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 Best CX Teams Have Ditched the Help Desk for a ‘Hope Desk’ by Vanessa […]
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.
(CMSWire) Empathy isn’t a soft skill anymore. It’s a retention strategy, a differentiation play, and increasingly, the metric that matters most.
My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five roundup with an interesting article about “hope.” I’ve always believed the old adage that hope is not a strategy, that is, until I read this article. It can even become tactical. When you combine powerful customer support (as in the “Help Desk”) with the soft skill of empathy, you give the customer hope. This goes to my philosophy of not just fixing a problem but fixing a customer. In the end, you want a customer who has a problem, complaint, or question to enjoy the experience enough to keep coming back. The author believes that this support with empathy creates an experience that gives the customer a reason to come back. (I hope so!)
(Insurance Business America) For an industry that has historically competed on price, brand recognition, and distribution reach, this figure represents a tectonic shift. The battleground for customer loyalty has moved — and a significant portion of the market has not yet noticed.
My Comment: Let’s take a lesson from the insurance industry. This one is about personalization. My annual CX research found eight out of ten customers (79%) want a personalized experience. This article is focused on the insurance industry, and since most of us (I hope all of us) have some form of insurance, we can relate to the thinking behind how personalization works.
(SurveyMonkey) In our recent customer experience research, we found that 73% of consumers say a negative customer support experience defines your brand and the same amount say support quality is just as important as product quality. If your automation misses the mark, you’re gambling with your reputation, and you’ll never know it without honest feedback.
My Comment: If you’re using AI for customer support, you need to make sure you are nailing the basics. This article covers four of them. Pay close attention to numbers one and four. If you fail there, you are at risk of losing customers. And, I’ll add that if you’re using AI, the harder it is to get to a human when needed, the more your customers won’t trust you.
(Call Centre Helper) It’s undeniable that the contact centre of the future will look very different from today – thanks to AI and technology innovation continuously changing the goalposts for customer contact. Of course, this all means that job requirements for agents are evolving too!
My Comment: Once again, our friends at Call Centre Helper have another excellent article, this time about getting your customer service agents ready to take on the transformation of the contact center. As usual, Megan Jones interviews several experts for their opinions. I’m always honored when they reach out, and my point was simple: The future demands a different type of skill that we’re learning – interpretation skills. I’m referring to the ability to interpret AI-generated information and provide the best answer to the customer.
(Insperity) Good customer service is a cornerstone of successful businesses. So, it makes sense that every business leader wants their employees to deliver the best customer service possible. Are your employees already providing excellent customer service to your customers? Or, are there areas where they need a little polishing?
My Comment: We wrap up this week’s Top Five (other than the bonus) with eight ideas that will help you and your team create a better customer service experience. Number one is about hiring problem solvers. Follow up with number four, which is to train these problem solvers. And for those who aren’t on the front line, check out point number eight, which is to make customer service everybody’s job!
(CBT News) Customer experience expert Shep Hyken says trust, not satisfaction, is the metric that determines whether a customer returns or walks away for good.
My Comment: I’m always honored when Jim Fitzpatrick of CBT News interviews me. This time, we talked about how automotive dealers can build trust. And why should you read the article (and watch the video)? Because this information applies to any type of business!
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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