Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of April 14, 2025

Each week, I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comments about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Bridging Generations: How Personalization and Proactivity Shape CX by Brian Higgins

(TotalRetail) Here’s a strategy to please everyone from every generation. It starts with the two Ps: personalization and proactivity.

My Comment: Our opening article is about personalization. Not all customers are the same. Some are dramatically different. In this article, we learn from Verizon‘s CXO about how AI can help gather information about a customer to create an experience where the customer feels recognized and known.

Ask Jill! How employee feedback surveys fuel customer experience excellence by Jill Raff

(Nation’s Restaurant News) How employee surveys can help you ensure your team feels heard and empowered.

My Comment: I’ve often written, “What’s happening inside an organization is felt on the outside by the customer.” It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in – retail, B2B, restaurants, etc. – employees can make or break the customer’s positive perception of doing business with you. While many companies survey customers to find out how they are doing, few survey their employees. That’s why, as the title of this article implies, employee feedback can fuel customer experience.

5 areas where businesses need to improve their customer experience by Mike Pastore

(MarTech) Businesses need to decrease customer effort if they want to improve the perception of their brand, and better search and AI experiences can help, according to a new report.

My Comment: Here are several reminders about important areas that all companies should pay close attention to. Done well, the customer’s impression of the company is positive. Two of the five ideas stood out to me: The website experience is often overlooked. It can be a beautiful website, but if it’s not easy for the customer to navigate, the effort to make the website look beautiful is wasted. I also want to emphasize the fourth idea, self-service expectations. Be sure you’re meeting your customers’ needs in this area. Some demand it, or they will choose to do business elsewhere.

3 Winning Brands, 3 Unique Approaches to Member Retention by Josh Liberatore

(Athletech News ) ATN breaks down how three top brands across different sectors of the industry – boutique fitness, big-box gyms and luxury lifestyle – are winning members over by creating a special and unique atmosphere.

My Comment: I love learning from different companies and industries. For example, one of the articles in this week’s roundup is about restaurants. Any business can use the ideas shared, and that is also the case with this article about the fitness industry. Here are three ways fitness centers keep their members/customers coming back. (I love the second example where Chuze Fitness, a chain with 50 locations) brings hospitality into the gym.

Back to Basics: What Is Customer Experience? by Jeannie Walters

(LinkedIn) Today, I’d like to introduce you to three tools that can help you create a foundation of Customer Experience Success.

My Comment: Let’s wrap up this week’s Top Five roundup with an article from one of my favorite CX experts, Jeannie Walters. She shares a “back to basics” article that will remind us of what CX is all about, along with some actionable ideas.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.