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Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for the Week of May 29, 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. In a Tumultuous Market, Target Companies That Always Put the Customer First, Cramer Says by […]

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.

In a Tumultuous Market, Target Companies That Always Put the Customer First, Cramer Says by Julie Coleman

(CNBC) In times of market turbulence, CNBC’s Jim Cramer advised investors on Tuesday to focus on companies that make customer service their core philosophy. Cramer sat down with Apple’s SVP of services Eddy Cue earlier Tuesday at the inaugural CNCB CEO Summit in Santa Barbara. During their exclusive interview, Cue emphasized Apple’s commitment to only pursuing projects that will be meaningful to the customer.

My Comment: I’m not a financial advisor, so this is just an opinion – but it’s based on research and history. Publicly held companies that deliver the best customer service and/or are more convenient outperform the stock market, often by a significant margin. Here is an article about financial advisor CNBC’s Jim Cramer’s opinion on that topic. In his words: “No stock can escape the daily gyrations of the market, but when you’ve got a great company that knows how to give its customers exactly what they want—and what they need even if they didn’t know it existed—that’s a stock you can buy into market-wide wide weakness.”

3 Ways to Better Support Customer Reviews by Nichole Devolites

(CMSWire) Back in 2007, Google first introduced the business rating system in the US to allow businesses to post on their business page. At first, this rating system was seen as an opportunity to reach more potential customers while promoting businesses in new ways. For businesses, this meant being held accountable to a standard of excellence that Americans have always come to expect. All seemed well until Google started expanding this product internationally and Americans took their high expectations to far-flung parts of the world, not realizing just how different cultures can be from their own.

My Comment: How do you improve the ratings your customers give you? First and foremost, deliver a great experience that customers want and expect – but there are other ideas, and this article is a good place to start. The author has her opinion on the flaws in reviews and then shares three tactics to optimize the review strategy.

Can Customers Tell You How to Run Your Business? by Tom Wormald

(CustomerThink) Businesses talk a big game about customer needs, specifically the ways their particular products can meet those needs. We call this the ‘customer centric’ approach which puts the customer ‘at the heart of everything a business does’. While this seems like a great strategy, it actually delivers a somewhat narrow outlook. Why? Because it reduces understanding of your customers to their relationship with your products alone. It dehumanises them, in a way.

My Comment: I was intrigued by the title of this article: “Can Customers Tell You How to Run Your Business?” Great question. You can run your business any way you please, but if you want to be successful, you should listen to what your customers say. While they may not tell you how to run or operate your business, they will tell you what they like, don’t like, and how you can improve. Another intriguing thing about this article was the author’s take on the difference between Customer-Centric and Customer-Driven.

5 Ways to Fuel a Winning Customer Experience in Travel by Allianz Partners

(PhocusWire) The best way to stand out is to get personal – often starting before the customer even books. While ancillary products are not a new concept, the sophistication with which they are merchandised has entered new territories thanks to artificial intelligence-led innovations. Driving accelerated, sustainable growth while delighting customers is a complex puzzle.

My Comment: Any business (B2B or B2C – even Government) can learn good customer service and CX ideas from the hospitality industry. I refer to this as a hospitality mentality. This article delivers five lessons on balancing technology with the human-to-human approach to taking care of customers (guests, passengers, etc.)

17 Tips to Help Leaders Navigate Wavering Consumer Behavior Patterns by Fast Company Executive Board

(Fast Company) Although innovative technologies continue to evolve in order to keep up with changing consumer trends in the marketplace, sometimes it is still difficult for business leaders to gauge which way their particular client or potential customer may be leaning next.

My Comment: If you want to deliver the best customer service and experience, then you must understand your customers. Here is a compilation of 17 experts from the Fast Company Executive Board who share their thoughts on understanding consumer behaviors to create a better experience and increase sales.

BONUS

Best Customer Experience Books to Read in 2023 by Justin Herrick

(Medallia) CX leaders and new practitioners alike, here are the best customer experience books to add to your reading list. Becoming a customer experience (CX) expert doesn’t happen overnight, and even the most successful leaders in CX still turn to their peers to expand their knowledge.

My Comment: I’m once again honored to make a list of the best customer experience books to read (in 2023), featuring I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again, and this time Medallia compiles the list. I’ve personally read nine of the eleven books featured on this list. I’ll buy the other two. So, plan to do some summer reading and enjoy taking your business to the next level by delving an amazing experience that gets customers to say, “I’ll be back!”

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.

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