5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of February 15, 2016

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.

16 Customer Service Skills That Drive Every Business by Robbie Richards

(JitBit) Develop these skills to win new customers, increase loyalty and grow your business.

My Comment: If customer service is important to you and your company, and I know it is, then read this article. I can’t think that anyone would disagree with any of the 16 “skills” that Robbie Richards shares with us.

How Many Employees Does It Take to Break the Customer Experience? by Tricia Morris

(Microsoft Dynamics) While customer service is just part of the customer experience, it’s a key place to start for organizational or brand alignment, as customer service typically owns a majority of the everyday multichannel customer interactions including service and information delivery across the web, chat and social media, as well as across assisted channels such as phone and email.

My Comment: You’ve heard the old saying: One bad apple can spoil the whole bunch.” Well, one bad employee can spoil the entire reputation of the company. You could have 99 great employees and one untrained “not so good” employee. If I get that one that’s “not so good,” I’ll perceive that this is the way all of the employees are. Great insight in this article from our friend Tricia Morris at Parature.

5 Common Customer Service Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them!) by Seon Barbera  

(CGS) In the world of customer service and customer experience, new scenarios constantly arise. But what remains constant are a number of basic customer service tenants that must be observed. Here are 5 common customer service mistakes that companies make that are entirely fixable or avoidable.

My Comment: So many articles and books I read tell me the right thing to do when it comes to customer service. Here’s an article about what NOT to do. While this may seem like common sense, these bad habits and behaviors are unfortunately too common.

Customer Loyalty Trends in 2016 by Ron Gerace

(IBM Commerce) The customer loyalty landscape is changing rapidly and that pace of change is only likely to accelerate in 2016. More and more, companies are viewing their loyalty investments as an opportunity to differentiate themselves and drive positive ROI for the business, as a profit center rather than just a cost of doing business. Three of the key trends driving this change in mindset are: personalization, the omni-channel customer experience and connected devices.

My Comment: Here are three customer loyalty trends you need to pay attention to personalization, omnichannel and connected devices. What I like about this article is that it’s not about a loyalty program. It’s about creating a “sticky experience,” where the customer connects with you and finds it hard to leave. Connected devices fall into that category. Ideally, your customers want to stay with you because you’ve given them a great product, and great experience (personalized) and your easy to do business with (omnichannel and connected devices).

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.