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. How Employee Experience Connects with Customer Experience by Francesca Di Meglio (HR Exchange Network) Positive […]
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.
(HR Exchange Network) Positive employee experience begets customer experience. It’s the circle of life in business, in fact. The concept is simple to follow. Employees, who feel valued and whose wellness at work is a priority of their managers and executives, will have the motivation to produce and treat customers with respect and white-glove service. Any organization who abides by this philosophy is rewarded with employee retention and repeat business.
My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five roundup with an article about one of my favorite topics in the CX world, and that’s the EX (as in Employee Experience). The section on how a happy employee impacts the CX is spot on. There is even a suggestion on the KPIs you use to measure the success of an EX initiative. Finally, the initials you don’t see often enough are used, and that’s MX, as in Multi-Experience. That is the combination of the EX, the CX, and the UX (User Experience).
(CX Today) Self-service has undoubtedly been a boon in CX. The benefits are numerous. Aside from the clear increases in efficiency, 24/7 availability and consistency – it also decreases operating costs by reducing the need for human agents to deal with mundane tasks and routine queries. But, as with most technological improvements – there are pitfalls. A recent high-profile case – as reported in CX Today – saw McDonalds discontinuing its AI drive-thru ordering experiment after viral TikTok videos highlighted its failures.
My Comment: A self-service (digital) customer service solution shouldn’t take away from a customer’s good experience with a company or brand. It should support and augment it. This article shares the concerns you should consider when putting technology between your customer and a live support agent. Personally, I think a good self-service experience (for most businesses) is imperative to the overall success of your customer experience goals. So, don’t make any of the mistakes found in this article!
(Freshworks) Customers love the support they get from most AI chatbots—until they find out they’re talking to a chatbot. How can companies solve this dilemma?
My Comment: This is a perfect follow-up to the second article on our Top Five list. This one focuses on chatbots and their use in customer support. The article mentions that even when bots provide service that is identical in quality to a human-to-human experience, the customer’s perception is negative. I’m not 100% in agreement with that statement, but the author makes a case for it based on research. The biggest problem with chatbots and self-service is inconsistency from one brand to the next. Unfortunately, the negative experience stands out. There are plenty of great ideas and suggestions in this article, and when you combine them with the list from the article already mentioned, you have a great list to get you thinking about the best way to deploy a digital self-service experience.
(CustomerThink) Creating a customer-centric culture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a business imperative. But many leaders struggle to get there. Here are the top 10 factors working against building a customer-centric culture, actionable strategies to overcome them, and real-world examples of leaders who made it happen.
My Comment: I love a good list, and this one is a perfect way to describe the challenges some companies or brands might have in building a customer-centric culture. Two of my favorites (out of the ten) are the first one, which recognizes that leadership must be 100% on board. That’s where it starts! The second one to consider is a mistake many companies make, which is to make the customer-centric culture a theme versus something that should be forever (or at least very long-term). This can’t be a “flavor of the month” or a theme for the year. Customer centricity should be part of an organization’s vision and values statements.
(Qualtrics) Take these 50 customer service quotes to your next meeting to help inspire you and your team to take your customer service program to the next level.
My Comment: It’s been a while since I’ve shared a list of customer service quotes. Here are 50 of them, and they are broken down into categories. It includes many people from the “Who’s Who” in the customer service world. There is much here to inspire your team. Find the ones you like and share and discuss them, one at a time, in a team meeting.
(Capterra) Use emerging tech to streamline your customer service and boost your quality of service. When you’re getting more customer service queries than your business can handle, short-term fixes like extending call center hours won’t be enough to keep up with demand.
My Comment: We have several bonus articles this week. They are all excellent, so don’t pass these by. This first one focuses on using technology (AI) to support the customer. In addition to the article, there is also a video interview with my friends at Capterra.
(Call Centre Helper) Is the relationship between customer effort, emotion, and resolution tightly woven into your CX strategy, or is it always being sidelined by the next big thing?
My Comment: This excellent article includes an excellent list that ties into the emotional experience your customers have when getting support. Even if she didn’t include me in the article, I love the list. Yes, we want our customers to be happy and come back, but have you considered the emotional experience you create?
(SmallBizClub) In many businesses, sales and service are viewed as two distinct functions: sales is seen as the starting point, where the initial transaction occurs, and service kicks in post-sale to address customer needs and ongoing issues. Keeping these functions separate overlooks a huge opportunity that can significantly enhance the customer experience and drive business success.
My Comment: I’m honored to be part of the team of experts that SmallBizClub put together. We met as a group earlier this year and were assigned a writing project. I teamed up with Leslie Rae and Whitney Horton to collaborate on an article about the combination of sales and customer service. Yes, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate!
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.
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