Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of April 17, 2017

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.

Getting More Referrals = Letting People Your Customers Care About Know About Brands That Care About Them by Joseph Michelli

(Joseph Michelli) Here are some broad approaches to activating promoter behavior in your loyal customer base.

My Comment: If you want more referrals, then make it easy for your customers to give you referrals. Bestselling author and business expert, Joseph Michelli, shares five important basics that you must consider if you want those sought-after customer referrals.

How to Drive Customer Loyalty Among Millennials by Timi Garai

(Emarsys) Loyalty needs to be fun. At least 60% of millennials seem to think so, but how can you best meet this expectation alongside all their other demands?

My Comment: No doubt that there are generational differences in the way customers like to buy and expect to be serviced. This excellent article has several ways to drive loyalty with millennials. They want to identify with the brands they do business with and treated right, they will share their experiences with others on social networks.

Knowing the Difference Between Loyalty and Retention Programs by Keith O’Brien

(DMN News) The term loyalty has typically been used as a catchall to describe any program that customers can opt into to get some sort of rewards. The simplest of these programs is the famous punch card where ten purchases get you a discount or free purchase once completed.

My Comment: There is a difference between a customer loyalty program and a customer retention program. Do not confuse the two. A repeat customer may not be a loyal customer. The goal of saving a defecting customer isn’t about making them loyal. It’s about getting them back for a chance to potentially make them loyal. If customer loyalty is important to your business (and you know it is), you will definitely enjoy this article!

Brands this is what can happen on Twitter when you get it spot on by Mark Shaw

(Mark Shaw) Every now and then a brand gets it spot on. In this case it is @wendys On the 6th April a student called Carter Wilkerson aka @carterjwm sent this tweet to Wendys.

My Comment: Many brands track social media posts to respond to complaints and customer support issues. However, the best brands know to respond to every post, not just complaints. The way Wendy’s, the restaurant chain, responded to a recent tweet is a perfect example of what happens when companies do social media the right way. Sometimes you hit, as the author says, a “marketing jackpot.”

United Airlines and the Dollars and Cents of Customer Experience by Augie Ray

(WHICH-50) But at the end of the day, will this damage United’s business as some claim? The answer is no and yes and, this is a customer experience lesson for business leaders.

My Comment: I couldn’t let this week’s Top Five list get away without at least one article about the United Airlines Customer Service debacle. It’s not about what happened (It was awful!), but what we can learn from what happened. Social media gives customers a loud voice and a huge platform. This article points out some very important lessons about how every business must embrace and understand the power of social media.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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