Top 5 Customer Service Articles For the Week of May 15, 2013

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 too.

Servicing the Internal Customer by Keren Peters-Atkinson

(Monday Mornings with Madison) Unfortunately, internal customer service is even more replete with bad service.  Yet, the internal customer is as important as the external customer.  Why is that and how does one go about improving a company’s internal customer service?

My Comment: Many companies don’t think enough about the internal customer.  It’s this simple: Treat employees how you want your customer treated – maybe even better.  What’s happening on the inside is being felt on the outside by the customer.  This excellent article is a great reminder of the importance of serving your internal customer.

Journey Mapping Helps Organize Around Your Customers By John Abraham

(CMS Wire) Customer journey mapping is a straightforward but powerful tool to help companies organize around the customer. The core idea is to describe what the customer experiences when doing business with your company, from the customer’s point of view.

My Comment: Success doesn’t happen by accident.  It takes planning, and one of the best ways to plan out a company’s success with its customers is with a journey map.  The “map” analyzes all of the customers’ interactions with the company, and helps everyone in the company understand how they impact these customer interactions.

10 Things Every Customer Wants by  Geoffrey James

(Inc.) Surprisingly, the best price and best value is at the bottom of the customer’s priority list. See what’s at the top.

My Comment: Depending on the type of business you are in, at least one – if not all – of these ten items are what your customers want.  As a matter of fact, they are also what your employees want.

How to Calculate Customer Experience by Rob Carpenter

(Evergage) When you start measuring CX, you’ll notice something – your investments not only produce a return because they generate new business or bigger sales, but also because they save you money.

My Comment: Data from measurement gives you the information you need to make good decisions.  This article gives us some insight into how to measure customer experience.

Building Loyalty The Lady Gaga Way: Focus On 1% Of Your Customers by Jackie Huba

(Forbes) Companies focused on creating more customer loyalty are taking a page out of Gaga’s playbook.

My Comment: I’m enjoying Jackie Huba’s latest book “Monster Loyalty.”  We can learn many lessons from how super-star Lady Gaga creates “monster loyalty” with her fans.  A good start is with this article.

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.

(Copyright ©MMXIII, Shep Hyken)