation.

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