5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of January 7, 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.

5 Customer Service Lessons From Winnie-the-Pooh by Marc Compeau

(Forbes) As our friend Pooh navigated the hundred acre wood in search of honey and the meaning of life he (and A. A. Milne) also shared some legendary wisdom. Pooh’s quotes provide a great foundation for many life lessons, I found a few that serve as reminders that the customer is the key to small business success.

My Comment: What a fun article! And, at the same time an article with excellent content. Everybody read Winnie the Pooh when we were kids (and maybe as adults reading to our kids). Who would have thought there were some great customer service lessons in those Pooh stories!

Customer Service, Customer Experience and Customer Expectations – 25 Statistics To Help You Reflect, Review and Refocus by Andy Hanselman

(andyhanselman.com) Our research suggests that successful business leaders consciously take time out to reflect, review and refocus themselves and their business to survive, even ‘thrive’ in these Dramatically and Demonstrably Different times!

So, as we come to the end of 2012, I thought you might find these statistics on customer service, customer expectations and customer experiences that all appeared on my website in 2012 to help you ‘reflect and review’.

My Comment: An excellent group of statistics that really make the case for making changes and tweaks to a customer service and experience strategy. Every business should look over this list and take action where necessary.

13 Customer Experience Trends to Watch in 2013 by Bruce Temkin

(Customer Experience Matters) 2012 was a very active year for customer experience management. I expect 2013 to be an even more robust year as we move deeper into the Era of CX Professionalism. Here are 13 CX trends to keep an eye on this year as these efforts gain maturity.

My Comment: Bruce Temkin shares an excellent list of the trends in customer experience, making it easy for us to understand and take action on the trends that affect our companies the most.

#1 Reason A CEO Won’t Invest In Customer Experience by Michel Falcon

(michelfalcon.com) Every year department heads make their case for a part of an organizations yearly operational budget. You have your VP, Marketing making their case. The head of your IT team will need their piece as well. What about customer experience? I believe the #1 reason some CEO’s won’t invest in customer strategies to support their experience is because the ROI of amazing customer service can take time to come to surface.

My Comment: The smart CEO’s know that the ROI in customer service takes time. Study the best companies like Zappos.com, Amazon.com, Apple and Nordstrom. These companies are the icons of customer service and recognize that customer service doesn’t cost. It pays.

Communicating Your Message Effectively by Bruce Jones

(Disney Institute) Organizations of all sizes have messages to communicate to their teams, and that’s not always a simple task. In a dynamic work environment, ensuring that each employee is informed requires a little planning.

My Comment: This very short article brings up two of the most important tactics in an employee communication strategy: channel and repetition. Is the channel(s) you use to communicate easy for employees to get to, and are they hearing and understanding your message? Sometimes it takes multiple channels and repetition to get the point across. The best companies (like Disney) never let their employees forget it. It’s always front an center – and loud and clear.