Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of June 14, 2021

Each week I read many 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.

Actual vs. Intended Customer Experience: The Major Disconnect by Tara Sporrer

(MarTech Series) Harvard Business Review found that delighting your customers doesn’t build loyalty; reducing their effort—the work they must do to get their problem solved—does. It’s crucial to close the gap between the understanding of the actual customer service experience and the intended customer experience.

My Comment: This is an important topic to understand. As the author of this article calls it, there is a customer service gap, a disconnect. It’s the gap between what a company’s leadership perceives their customer service and experience to be versus what the customer perceives it to be. Usually, the leadership thinks they are much better than they are. Ouch!

Why Brands Must Embrace Personalization Before It’s Too Late by Katrina Wong

(AdAge) Personalization is now table stakes, and according to a new study by Twilio Segment of 3,000 businesses and consumers, 75% of businesses feel the same.

My Comment: Personalization continues to be a hot topic. Our recent study/survey confirmed that to customers, this is “very important” or “important” to their decision to come back to a business. This article looks at some reason why with some technical “how to.” Personalization may not quite be table stakes for a good customer experience, but it’s a definite differentiator.

Forget Brand Loyalty. Here’s Why You Should Strive for ‘Brand Intimacy’ Instead by Sophie Downes

(Inc. Magazine) A study by MBLM found that respondents formed emotional connections with a greater number of brands during the pandemic (23 percent more than in MBLM’s previous study) and deepened their existing intimate relationships with brands.

My Comment: To create true customer loyalty, it’s about an emotional connection between a brand and a customer. This article refers to that emotional connection as “intimacy.” As the title implies, forget brand loyalty. Go for brand intimacy. That’s how you create the kind of loyalty that gets customers to come back again and again.

Ways Proactive Customer Service Can Lead to Customer Retention and Growth by Ashwini Dave

(Business 2 Community) A lot of times, businesses struggle to understand how they can retain their existing customers in a market that is so competitive. Sometimes, the solution can be as simple as saying “sorry, we made a mistake” even before the customer realizes it – and that is what we call Proactive Customer Service.

My Comment: One way to instill confidence in your customers is to deliver proactive customer service. It shows your thinking about the customer. You take care of problems before they happen. Or, if they do happen, you resolve them before the customer tells you about them – or maybe even before the customer ever knows. This article shares some of the benefits of practicing proactive customer service. Those benefits start with retention and growth, and that translates into dollars.

Retailers Reflect on the Future of Stores – Store Management for 2021 & Beyond by RETHINK Retail

(RETHINK Retail) A RETHINK Retail special report featuring insights from thought leaders and retail executives.

My Comment: This is a report you’ll have to download, but it’s a great one. You can always unsubscribe if you don’t want to get any other information from them. The opening headline caught my attention: When was the last time you did something for the first time? This is about creating the Agile Store in retail. Trying and experimenting with new ideas. But, if you read between the lines, much of this content can apply to any type of business.