5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of November 13, 2017

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.

Improving Customer Experience with a Customer-Centric Culture by Mansi Bhatia

(CustomerThink) Customer experience (CX) has gained a newfound glory in today’s industrial landscape. CX along with employee engagement are the focal points for companies who are looking to improve brand loyalty and customer engagement. One of the ways of achieving this is by adopting a customer-centric organizational culture.

My Comment: The companies that deliver the best customer experience are typically winning accolades for being the best companies to work for. That’s because CX is built into the culture of the company. It’s a philosophy to be embraced by everyone in the company, from the CEO to the most recently hired.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: ‘Loyalty is dead.’ Here’s how we’re circumventing it by Elizabeth Gurdus

(CNBC) “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer spoke to Salesforce.com chief Marc Benioff about customer loyalty, new technology and competition.

My Comment: Dreamforce, the HUGE Salesforce annual convention, was last week. After Marc Benioff, chairman, and CEO of Salesforce, did his keynote address, Jim Cramer from CNBC interviewed him. Benioff commented that “Loyalty is dead.” Not sure that I 100% agree. I’d say that “Loyalty as we know it is dead (or at least dying a slow death).” Benioff had some important ideas. To stay successful, we must change the way we’ve always done business. This is a great interview, and included with the article is the video.

5 Innovative Ways to Inspire Customer Loyalty by Vivian Wagner 

(CRM Buyer) Getting customers — and keeping them — is the name of the game in e-commerce.

My Comment: If you have any type of loyalty program, you will want to read this article. Whether you have an onsite or online retail business, you should read and study this article that includes five innovative ways that you can improve customer loyalty.

4 Essentials for Building a Well Mannered Customer-Service Chatbot by Clemont Tussiot

(Entrepreneur) If your chatbot is aggravating customers, human error is to blame.

My Comment: If you are using – or even thinking about using – AI (Artificial Intelligence) and chatbots, then you must read this article. It has some important tips about how-to and why you should (and should not) move into using Chatbots and AI. They are an excellent way to deliver service for the right reasons. AI and chatbots are not fads. They are here to stay – until something better comes along.

How can Twitter for customer service benefit your business? by A.M.S Pandian

(Forbes India) According to research, 30 percent of social media users prefer customer service over the online medium rather than traditional service.

My Comment: Twitter has become a great tool for customer service. There are some compelling stats that will make you a believer. Consider this: 80% of social customer service comes from Twitter. There has been a 2.5x increase in tweets to brands and their usernames. If you aren’t using Twitter for customer service, it’s time to give some serious consideration to doing so.

BONUS

New Study: 41% of Companies Ignore Customer Service Emails by Steven MacDonald 

(SuperOffice) To get loyal and happy customers, we all know that we have to deliver excellent customer service.  In fact, research has found that 60% of customers are willing to pay more for a better experience.

My Comment: 41% of the emails customers send to companies are ignored. REALLY! Here is SuperOffice’s annual benchmark report, filled with great stats, facts and suggestions to deliver a better customer service experience. And, it was an honor that they included some of my comments in the report. By the way, you’ll have to give them your email before you download the full report, but it’s worth it.

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