Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of July 27, 2020

Each week I read a number of customer service and customer experience articles from various 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.

Traditional vs. frictionless payments: Will customers trade security for convenience? by Pat Shea

(Retail Customer Experience) Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many consumers, especially those who never shopped online before, turned to online payments out of necessity for everything from groceries to gifts. A major concern of these consumers was, and is, data security. Is their information safe online? How is it being protected?

My Comment: Today’s payment process, especially in retail, is headed toward a cashless system. COVID-19 had made touchless payment a popular way to avoid having to touch anything. It was predicted many years ago that our society would eventually go cashless. Regardless of the type of business you’re in, it’s time to understand what that will look like for you. This article is a good place to start.

How to Gain Customer Loyalty During a Recession by Dana Kachan

(CustomerThink) Building customer loyalty is an essential part of digital marketing for new normal that can do wonders with your conversions.

My Comment: COVID-19 caused the world to go into economic turmoil. When that happens, companies we do business with can lose confidence. It’s our job to create confidence. That’s what our customers want in the places/businesses they decide to spend money on. I read this list and there are both timeless and timely suggestions.

Rethinking retail in the wake of Covid-19 by Sachin Dev Duggal

(Retail Customer Experience) In what felt like an overnight shift, the way that small businesses traditionally interacted with their customers stopped, changed or morphed. Among those most vulnerable are the smaller retailers without an online presence that depend on their customers to walk through their doors.

My Comment: Okay… Another article about how to manage Post-COVID-19 business, but what caught my eye was that one of the strategies is about the subscription model. If you haven’t already created a subscription model for your business, it’s not too late. Even if the COVID-19 crisis had never happened, the subscription model is a powerful way to do business.

Journey mapping in the customer experience by Chris Beaudin

(Retail Customer Experience) Just like a buyer persona identifies who you are targeting to purchase your product, the journey map outlines the experience that persona will encounter as they proceed to a purchase.

My Comment: I’m a big fan of journey mapping. If you’ve been following my work – and even this weekly roundup – that shouldn’t be a surprise. If you haven’t gone through the journey map exercise, this article will get you started.

Two Tools To Improve Your Internal And External Customer Experience by Tracy Kemp

(Forbes) The idea of putting the customer first is not a new concept. Today, it is understood that it is important to provide exceptional service to your external customers in order for businesses to be successful. However, it is equally important to provide an excellent experience to your internal customers: your employees.

My Comment: And while we’re on the topic of journey maps (the fourth article in this week’s roundup), consider going beyond what customers experience and look at the employee journey map. The customer experience is a result of what’s happening on the inside with employees, so it makes total sense to focus on them as well.