Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 9, 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.

The Ultimate Service Recovery Implementation Guide by Adam Ramshaw

(Genroe) This guide provides the latest information on the benefits of service recovery and practical best practices on its implementation in your business.

My Comment: Adam Ramshaw has written a very comprehensive article (or short book) on service recovery. There are lots of ideas, strategies and tactics shared throughout the article. If you want a deep dive into how to recover from service failures, this is a must read.

Are Your Customer Service Metrics Telling the Truth? Sandy Rogers and Fred Reichheld

(FranklinCovey) If your relying on receipt or email surveys to measure customer service, there’s a good chance your promoting, praising or paying the wrong people.

My Comment: Peter Drucker preached that you can’t manage what you don’t measure. When it comes to customer service, you should not only measure, but be sure to measure correctly. The authors of this excellent white paper are Sandy Rogers, the former VP of Marketing for Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Fred Reichheld of Net Promoter Score fame, who are consummate experts in measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty. The link takes you to a page about Net Promoter. Go to the right side and click on the third article under Explore This Product. It is worth the effort!

3 Retention Tips from The Boss by Ian Luck

(Customer Gauge) Getting an audience is hard. Sustaining an audience is hard. It demands a consistency of thought, of purpose and of action over a long period of time.

My Comment: What does rock-and-roll have to do with customer loyalty and retention? Apparently quite a bit! Here is a fun article with three customer service lessons we can learn from The Boss, Bruce Springsteen.

Why Facebook Messenger Is a Big Deal for Customer Service by Joshua Gans

(Harvard Business Review) After using Messenger to speak with Rogers, my internet provider in Canada, I believe the new service and others like it could have positive effects on customer service. What it also demonstrates is that small changes can have a potentially large impact, especially when a company like Facebook is behind them.

My Comment: Social media customer service (or social care, as some call it today) is becoming increasingly popular and important. Twitter has even taken this to a higher level by creating tools that businesses can use to better support their customers using Twitter as a communication channel. Facebook is becoming more popular as well. This article focuses on how using Facebook Messenger is a powerful customer support channel.

the queue. by thecustomer

(THECUSTOMERWEB) I’m glad I did, as in the following 10mins of queuing, I’d witnessed another example of poor customer experience which inspired me to write about my customer service experiences that I encounter in my daily life.

My Comment: Customers want the people they do business with to respect their time. Time is precious. Once it’s gone, it’s really gone. This short article has some great comments about how a company (or retailer) can manage the wait.

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