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. Speaking Your Customers’ ‘Love Language’: 5 Ways to Woo Them This Valentine’s Day by Sam […]
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.
(CX Network) Twilio’s Sam Richardson outlines five ways organizations can speak their customers’ language and show some love on every day of the year.
My Comment: Happy belated Valentine’s Day! How do I love my customers? Let me count the ways! We kick off this week’s Top Five with an article about loving on your customers. The author has taken the romantic holiday for personal relationships and shared how it can work in the business world for customers. (And it works for employees, too!) I refer to this as corporate love.
(CMSWire) Customer loyalty programs have become a multi-million-dollar industry and a critical driver of revenue for brands. Forecasts point to significant growth in spend expected through loyalty programs in 2025.
My Comment: One of my favorite customer experience topics is loyalty programs. I’ve preached for years that loyalty programs are more than points and perks. The best loyalty programs create connection and can even evoke emotion. While the article gets into some technical (and technology) aspects of the program, one part of the article stands out, and that’s the focus on personalization. In the author’s words, “Personalization wins loyalty.”
(Shopify) Brand affinity doesn’t form overnight. Customers gain familiarity and, ideally, confidence in your brand through various interactions—from social posts to purchases to email campaigns. Every customer touchpoint is a valuable opportunity to foster brand loyalty. Make the most of each one by developing a customer engagement strategy for every step of their journey.
My Comment: I remember when people started using the term customer experience to describe customer service. It changed over time to what it is today; the end-to-end experience a customer has with any and every interaction they have with a company or brand. The same thing is happening with customer engagement. The past definition (which still works today) has focused on how a company interacts with its customers. A new term that I’ve been hearing about is worthy of consideration: a customer engagement model. Some may call it a fancy word of taking a journey map to the next level. However you see it, it’s a concept to consider. This article will get you thinking about it.
(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: Speaking of customer engagement, check out this compilation article from several customer experience experts (myself included) on different ways your employees (especially in the customer support world) can better engage with their customers.
(CX Network) Learn about how artificial intelligence copilots, agentic AI, CRMs, omniservice tools and more are improving CX.
My Comment: The future is now! Here is a list of 10 tools that businesses are using to improve customer experience. AI and technology are fueling CX. Here’s a list of ten to give you an idea of what some companies are using. But, I caution that technology isn’t always the answer. (Check out the article I wrote – just this week – on six game-changing AI customer service and CX strategies.
(Bored Panda) Customer support agents, whether real or “robot”, are supposed to *help* customers. But honestly, sometimes they do the exact opposite. People have been sharing their infuriating encounters online and wow, we don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
My Comment: Want to laugh? Read this article on 30 customer support interactions. Bored Panda has put together another list. They also interviewed me about how companies can improve their support. You’ll laugh, and you’ll learn!
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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