5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of March 18, 2019

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.

10 Tips to Build a Customer Centric Work Culture by Vandita Grover

(MarTech Advisor) We list 10 customer experience (CX) tips that will establish customer centricity as the core philosophy of your organization and help create a customer-focused environment across your company.

My Comment: Consistent accolades about a company’s customer service and experience don’t happen by accident. It’s most likely a function of the company’s culture. When I speak at conferences in front of an organization’s leadership, I’m almost always asked about how to build a customer-focused culture. Here are some sound ideas that will help you on that journey.

Why Omnichannel is the Future of Customer Interactions (And How You Can Get Started) by Josh Brown

(B2Community) Give your customers the seamless, expertly integrated buying experience they expect and your company becomes the real winner.

My Comment: The technical term “omnichannel” is really about a customer being able to connect with a company through any means they desire; phone, social media, messaging, etc. This article shares wisdom on the importance of an omnichannel strategy. Just know that the customer probably has never heard the word “omnichannel” before. All they care about is an easy way to get to the company they do business with. This article has plenty of information, stats and facts to get you thinking.

Improving NPS for a Better Customer Experience by Kathy Doering

(CustomerThink) Quality Assurance in the contact center is being used to improve NPS (Net Promoter Score) and overall customer experience

My Comment: If you’ve read my work and these weekly roundups, then you know that I’m a fan of the NPS survey. It’s one thing to implement the survey to get feedback. It’s another to properly use that feedback. And, that’s what this article is about.

CX in 2019: Top Customer Experience Trends to Keep on Your Radar by Gavin James

(Beyond The Arc) Based on our years helping companies with customer experience strategy and communications, the Beyond the Arc team shared insights on some top trends to keep on your radar this year

My Comment: It doesn’t hurt to be reminded of important trends in the customer service and CX world. While we’ve seen many of these before, I want to emphasize (and so does the article) the concept of focusing on the EX, which is the employee experience.

Leverage AI To Remove Friction From The Customer Service Experience by Puneet Mehta

(Forbes) Customer service could pose the biggest threat to companies in today’s consumer-centric culture.

My Comment: You can’t ignore the importance and improvements in the world of AI in customer service. Here’s a short article on ways that AI can remove friction from the customer’s experience. Note that as good as AI is (It’s much better than a year ago, and will be better a year from now.), you must be sure to have a seamless switch to a human support agent to back up the technology.

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