Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of August 12, 2024

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.

Rethinking Customer Interactions to Boost Customer Experience by Harvard Business Review

(Harvard Business Review) Simply put, customer experience (CX) has the power to make or break business success. The experience a company provides is often as important as its products or services when it comes to customer satisfaction and loyalty. And in today’s digitally driven world, there are more customer touchpoints and ways of communicating than ever before, making it imperative to get CX right. Conversely, organizations cannot afford to get CX wrong, as dissatisfaction can result in diminishing brand value, lost revenue, and customer churn.

My Comment: Tata Communications has sponsored a special Harvard Business Review Report on CX that is worth downloading and reading. It contains plenty of commentary, data, and insights that will make you rethink how you manage customer interactions, as the title implies.

8 CX Lessons from the Microsoft/CrowdStrike Outage by Karthik Kashyap

(Spiceworks) The CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage in July significantly affected several businesses. Discover how it affected customer experience and tips on how CX leaders can prepare for such incidents.

My Comment: A few weeks ago, a software upgrade from CrowdStrike didn’t go well and impacted the customer experience in many industries, especially the travel industry. In short, the computer systems from United, American, Delta, and other major airlines went down, stranding and/or delaying travelers for days. This article tells the story and shares the lessons any company can use in the face of a CX crisis.

CX+EX=BG, with Added AI: a Winning Formula for Customer Experience by Joe O’Halloran

(Computer Weekly) Guaranteeing customer experiences of the highest level possible is one of the cornerstones of the modern business. Is there a magic formula? It could well be a combination of artificial intelligence and pixie dust.

My Comment: What happens inside an organization drives the customer experience on the outside. In other words, the EX (employee experience) impacts the CX. And you can’t ignore how AI is impacting business. When integrating AI, used the right way, the experience is elevated, and BG (Business Growth) becomes possible.

Good Loyalty Programs Drive Word-of-Mouth Recommendations by Bryan Wassel

(Grocery Dive) Most customers will recommend brands with good loyalty programs, but few pass the test and make members feel recognized, a recent study found.

My Comment: A good loyalty program helps drive repeat business and, according to the author of the article, is a good strategy for referrals and recommendations. But there’s more. The article also reminds us that loyalty programs can provide important data and information about your customers, allowing you to personalize their experiences. Don’t overlook the data!

Why Citizen Experience Matters as Much as Customer Experience by Tom Brannen

(No Jitter) The gap between what we experience as a private-sector customer compared to what we experience as citizens is only getting bigger. There are ways AI can close the gap.

My Comment: In our customer service and CX research (sponsored by RingCentral), we asked more than 1,000 US consumers if they thought the government provided good customer service. Only 18% said, “Yes.” (Ouch!) This article takes a look at the Citizen Experience (another CX). Maybe the next time you go to the DMV or have a question about your social security account, you’ll get a better experience.

BONUS

Self-Service Customer Service: Key Capabilities and Strategies by Gartner

(Gartner) Modern CX demands a self-service-first mindset. Yet most self-service experiences are unsuccessful, leaving customers frustrated while increasing organizational costs.

My Comment: Next month, I’ll be traveling to Dubai to speak at MIT Sloan Management Review’s Customer Centricity Summit and Awards. This short article has a few details about the event. If you happen to be in the area and CX is important to you (you know it is!), consider attending the event.

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.