Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of June 28, 2026

Every week, I read dozens of articles on customer service and customer experience from a wide range of sources. Below are my top five picks from last week, along with my takeaways. I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.

The Key to Growing Revenue May Be Right Under Your Nose. Here’s What Too Many Entrepreneurs Miss. by Jackie Cullen

(Entrepreneur) Unless you’re lucky enough to be the only game around or enjoy worldwide brand recognition, you must pay attention to the quality of customer interactions. A single negative experience can be enough for a once-loyal patron to take their business elsewhere and never return.

My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five with an excellent article on some of the basics of customer service. Here’s a great concept to consider. “Your first impression isn’t their first impression.” In other words, the first interaction you have with your customer may not be the first. They have already researched you, checked out your website, asked friends and colleagues about you, and more. This is a great reminder of why customer service is so important to a business.

Brands that Amplify Customer Experience Are 2.5x More Likely to Grow Market Share by Kristen Doerer

(CX Dive) Brands that improve their customer experience are 2.5 times more likely to grow market share, according to a report released Wednesday by global branding agency JKR and marketing data and analytics firm Kantar.

My Comment: After you have read the first of the Top Five articles this week, be sure to read this one. This further makes the case, backed up by research, for just how important customer service and CX are to growing market share and revenue. All the advertising in the world means nothing if once the customer does business with you, the experience doesn’t live up to what’s promoted.

Survey: Poor Automated Customer Service Leads Some Consumers to Switch Brands by Zachary Russell

(Chain Store Age) According to a new survey of 1,001 American adults from Parloa, an agentic platform and customer experience (CX) developer, more than half (55%) of respondents will interact with an automated system for less than three minutes before asking for a human. Nearly one-in-five won’t last one minute, and only 5% will give automation more than 10 minutes.

My Comment: Some of the top pain points that frustrate customers include being put on hold, being transferred multiple times, and having to repeat their story. Now you can add another one: a customer talking to a bot that doesn’t understand them. As AI continues to grow in capabilities and use in customer support, be aware that a bad AI experience can drive a customer to the competition. According to the research in this article, “the bot that doesn’t understand the customer” was the top customer pain point. So, here’s a question to consider: Is your AI keeping up with what your customers’ expectations?

Rethinking CX: The Role Neuroscience Plays in Developing the Customer Experience by Brianna Van Zanten

(Retail Customer Experience) In retail, there is a lot of talk about how to create the ideal customer experience, and while there are many ways to approach it, one of the most effective is to leverage the scientific and psychological underpinnings of consumer behavior.

My Comment: This is an interesting article that brings neuroscience thinking into customer experience. The author shares a formula: CX Optimization = Reducing Cognitive Load + Rewarding attention. In short, this means creating the best experience based on the customer’s neurological needs, and the place to start is by making doing business with you simple. Making things simple is not the same as easy. You can have both (and I suggest you do). This short article doesn’t get into many of the details behind this concept, but it is a great place to get you started thinking about it.

What’s Left on the Line by Ron Tiesler

(LinkedIn Pulse) The companies that win voice over the next few years won’t be the ones who treated the phone as the legacy channel to wind down. They’ll be the ones who understood what it was becoming: the place where AI has to finish what AI couldn’t start.

My Comment: We wrap up with a LinkedIn article that features one of the more interesting stats from my 2026 CX research report. When a customer has a problem, seven out of ten (68% of customers) still prefer to talk to a support agent on the phone over self-service. The author, Ron Tiesler, shares his thinking behind why, even with all that’s happening to create a better AI experience, that number remains high.

BONUS

5 Ways to Take Better Care of Your Voice Channel by Megan Jones

(Call Centre Helper) We asked customer contact experts for their top tips for giving your voice channel some well-deserved care and attention.

My Comment: Our friends at Call Centre Helper just released another great article featuring several experts from the contact center industry. This time, it’s focused on employees and how to create the best “voice experience.” Remember, the phone is still the number-one way customers prefer to communicate with companies and brands when there is a problem.

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.