Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of December 16, 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.

4 Brilliant Ways to Maintain Customer Loyalty by Comm100

(Business2Community) According to a report from Flowtown, it is 6 to 7 times more costly to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing customer. Therefore, it’s equally important, if not more, to cultivate and maintain loyal customers while attracting new customers. Here are some tips for your reference.

My Comment: If customer loyalty is important to you (and I know it is), then you can’t go wrong by paying close attention to the four points brought up in this article. Great information!

What Makes Amazon Customer Service So Satisfying? by Tricia Morris

(Parature) So what makes Amazon’s customer experience so satisfying? With more than 225 million customers, what does the big brand deliver (by drone or the old-fashioned way) that others don’t? Here are five items that create the total package for Amazon.

My Comment: There is so much to learn from Amazon, and this great article form Parature teaches us a few of the tactics and strategies that Amazon uses to create customer evangelists. While I agree that the five things listed here are important, and may be exactly what Amazon does to be so successful, a sixth strategy could have been added regarding a focus on employees. That’s a big part of driving positive customer experience. That said, this article is a must read for anyone interested in creating an amazing customer experience that turns satisfied customers into customer evangelists.

7 Employee Engagement Mistakes to Avoid in Uncertain Times by Vicki Hess

(Becker’s Hospital Review) Here are seven engagement-crushing mistakes to avoid healthcare leaders across the country. Focus on employee engagement today so that your organization is still prospering in the future.

My Comment: Just seven mistakes? There are many mistakes that managers and leaders make when it comes to employee engagement – actually non-engagement. The best companies know how important it is to engage and motivate employees. The benefits are that employees are happier, work harder and do a better job of taking care of customers. How many of these mistakes are we guilty of? I love it when a perfect score is ZERO.

The 9 Dreaded Words Of Any Customer Service Director by Jeremy Watkin

(Communicate Better Bog) The 9 dreaded words of any customer service director are “Let me speak with the head of customer service.”  A while back I wrote a post titled The 6 Dreaded Words Of Any Contact Center Agent: “Let Me Speak With Your Supervisor.”  Little did I know I would have a second part to that post one day.

My Comment: The customers are getting smarter. They no longer want to speak to a supervisor. They want to talk to an executive. This article maps out a conversation that should never take place. However, the reason it might in any organization is that the employees haven’t been empowered to deliver customer-focused solutions. They have to get approval, or in some cases, have to say “no” to the customer. One solution is to have a culture that is about “One person to say YES. Two to say NO.” That means that the front line is empowered to come up with solutions. The reason to see a supervisor (or VP of customer service – or even the CEO), is because they have to say “NO” to the customer. It takes good training to show an employee the range of opportunity they have to take care of a customer. This strategy could eliminate those dreaded words.

How to Deal with Unhappy Customers by Nunzia Falco Simeone

(Zopim Blog) Having unhappy customers might be a second chance in disguise. Here are some tips to help you deal with unhappy costumers.

My Comment: Here is a refreshing and simple reminder about what to do when you have an unhappy customer. I file this one under common sense that isn’t always so common.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, 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
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