5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of April 27, 2015

TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BUSINESS ARTICLES

Each week I read a number of customer service articles from various online resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Questions to Ask Yourself During Customer Loyalty Month by Infinit Contact

(Infinit Contact) It’s April and it’s Customer Loyalty Month once again. This just simply means that we should take the time to remember our customers and show them some love. We should likewise look into our customer loyalty strategies and determine if they’re working to our advantage or not.

My Comment: Just a few days left in April, which is Customer Loyalty Month. This is another great article with some great questions to self-assess if you’re doing what’s necessary that makes customers want to come back to you again and again.

Think Small to Win Customer Loyalty by Jason Wesbecher

(Entrepreneur) People gravitate toward companies because of their products and leave them because of their service.

My Comment: The impact on a big business losing one customer may not seem as significant compared to a smaller business losing a customer, but that doesn’t mean either business shouldn’t focus on customer retention.  The Fred Reichheld statistic reminds of the power of a small increase in loyalty and the big impact it can have on the bottom line.

Don’t Ignore These Three Customer Journey Experiences by Ernan Roman

(B2Community) While there are many stages in the customer journey, following are three critical opportunities that emerged from our research.

My Comment: This article shows the strong link between sales and service. As a customer thinks about buying from you, makes the purchase and then self-confirms that they made the right choice to do business with you, it’s the combination of good salesmanship and customer service that wins the customer over long-term.

Big business leaves an opening a truck could drive through by Todd Gurley

(redbirdagents.com) Delivering an excellent customer experience has always been hard.  It’s 50% “touch” and 50% “feel”, but we never know which half is which.

My Comment: The statistic in this article may show that big business is having a hard time delivering a great customer service experience, which can give the advantage to a small/independent business, who can offer more personalized service. I can see the other side of the coin, too.  Maybe a “big business” can learn to think small – at least as it applies to giving the customer a more personal level of service.

What Do Your Employees Know About Customer Experience? by Annette Franz

(CX Journey) I’ve been talking about the importance of employees to the customer experience since my days at J.D. Power and Associates 20 years ago; sadly, in the heat of customer experience design efforts, employees are still forgotten.

My Comment: How important are employees to the customer experience? As this article states: Without employees, you have no customer experience. That is why some companies focus on the employee first, which leads to employees creating the best customer experience they can. Herb Kelleher, the former CEO of Southwest Airlines, comes to mind. His belief was to take care of employees first. If you have happy and fulfilled employees, they will take care of the passengers. When the passengers are happy, they fly again. That makes the stockholders happy. So, why don’t more companies focus on their employees first? (Rhetorical question!)

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 at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.