Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of May 4, 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.

Creating an Exciting, Customer-Centric Vision by Akio Ueda

(CIO) Tech is just the foundation; the real job of a CIO is to paint a picture of the future so exciting that customers and employees actually want to help build it.

My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five roundup with a short but excellent article about your vision that is specific to your customers versus the overall company vision statement. The author looks at Peter Drucker’s five questions and emphasizes that question number two is the most important: Who are our customers? I won’t disagree with the importance of this question, but I think question three is the standout for me: What is the value we provide to our customers? We must clearly articulate this answer, ideally in one sentence (or less.) Even though the focus of the article is on the CIO, the concept applies to anyone in leadership. Know your customers and know the value you provide them.

6 Ways To Provide a Streamlined Client Experience by Sara Lavenduski

(ASI Central) In this course on the ASI Learning Network, Bill Petrie of brandivate walks promo companies through best practices for offering noteworthy customer service in a crowded industry.

My Comment: How important is creating a frictionless customer experience? (I wrote an entire book about it!) And that’s what this article is about. The author, who created a course for the promotional products industry, shares six simple ideas on the importance of an easy-to-do-business-with organization. Point number two is: Friction kills sales. Boom! It’s that simple. Point number four is: Eliminate resistance points proactively. Boom (again)!

Customer Loyalty Rules for 2026 by Amy Lanzi

(Fast Company) The confluence of artificial intelligence, the attention economy, and zero-click shopping has compelled brands to look beyond traditional advertising to focus on building earned customer loyalty. While customer loyalty is as old as commerce itself, driving loyalty demands an entirely new playbook.

My Comment: Who doesn’t want loyal customers? But loyalty programs that used to work may no longer work. New research finds better ways to get customers to engage with your loyalty programs. “Points and perks alone” are no longer enough. The author includes several ideas and a link to access the loyalty program research. Be sure to click on the link. No email is needed to get the report, and it’s filled with interesting information about loyalty programs.

The Experience Gap: Why Customer Satisfaction Is No Longer Enough by Barnali Pal Sinha

(Global Banking & Finance Review) For decades, customer satisfaction has been the cornerstone of business strategy. Organisations have invested heavily in surveys, feedback loops, and performance metrics designed to ensure that customers are “satisfied.” Satisfaction scores became a proxy for loyalty, retention, and ultimately, growth.

My Comment: As I read this article, the first thing I thought about was my concept that a satisfied customer is not a loyal customer. This article discusses the “experience gap,” the difference between a satisfactory experience and one that creates loyalty. The concepts of the “Experience Economy,” personalization, moving beyond satisfaction, and more make this an important article for you not just to read, but to take action on.

Success Strategies: Learning from Your Best Customers by Raymond J. Keating

(Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council) A recent Harvard Business Review article carried the title “What Companies Can Learn from Their Biggest Fans.” That caught my attention. But the subtitle did even more so: “Your most devoted employees and customers have a lot to teach you about loyalty and performance.”

My Comment: We wrap up this week’s Top Five with an article that reminds us to learn from our best customers. Why do customers keep coming back? Some of the answers might be obvious, but there may be more. It’s important to understand what drives your best customers’ behavior so you can find ways to move average customers to the next level. If you’ve done any surveys, for example, a 1-5 type of survey, do you understand why some customers give you a 4 (indicating they are satisfied) versus the ones that give you a 5? The article quotes Marcus Buckingham, who says, “Someone who gives a 5 out of 5 rating to something has an altogether different experience of that thing than someone who rates it a 4 does.”

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.