5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of October 30 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.

4 Steps to Enhancing the Customer Experience with Social Media by Alison Zeringue

(Marketing Land) Social media marketing isn’t just about winning followers. Columnist Alison Zeringue shares tips for improving customer service and delighting consumers publicly through your social channels.

My Comment: If creating a great customer experience is a top marketing strategy, then using social media to deliver a better customer experience should be one of your top efforts. This short article has four excellent ideas. Pay attention to number two, which is to respond to social media inquiries and comments with urgency.

The Most Important Voice In Customer Service by Murph Krajewski

(Forbes) As a business owner or leader in a customer service organization, you can spend countless hours (and dollars) on refining your processes and technology. Despite the expense of research and planning, the entire customer experience is actually made or broken in an instant. One moment.

My Comment: Most would think that the most important voice in customer service is the customers. Not according to Murph Krajewski, VP of Marketing at Sharpen, who has a different take. It’s the support center rep. ICMI recently found that 92% of consumers say an agent’s perceived happiness affects their personal customer experience. Yes, you want your customers to be happy, but maybe just as important, if not more so, are your employees.

Where Has All The Loyalty Gone? by Joseph Michelli

(Joseph Michelli) Today it’s a very different story! Customer loyalty is at a premium and to the surprise of many that premium is not just for Millennials.

My Comment: Joseph Michelli always writes insightful articles. This one is focused on loyalty. Lifetime loyalty from a customer is a BIG goal. This is Michelli’s take on how loyalty has changed.

Turn Your Customer Experience Vision into Reality by Christy Pettey

(Gartner) Jenny Sussin, vice president at Gartner and CX program lead at the Gartner Application Strategies and Solutions Summit, looks at how organizations can take CX to the next level.

My Comment: Customer experience (and service) is a philosophy that must be embraced by every area of the company. It’s about leadership having a CX vision that becomes part of the culture of the company. This short article emphasizes that message and why creating a CX vision that is embraced by all employees is of the utmost importance.

Is Amazon Dooming Retailers or Are Retailers Dooming Themselves? by W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne 

(Blue Ocean Strategy) Authors of Blue Ocean Shift W. Chan Kim & Renee Mauborgne discuss Amazon and explain why retailers need to make creating, not competing, their number one priority.

My Comment: Amazon changed the retail world, and there is a tremendous amount we can learn (in any business and any industry) from studying how they did it. The authors of “Blue Ocean Shift” have written an interesting article about how smaller retailers must change their mindset – and their strategy – when it comes to competing against Amazon. It’s a David and Goliath story.

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