Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of January 19, 2015

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.

Do Your Customers Talk About Your Products or Your Ads? by Annette Franz Gleneicki

(CX Journey) Are you delivering a great customer experience – or are you just relying on advertising to create awareness and sell your products?

My Comment: Love this article. It reminds me that the best advertising we can have comes from our happy customers telling potential customers how great the product is. And, when a great product is combined with a great service experience, that is a combination that is hard to beat.

Knowledge is power: What lies ahead for CX in 2015 by Idit Aloni-Halfon

(NICE) We were delighted by the outpouring of ideas that came from CX professionals. Here, in a nutshell, are the 5 trends we came up with when we put our heads together.

My Comment: It is amazing how fast trends happen upon us. Our friends at NICE have written a great article that gives us some important insights into what customer experience trends we should be paying attention to in the near future.

The Five I’s of Employee Engagement by Bruce Temkin

(LinkedIn) An engaged workforce is an incredibly valuable asset. Our annual benchmark study of U.S. employees shows that engaged employees are more likely to work harder, make recommendations for improvements, help each other, and recommend that other people join the company. They are also less likely to look for another job and take sick time. What’s not to love about engaged employees?

My Comment: Engaged employees are happier, stay longer and give much better service. Bruce Temkin is a rock star in the CX world and he shares five valuable tips to create an engaged workforce. In addition he shares his Annual Benchmark Study of US Employees.

7 Tips to Knock Your Online Customer Support Out of the Park by Jonathan Long

(Entrepreneur) Here are seven tips to help provide the highest level of customer service online.

My Comment: More and more, companies are adding alternative channels of support beyond traditional phone support. Any company that has online/social media customer support should take a look at these seven tips.

The #1 Difference between Customer Service and Customer Experience by Yoel Feldman

(LinkedIn) Today however, we all know that the two are completely different and that in order to provide your customer with either one you have to operate in different ways. Most importantly- the difference between the two doesn’t only influence our customers, but has a fatal effect on our business and money.

My Comment: I’m repeatedly asked about the difference between customer service and customer experience. There are many different answers to this question. This article does an excellent job of showing some of the differences. Customer service has always been a competitive differentiator. Understanding how it fits into the customer experience takes it up a notch.

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 www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken