Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of October 16, 2023

Each week, I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various 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.

What Is Good Customer Service: A Detailed Guide by Salesforce Staff

(Salesforce) Customer service is any interaction, online or off, that a customer or prospect has with your company. It includes the entire experience, from initial contact to final sale and beyond.

My Comment: We start this week with a very comprehensive article about what “Good Customer Service” looks like. It is filled with stats and findings from the research that Salesforce does throughout the year. Customers’ expectations have changed. We must keep up, or we’ll be playing keep-up!

The Business Case for Love by Marcus Buckingham

(Harvard Business Review) While AI is a game changer, it is far from the most powerful force in business today. The author, who has spent decades studying the most engaged teams — and the most loyal customers — has identified one force that powerfully drives consumer and employee behavior: love. When someone says they “love” doing a certain activity, his research has found that it’s not a careless exaggeration — it means that when doing the activity, the person is flourishing. Employees who love what they do feel at ease, in control, deeply absorbed in what they’re doing, and are more productive. Customers who love a product are not only loyal; they’re likely to become advocates for a brand. Yet most businesses don’t study why people love their product or love working for them, nor do they have a strategy for unleashing it. This article offers examples of how organizations can design love into their offerings.

My Comment: Marcus Buckingham is one of my favorite speakers and business authors. In this excellent HBR article, he brings up the concept of “love,” one of the deepest and most meaningful emotions. And with AI and digital experiences, how can we maintain customer love? Read this article to find out how to work “love” into your business strategy.

Beyond Products: How Brands Are Cultivating Trust in the Age of Customer-Centricity by Sohaib Ahmed

(Total Retail) In the last few decades, the market has witnessed a gradual power shift between brands and consumers. Previously, brands would work on their ideas and develop a product or service that they believed would help customers. Now, brands are taking notes and working on innovating and devising products and services that customers believe in. By conscientiously creating offerings to make consumers feel valued and needed, brands foster greater customer centricity.

My Comment: People define “customer centricity” in different ways. The one thing they all have in common is the definitions are always about creating a better customer experience. This article lists ten “factors” that can help a brand excel in focusing on a better customer experience.

Reinventing Customer Experiences with Generative AI and Amazon Connect by Michael Wallace and Andrea Caldwell

(No Jitter) The widespread interest in generative artificial intelligence (AI) has created a renewed focus on the power of AI to solve for business challenges, especially for customer service. Generative AI is a type of AI that can create new content and ideas, including conversations, stories, images, videos, and music.

My Comment: Today’s lesson about Generative AI comes from Amazon. McKinsey believes that customer experience (CX) is one of the most powerful uses of this technology. Amazon (AWS) is using AI as an opportunity to assist their agents and create better self-service experiences for their customers.

How Do Your Customers Experience Your Company Culture? 5 Ways to Create Customer Loyalty by Jason Zickerman

(Entrepreneur) Most cultural efforts are designed first and foremost to provide a positive employee experience (EX). EX design is one of the fastest-growing HR initiatives today. At its core, it refers to a strategic approach to creating a positive and engaging work environment. And it works. EX design quantifiably increases employee satisfaction and decreases churn. So, how about we extend that value-based culture approach to our customer experience?

My Comment: A better customer experience doesn’t start with a focus on customers. It starts by focusing on employees and creating a positive company culture. The author includes a list of five ways to integrate the company culture and values into the customer experience. I may sound like a broken record (I mention this quite often), but it is worth repeating: What is happening on the inside of the company is felt on the outside by customers.

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. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.