Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of September 7, 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.

8 Customer Retention Strategies Backed by 12,000 Consumers by Stephanie Dymott

(SAP Engagement Cloud) Customer retention strategies have to account for this. Keeping customers means continuously earning attention, giving people an active reason to come back. The eight strategies below work together across the customer lifecycle, each one building on the last, grounded in what SAP’s consumer research shows actually drives and erodes loyalty.

My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five with some important tactics and strategies to help you retain your best customers. SAP has shared insights from the Customer Loyalty Index. True loyalty is declining. One big reason is that customers get bored with the brand. Personalization helps, but it has to be executed properly. The post-purchase experience, that is, what happens after the sale, confirms that the customer made the right decision to do business with you. And there is much more.

Customer Experience Marketing: 5 Strategies to Reduce Customer Churn by Jack Kosakowski

(Nextiva) Customer experience marketing is a strategy that prioritizes customer satisfaction and loyalty at every stage and drives long-term business success.

My Comment: Customer experience Marketing (CEM or CXM) is a term used to describe a strategy for creating positive and memorable experiences. The problem this strategy addresses is summed up in one word: churn. The strategy looks at what customers experience throughout their entire journey, not just leading up to a purchase. The author reminds us that marketing and customer service should work together. (I’ve always felt that customer service is marketing.) This excellent article is filled with great information that any company in any industry can use.

How Engaged Employees Create Great Customer Experiences by Talia Quaadgras

(Qualtrics) Employee engagement gets filed under culture. That’s a missed opportunity—and an expensive one for customer experience.

My Comment: If you follow me, you know I’ve been preaching that what happens on the inside with employees is felt on the outside by customers. The point is that happy and fulfilled employees translate to a better experience for customers. In this article, Qualtrics shares excellent insights on “the cycle” that connects EX to CX.

Why the Best Customer Experiences Win both the Heart and Mind by Nithi Kumar

(Kantar) The most Meaningfully Different experiences engage both emotion and logic, creating stronger connections and more reasons to choose.

My Comment: Customer loyalty is an earned experience. It comes when the customer can be certain that the experience they enjoy with you will happen every time. This confidence comes from an emotional connection, often rooted in trust. And that’s what this article is about. The author states, “Every customer decision is shaped by a balance between emotion and logic. The mind seeks certainty… The heart looks for meaning, connection, and relevance. In a world where the digital experience can derail the human experience if not properly executed, this article will give you insights that create the emotional experience that drives customer loyalty.

Designing a Frictionless Customer Experience that Builds Lifetime Loyalty by Jaelyn Campbell

(America’s Small Business Network) In today’s competitive business landscape, capturing a new buyer is often the hardest and most expensive task a company faces. Yet many business owners hand off or neglect the single most important factor in keeping those customers around, the customer experience.

My Comment: I met marketing guru Jay Abraham almost 40 years ago. I was impressed with him then, and even more so today. Jim Fitzpatrick, host of Business Trends Today, interviews Jay on one of my favorite topics: creating a frictionless customer experience. You get the article and the video. Enjoy!

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.