Top 5 Customer Service Articles For National Customer Service Week

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.

National Customer Service Week Video by ICSA

(YouTube) This video is about National Customer Service Week

My Comment: This isn’t an article, but a video that gives you a little history about Customer Service Week. If customer service is important to you – and I know it is – then watch this and celebrate the week as an opportunity to highlight the importance of customer service. Yes, I love this “holiday!” And, while we focus on the week, keep the other 51 weeks in mind! Customer service is an “every week thing!”

3 Things Great Companies Do for Customers by Colin Shaw

(Beyond Philosophy) There are three things that great companies that have excellent Customer Experiences do in common to make Customers feel the love.

My Comment: Here are three powerful ideas that just about every company must do for their customers. I especially like the second idea (although all three are powerful), which is all about convenience. How convenient is it to do business with you? What gets in the way of a frictionless experience? Take the time to read this short article. You’ll be happy you did.

3 Tips for Mapping the Customer Journey by Ellen Valentine 

(ClickZ) Use these three insights for visualizing, designing and mapping out the customer journey in order to effectively increase engagement across multiple channels and platforms.

My Comment: The customer journey map exercise is powerful. If you haven’t done it yet, do it now! (Okay, sometime in the next few weeks will be fine with me.) Seriously, this is a powerful way to determine and analyze the “touch points” that customers encounter when they interact with your business. This short article has several ideas to enhance your existing journey map and to give you something to think about if you’re just starting the process.

Why You Can’t Ignore Customer Service on Twitter by Lisa Woods

(echogravity) Your brand is getting talked about on Twitter, whether you are active there or not. Tweets directed at businesses are up 2.5 times over the last two years, according to Twitter’s latest eBook. Some interactions are positive and others are meant to express throbbing pain points. In fact, 47 percent of Twitter members are using the social channel for customer care.

My Comment: Outstanding article on how to use Twitter in a customer service strategy. It’s simple. Monitor Twitter, respond appropriately (which means fast) and engage with your customers in Twitter dialogue beyond just reacting to complaints or comments.

70% Success: The State of B2B Customer Experience by InMoment and Customer Think

(InMoment) Business-to-business companies are joining the Customer Experience (CX) groundswell and redesigning their organizations to put customers at the center. In a recent global study of more than 100 B2B executives, CustomerThink and InMoment explored how companies are developing their customer experience programs to drive better business results.

My Comment: My friend Bob Thompson at CustomerThink and InMoment has put together a very cool infographic that makes a case for how important customer experience is in the B2B world. For whatever reason, some people (companies) believe that CX is more for consumer-focused businesses than business customers. I completely disagree. CX is for every business, regardless of what they sell and who they sell to.

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.