Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of February 10, 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.

5 Touchdowns: How the NFL Is Winning over Fans by Francesca Di Meglio

(CX Network) By leveraging data analytics and offering personalized experiences, football is growing exponentially.

My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five roundup with a nod to yesterday’s biggest sporting event in the US, the Super Bowl. This article focuses on how the NFL (National Football League for those outside the US) continues to work on the customer/fan experience. You don’t have to own a football (or any other sports) team to take advantage of these ideas. And if you like this article, be sure to click on the links at the bottom of the article that include further insights into how sports teams and events around the world are meeting and exceeding their fans’ expectations.

Fresh Ideas to Spark Customer Engagement by Megan Jones

(Call Centre Helper) Customer engagement is critical to maintaining a loyal customer base, but achieving this consistently is a challenge! So how do you keep things fresh and interesting?

My Comment: Our friends at CallCentre Helper have once again assembled a group of experts to talk about relevant customer service and CX topics, and this time, the focus is on ways to keep customer engagement fresh and interesting. I’ve always said that achieving excellence in service and CX is a journey without a destination. Over the years, CX has evolved with new ideas, enhancements, and technology that drive a better experience and engagement. This article includes 15 ideas from nine industry experts.

15 Customer Experience Predictions for 2025 by Adrian Swinscoe

(CustomerThink) This year, 208 different leaders in the service and experience space submitted 396 different predictions, which represents a nearly 50% growth in both the number of people who have participated in the process and the number of predictions they have submitted compared to last year’s predictions.

My Comment: Andrian Swinscoe is a fellow CX expert from the UK. He surveyed 208 leaders in the service and CX space, asking them to share their predictions. He received 396! (Some obviously shared more than one!) It must have been a tough job to narrow them all down to the 15 he included in this article. Perhaps he will do a “Part Two” or follow-up article later this year.

10 Customer Experience Leaders Share Their Most Valuable Lessons by Floyd March

(CX Today) When leaders share best practices and learn from one another, customer experiences improve. In this spirit, CX Today’s All-Star initiative was born. Today’s All-Star line-up is stacked with industry leaders who have seen it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Recalling these experiences, 10 leaders put forward their most treasured lessons, which have held them in good stead as their careers have progressed.

My Comment: Here’s another compilation of information from ten CX leaders. This time, we get lessons from leaders from all types of businesses and industries. These are short, pithy lessons that will make us think and hopefully take action. Number three is my favorite: Invest in CX, and Brand Loyalty will pay you back. Yes, repeat business and loyalty (and more good results) can come from investing in the customer experience.

Starbucks and the Future of Customer Loyalty by Bill Hanifin

(The Wise Marketer) Starbucks went on to report declines in guest traffic across all channels and day parts, with the most pronounced decline in the afternoon day part. A decline in non-Starbucks rewards member visits was highlighted as frequency also slowed across all Starbucks Rewards member deciles in comparison to the prior year.

My Comment: We wrap up this week’s roundup with insights from Starbucks. Brian Niccol is the new Chairman and CEO of Starbucks. He’s got a background with major brands that could positively impact the brand, which has had its share of problems in the past few years. What caught my eye was that Niccol may pull back from the Starbucks rewards program to focus on operational efficiency and the in-store experience. The perks of the rewards are one thing, but the way to get customers back is to give them the best experience possible.

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.