Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of September 9, 2013

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.

7 Ways Customer Service Impacts Retention Rates by Adriana Dunn

(Happy Customer) Here are 7 essential ways customer service impacts retention rates.

My Comment: Here are a bunch of statistics that will confirm just how important customer service is to your organization.  While the numbers may not match up to your company or industry, the concepts do.  They are a call to action.  You can’t afford not to deliver a stellar customer service experience.

If You Don’t Take Care Of Your Customers, Someone Else Will [Infographic] by SlickText.com

My Comment: This infographic is filled with information and numbers to reinforce the idea that if you don’t take care of your customers the way they should be taken care of, your competition will.  I was especially intrigued by the difference between how a small business and a large business compare in missing, meeting and exceeding customer expectations.  Looks like the small guys win.  The big business that can create a small business feel may have a customer service advantage.

Live & Breathe Your GE Vision by elevateguestexperience

(Elevate Guest Experience) Does your team actively practice and embody your company’s vision and values? Or are both of these foundations of every successful organization buried deep within a long-since-forgotten orientation package?

My Comment: GE (General Electric) had a tagline: We bring good things to life.  Well, there is a new GE and it’s called the Guest Experience.  And done, well this experience will bring good things to the customer.  Two points stand out in this article.  The first is making a transition from customer experience to guest experience.  (It’s more than semantics.  It’s a different way to think of your customers.)  The second point is the concept of everyone from the CEO to the front line and everyone in between needs to be customer/guest focused.

Customers Remember Experiences, Not Your Brand Logo by Martin Zwilling

(Forbes) Most businesses spend big money testing their brand logo, catchy marketing phrases, and demographics, but spend little time training and validating that their employees can and do deliver memorable experiences to their customers. The result, according to a recent Gallup survey, with 70 percent of U.S. workers not fully engaged, is unhappy workers and poor brand experiences.

My Comment: The customer experience defines your brand. And that means the customer defines your brand. Great article with eight tips on how to get employees engaged in delivering an experience that the customer remembers – and defines your brand the way you want it to be defined.

7 Lessons About Customer Service … From the Sage Listens Tour by Shawn Hessinger

(Small Business Trends) Here are 7 lessons about customer service that you too can use to deepen bonds with customers.

My Comment: I love a list, especially when it has to do with improving customer service. And what I like about this list, specifically, is that it is based on the experience that a large company had when it reached out to its customers; in person – face-to-face! The seven ideas in this article will help any company deliver better customer service.

Professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314) 692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to http://www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)