Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of February 13, 2023

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 comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

How to Calculate Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) & Why It Matters by Clint Fontanella

(HubSpot) The last thing you want is for customers to churn before you recoup the investment required to earn their business in the first place. One of the best ways to mitigate this is by measuring customer lifetime value (CLTV). Doing so will help your business acquire and retain highly valuable customers, which results in more revenue over time.

My Comment: Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is an important metric that measures the revenue you can expect from a single customer over their lifetime. It’s an important metric that will help you make good customer-focused decisions. This article shares the formula along with many definitions, descriptions, examples, and more.

Five Customer Success Metrics That Reveal The True Health Of A Business by Tonika Bruce

(Forbes) The success of any business venture depends on two factors: the goals and metrics for defining that success. One of the goals is customer success, which starts with understanding why and how customer success is critical for growth. Customer success goals might be straightforward, but the real deal lies in metrics. For entrepreneurs already on top of one or more of these CS metrics, monitoring business success will be easy.

My Comment: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Those are the words of Peter Drucker, the management guru. Here are five important metrics that, in addition to giving you important information about how well you’re delivering on your customer service and CX, also (as the title indicates) the health of your business.

Why Retailers Need to Up the Delivery Experience by Carmen Carey

(Retail Customer Experience) Brands who adopt technology that can deliver clear, branded delivery communications, tracking and positive returns processes will be the winners. So, how can brands drive a seamless delivery experience?

My Comment: Many retailers are taking a hit due to consumers battling inflation, higher prices, and an overall increased cost of living. The title of this article is a bit confusing. It’s not about delivering a purchase to the customer. The focus of the article is on delivering an exceptional experience to the customer. Good insights are worthy of some thought and conversation.

ChatGPT and LLM-based Chatbots Set to Improve Customer Experience by VentureBeat

(VentureBeat) ChatGPT and other turbo-charged models and bots are set to play a crucial role in customer interactions in the coming years, according to Juniper Research. A recent report from the analyst firm predicts that AI-powered chatbots will handle up to 70% of customer conversations by the end of 2023.

My Comment: I’ve been reading many articles about ChatGPT and how it will impact customer service. Speech recognition software and chatbots have been around for a long time. ChatGPT is the tool that will take these solutions to the next level. Will it replace people in a contact center? I don’t believe so, at least not in the near future, and the author of this article agrees. There’s still room for improvement. Consider that ChatGPT is very young, but the opportunity for this technology to support customer service is huge.

How a Customer Experience Strategy Helps Scale Revenue Growth (and Achieve Profitability) by Steven Macdonald

(SuperOffice) We surveyed 1,920 business professionals and asked them what the top business priority is for the next 5 years – and once again, the same answer came out on top. Can you guess what the top priority for a business is? If you guessed ‘customer experience’ (or CX), you guessed right.

My Comment: SuperOffice surveyed 1,920 business people and asked them what their top priorities were for the next five years. The top choice was customer experience. The author summarizes the reason in one sentence: “Companies who successfully implement a customer experience strategy achieve higher customer satisfaction rates, reduced customer churn, and increased revenues.”

BONUS

Getting Started With Customer Service Mantras and Vision Statements by Call Centre Helper

(Call Centre Helper) What’s the difference between a mantra and a vision statement? Our panel of experts share how to create truly impactful customer service mantras and vision statements.

My Comment: I was recently interviewed about customer service/CX mantras and vision statements. Typically, the mantra defines in one sentence or less the company’s customer experience vision. Every company needs a mantra. If you don’t have one, this is the article that will help you get started.

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 at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.