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5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of September 25, 2017

by 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.

Why You Must Answer Every Negative Review by Jay Baer

(Convince & Convert) When confronted with criticism, our instincts take over. We either pick a fight or turn the other cheek and pretend it didn’t happen, as a defense mechanism.

My Comment: Jay Baer knows, probably better than anyone else on the planet, how to deal with negative online reviews and comments. In this article, he shares reasons to answer ALL reviews. I once saw a poster in my dentist’s office that asked the question: Which teeth should I floss? The answer: Only the ones you want to keep. It’s the same with customers who leave online reviews. Which ones should you answer? The ones from the customers you want to keep – which is all of them!

Voice of the Customer Decoded: 4 Tips to Make the Most of Feedback by Susan Ganeshan

(CMSWire) Collecting customer feedback is crucial, but there’s more to capturing the voice of the customer (VoC) than compiling readily available data and dropping it into a spreadsheet.

My Comment: Feedback is more than just asking a few customers how they feel about your product or service. It is a serious business strategy that takes a lot of thought and preparation to execute properly. This short article has several excellent tips to help you capture the Voice of the Customer, also known as VoC.

Billionaire Elon Musk responds to unhappy Tesla customer on a Friday night, teaching a brilliant lesson in customer service by Catherine Clifford

(CNBC) Though billionaire rech entrepreneur Elon Musk is running a handful of companies and planning for interplanetary human existence, he’s not too busy to respond to a single frustrated customer.

My Comment: This is how it’s done! When a leader of a large organization takes the time to respond to an unhappy customer, it not only makes the customer happy. It shows the entire organization how important it is to take care of customers. Elon Musk is a role model in many areas, and now you can add customer service to the list.

Customer Experience Is The Product by Vala Afshar

(Huffington Post) The number of connected devices on the Internet will exceed 50 billion by 2020, this according to Cisco. By 2022, 1 trillion networked sensors will be embedded in the world around us, with up to 45 trillion in 20 years. The number of devices connected to IP networks will be three times as high as the global population in 2021. According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG), B2B spending on Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, apps and solutions will reach $267B by 2020. One of the key growth drivers for the Internet of Things will be smart homes.

My Comment: Vala Afshar always writes interesting and intriguing articles. He nails this one on customer experience (CX). He shares key takeaways from an interview he had with Stuart Lombard, president, and CEO of ecobee. The eight ideas are Lombard’s take on what helped build his company – ideas we should all study and learn from.

How Amazing Customer Service Can Help You Double Your Revenue by Neil Patel

(Neil Patel) Customer service goes a long way when it comes to growing and sustaining your company.

My Comment: My friend Steve Miller sent over this article by Neil Patel. Neil is an internet marketing expert and he shares his take on the importance of customer service, and how it can help a company double its revenue. There is a lot of good information here. You’ll have to work around some of Neil’s promotional copy, but it is well worth the effort. (Who doesn’t want to double revenue?!)

BONUS

There’s No Room for Hate in Social Media or Customer Service by Dan Gingiss

(Winning at Social) The word “haters” wasn’t particularly common in the English lexicon until the late 1990s, and “haters gonna hate” first appeared in the lyrics of an R&B song in the year 2000. Today, the phrase is the source of countless memes and a recurring refrain in a popular Taylor Swift song. It’s almost become trendy to be a hater, and having haters is something of a badge of honor.

My Comment: My friends Dan Gingiss and Joey Coleman have an excellent podcast worth listening to – and subscribing to! The topic of this episode is about how there is no room for hate in social media and customer service. I just wrote an article about racism in customer service, and this is the perfect follow-up. Once you hear this episode, you’ll want to hear more. These guys know their “stuff.”

Shep Hyken is a customer serv ice expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or  www.hyken.com . For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to  www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: An Unlikely Business Makeover

This week we feature an article by Josh Linkner about the DMV, The Department of Motor Vehicles, experience. The location he writes about is a great example of how to provide an Amazing customer experience! – Shep Hyken

When you think of terrible customer service, what types of companies come to mind? You may be thinking utility companies, budget airlines, wireless carriers or shipping companies. But shockingly the overwhelming winner: The good old DMV, The Department of Motor Vehicles.

Upon imagining walking in for your soul-crushingly boring visit, you’re instantly filled with dread and frustration. Long lines, rude service, unappealing environment, uncomfortable seating, and the anxiety of losing your spot in line. The subject of jokes and parodies, we just assume that’s the way it has to be.

But investor Chad Price had a different idea when competing for the private contract to run the DMV in Holly Springs, North Carolina. He questioned what would happen if he created the exact opposite experience of a typical government agency. Where do you even start? Step by step, he studied conventional approaches and then set out to disrupt them.

Today, if you walk into his DMV branch (yes, he won the contract), you instantly need a double take to confirm you’re in the right place. You notice the mouth-watering gourmet cupcakes that are waiting for you on the counter. Perhaps you enjoy a delicious smoothie, cold-pressed juice, or one of the dozens of exotic coffee flavors they offer. There are fresh cut flowers, area rugs, and a cute children’s play area to entertain the young ones while parents conduct their business. Vibrant color tones, inviting greetings, cushy seating, the examples are endless. Wait, is this really a DMV?

The experience isn’t only enjoyable, it’s also efficient. Customer service is top-tier in a plethora of different ways. Customers can use a mobile app to check in before their arrival, and later receive a text when their number is coming up. Walk-ins speed through the check-in process on an iPod and are alerted with notifications during their wait. Locals love the place so much, they’ve been known to come in for coffee and cupcakes just to relax and read a book even if they have no pressing business at the location. Now that is not what you’d expect at your local DMV!

I’m sure the bureaucratic establishment would have pointed out all the reasons such a transformation “couldn’t be done.” And yet, even the dreaded DMV came to life with a little imagination and creativity, coupled with a twist. But how do they sustain this? The costs must be through the roof!? The efficient tech, improved training, and profits from selling food goodies more than cover the extra expense, while converting customers from frustrated haters to raving fans, all done by thinking of the customer first.

By completely distrupting the notion of customer service at the DMV on it’s head, there is zero doubt which DMV will get the most business in the area or which company will get the next government contract to open additional outlets. In this case, Chad Price flipped DMV to mean “Department of Maximum Value,” for both himself and his customers.

It’s easy to feel stuck doing things the way they’ve always been done, change is difficult to overcome. But the Holly Springs DMV shows that the only real boundary is our own imagination. A little dash of customer service and a smile goes a long way. Take a look at your most established notions and practices, and apply this same sense of creative wonder. You may just be blown away by the outcomes as your customers line up and take a number for a hefty serving of originality.

Ready for your own business transformation? Grab a cupcake and spring into action.

Josh Linkner who started his career as a jazz guitarist – has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million.  He is also a deeply experienced business leader, venture capitalist, top-rated keynote speaker, and author of four books, the New York Times bestsellers: Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention, as well as his latest book, Hacking Innovation.  And yes, he still plays a mean jazz guitar. For more, visit JoshLinkner.com.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:  There Is No Place For Racism In Customer Service

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What Makes Good Customer Service

National Customer Service Week is coming up the first week in October. This is a time to appreciate employees for doing a great job taking care of customers. There are many ways companies are celebrating. Everything from an employee appreciation event, like a lunch or dinner, to fun games that are about team building and comradery. And, of course, there is showing some love and appreciation to your customers.

This year I want to take a different approach. While thinking about what to share with our subscribers on this important “holiday,” I remembered a question that was asked in a recent interview. “What makes good customer service?” Normally I would say attentive people, knowledgeable employees, great attitudes, strong relationship-building skills, and a desire to serve. While all that – and more – can create good customer service, there is an even bigger answer.

We cannot determine if we give good customer service. Only our customers can. In other words, it is our customers’ perceptions that determine if we’ve provided good or bad customer service. The customer acts as the judge and jury. As a business, we can only hope that our efforts are in line with our customers’ expectations. And, only our customers will determine if we have met or exceeded them.

Good customer service starts on the inside with the company’s culture. I’ve preached this before. Leadership must create a customer service vision that every employee can relate to. It must be concise, simple and easy to remember. I call it the service “mantra.” It must be trained to – not just once, but continuously. Remember, training isn’t something you did. It’s something you do.

Every employee must do their part. Once they understand the vision and are properly trained, they must manage every interaction they have with their customers for an optimal experience. The secret to making it optimal is within reach of anyone or any company. Just make the experience better than average. Just a little. That may sound easy, but what makes it a little more difficult is that it must be all the time. In other words, the customer can count on it. A consistent and predictable experience, that is better than average, is what makes for good customer service.

So, for this year’s National Customer Service Week, take some time to talk about your service vision. If you don’t yet have one, this is a good time to start the process of creating one. Take this week to tweak the service. Talk about it. Practice it. Get feedback about it. And, make sure you’re not just meeting, but exceeding your customers’ expectations, if even ever so slightly. Your customers will tell you if you are. And, that’s how you’ll know if you are delivering “good” – even amazing – customer service!

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote 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

(Copyright © MMXVII, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Judy Hoberman

Judy Hoberman Shares Tips for a Better Customer Experience

Are you looking to deliver a better customer experience? Then you are in the right place!

Shep Hyken interviews Judy Hoberman, President of Selling in a Skirt – international speaker, trainer, coach, mentor, and author, who has a passion for customer experience.

 

 Featured Interview:

Shep and Judy Hoberman discuss how S.K.I.R.T. and K.I.S.S. can help you create better customer experiences for your organization. Judy shares how building relationships is the key to gaining and keeping your customers.

Top Takeaways:

S – Standing Out – We live in a noisy world, you need to figure out how to stand out as an expert in your field. When you give someone an experience it has to be something that they love so much that they are going want to do it again and bring back their friends. Do the best that you can do – then do even a bit more, that’s how you create walking ambassadors (customer advocates).
K – Keys to Success – You have a toolbox you work with every day. There is something in that toolbox that you’re going to use that is going to make sure your customers are getting the experience that you want them to get. Judy’s keys to success focus on asking questions. You don’t want to be interesting to your customer, you want to be interested in your customer. If you show somebody you care, then they will want to gravitate towards you and bring you into their circle – which makes them your customer advocate.
I – Inspiration – Sometimes we need to be inspired to do the best job we can do. And, sometimes we inspire others, without even knowing we are inspiring them. Something as simple as an image posted on social media can inspire someone.
R – Results – Everything is judged on results. Everyone looks at results. Decide how far you want to push yourself. Don’t make the goal too hard or too easy. You need to set yourself up for success.
T – Time Management – It doesn’t matter who you are, everyone struggles with some sort of time management. Put the cell phone down, be in that moment, and show someone enough respect by truly being present.
K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple Stupid – If you’re trying to get people to have a great experience you have to make it easy and you have to make it obvious. You also have to know what it is that your customer is really looking for. If you’re not 100% sure – ASK – people will tell you exactly what it is that they want. Make it simple, exciting, and motivating.

About:

Judy Hoberman is the President of Selling in a Skirt, an international speaker, trainer, coach, mentor, and author. Judy’s mission is to help her clients live the S.K.I.R.T. philosophy while having fun! She is the author of ‘Selling in a Skirt,’ ‘Famous Isn’t Enough,’ ‘Pure Wealth’ and her upcoming book is called ‘Walking on the Glass Floor.’

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert , “New York Times” best-selling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

“(Selling) has nothing to do with the product or a service, it actually truly has to do with the (customer’s) experience.” – Judy Hoberman

 

      

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

How can I create a better customer service experience?
What does K.I.S.S. stand for in customer service?
How can my business stand out?
How can I create better customer satisfaction?
How can building personal relationships help customer service?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of September 18, 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.

3 Techniques to Help you Really Understand your Customers by Shay Namdarian

(Collective Campus) Establishing a detailed understanding of your customers is essential in achieving business goals and creating a customer experience that is a key competitive advantage today.

My Comment: Let’s start this week’s top five with a short article that has three simple tips to help you better understand your customer. The tips are simple: listen, watch and experience. I’m partial to the third one, experience. Not enough executives experience what it’s really like to do business with their own company. Every employee – and that includes top executives – should experience what every customer experiences.

25 Reasons Why Hospitality People Are So Resilient by Rupesh Patel

(LinkedIn) Hotel people like yourself are the reason why others can take their mind off troubles and get a comfortable night’s sleep (even though their house is under water or completely destroyed). You are a successful rare breed.

My Comment: I have always believed that the best customer service people have a “hospitality mentality.” This article has 25 reasons why people employed in this industry are so resilient and deliver outstanding service, even in tough times. Important: This information goes beyond the hospitality industry. Everyone from any type of business will find great information in this article.

Finding A Company You Love Regardless Of Product: Lessons In Customer Service by Murph Krajewski

(Forbes) As I pass through an organization, there are hundreds of touch points where a brand can either solidify our relationship or prove to me that I’m not important to them beyond the transaction.

My Comment: How can you love a company, but not love their products or services? This article from Murph Krajewski at Sharpen (featured in Forbes) tells the story of how an executive perfectly responded to a complaint letter. This is how it’s done!

Four Steps To Strengthen The Customer-Centric Culture In Your Company (And Improve Customer Service Along The Way!) by Paul Selby(CustomerThink) I offer some ways to inject customer service across the business and simultaneously raise the bar on customer service. By implementing these processes that go beyond customer service and into other parts of your company, you’ll see how a customer-centric culture can drive new levels of internal customer focus as well as higher customer satisfaction.

My Comment: This article is about the importance of a customer-centric culture. Great service just doesn’t happen because of the front line. It happens because the entire company is focused on service. Taking care of the customer is part of everyone’s job. It’s inside the company and ingrained in their culture.

CX measurement: 5 critical mistakes you must avoid by Colin Shaw

(MyCustomer) CX improvement measurement often misses a few other areas. Five, in fact. To that end, here are five critical mistakes you can’t make in CX measurement.

My Commenrt: It often surprises me when companies don’t measure their customer experience (CX). How do you know what’s working (or not) if you don’t know your numbers? This article will help you create or refine your measurement strategy. Remember what Peter Drucker said: “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

Shep Hyken is a customer serv ice expert, professional speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact (314)692-2200 or  www.hyken.com . For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to  www.thecustomerfocus.com . Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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Guest Blog: How Does AI Marketing Help Drive Customer Engagement?

This week we feature an article by Lindsay Tjepkema who writes about how artificial intelligence marketing (AIM) is becoming more important to our success in engaging with customers. Recently I have read and written a lot about AI and as technology improves and acceptance grows AI will have a strong role in customer service. – Shep Hyken

Artificial intelligence (AI) and all of its many uses have seen massive amounts of growth throughout the last year. Brands are looking to AI to ramp up their marketing activities, taking what was once viewed as a science fiction fantasy and integrating it as a useful tool.

The 2017 Warc Toolkit, produced in association with Deloitte Digital, reports that 58% of CMOs around the world predict within the next five years, AI will need to be a necessary part of marketing strategies in order for a brand to succeed. Additional research shows that AI marketing will, in fact, be a dominant marketing trend this very year.

Artificial intelligence marketing (AIM) is an innovative way for marketers to bridge the gap between data science and execution. And, with the increasing amount of information big data provides, AIM is designed to help marketers sift through that data in shorter time frames, uncovering valuable insights into their consumers allowing for better marketing campaigns and ROI.

In order to succeed and engage with their customers in real and meaningful ways, marketers need to be ready to embrace this new wave of marketing intelligence. Below are a few ways AIM can create higher levels of customer engagement.

Better Ad Optimization

There is a wealth of customer data available to marketers today. Using it to create compelling content will be one of the biggest areas of impact for AIM when it comes to engaging customers. Customer behavior online gives plenty of insight into what they like. AIM will allow brands to dive deep the realm of keyword search, blogs, customer surveys, social media profiles and all sorts of other online data. Marketers can then analyze that data without manually going through more information than any one person, or even team should have to on their own.

That data gives marketers the knowledge required to build compelling messaging and advertising. The ads marketers can produce using that data will be hyper-targeted and relevant to a particular customer. These smarter ads will be more effective and, thus, have a higher rate of conversion.

Joining the Conversations

Using an AIM solution, marketers can learn what their customers are saying about them, as the platform quickly sorts through the tons of data available. Then, marketers can quickly analyze this information, allowing them to engage or pivot messaging if needed.

These solutions are constantly combing the internet for relevant conversations and events, meaning, when appropriate, brands can jump in, join and engage with their customer base in a very organic fashion. They can influence those consumers at the exact moment they are making a decision. Joining customers in a familiar place and with a familiar dialogue can build stronger trust and engagement between brand and buyer.

Maximizing Team Creativity

Maximizing team creativity and time was mentioned above but is worth exploring a bit more. AIM frees marketing teams of much of the manual task work required to provide their customers truly individualized personalization at scale.

These platforms can decide when to send a customer a message according to their highest probability of engagement. Machine learning is applied to search for new time slots, then adapting to the user behavior. Marketers now have the freedom to create impactful strategies and focus on business-critical needs without granular data collection.

For those that consider themselves Creatives, few things stifle that creativity like numbers. Most marketers got into the line of work to have the opportunity to create meaningful content, not spend time with spreadsheets.

But, that data is necessary to guide strategy. AIM relieves marketers of much of the numbers side, allowing them to focus on ever more high-quality creative content. The data and analysis provided by AIM also creates a continual feedback loop, allowing marketers to refine and revise their content as needed.

For example, AIM takes the guesswork out of product recommendations for marketers. Marketers were once charged with filtering through thousands of potential products, finding the right ones, and then identifying the right way to show it to the customer for highest engagement potential.

Now, the AIM platform uses available data and determines the products to present, how the content should be presented, and via which channel for each and every contact, seamlessly.

Final Thoughts

Whether a brand is ready to embrace artificial intelligence marketing or not is almost irrelevant anymore. Particularly with larger brands, AIM is necessary to create the personalized experiences today’s customers require for true engagement.

This new technology can give marketers an important tool that can work to their, and more importantly, their customer’s, benefit.

Lindsay Tjepkema is the Director of Content for Emarsys. She oversees all global marketing content initiatives, both internal and external, across multiple platforms and formats to drive sales, engagement, retention, leads, and positive customer behavior. 

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article:  5 Must-Read Customer Experience Books Recommended By Leaders Like Jeff Bezos And Richard Branson

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Simple Words and Phrases Can Enhance the Customer’s Experience

The words you say, the way you act, and your attitude toward your job and your customer are sometimes the difference between satisfactory and amazing. This became evident as I was having lunch with Tracy Nieporent, one of the partners at Myriad Restaurant Group. They are the successful owners of the famous Nobu restaurants, Tribeca Grill, and several others.

Tracy is very proud, and rightly so, about the food and service at all of his restaurants. After we were finished with our main course, the server stopped by and, with enthusiasm, asked, “What else can I get for you?”

Tracy became excited and asked me, “Did you notice that?” I wasn’t sure what he was referring to. He went on to say that she asked the right question. No, I didn’t notice. He emphasized that she asked, “What else can I get you?”

I thought, “Okay, that’s a nice question. But, what’s the big deal?” Tracy went on to explain that the way the servers are trained to ask certain questions, such as, “What else can I get for you?” are subtle but powerful ways of differentiating them from an average restaurant. Most servers would ask, “How is everything?” That’s fine and very nice. However, “What else can I get for you?” implies you want to do more for your customer. He knows words are important to the experience and wants his staff to properly ask the right questions, communicating with guests in ways that will most enhance their experience.

As I thought more about Tracy’s comment I realized that while it may appear to be a subtle enhancement, that doesn’t mean it’s NOT important. It’s actually very important. It’s the difference between taking an order and serving a customer. The difference between answering a question and helping a customer. Or, the difference between resolving a complaint and restoring confidence. Not so subtle, is it? The right words can shift a mood and enhance the moment.

Think about when you may have made a request or asked for a small favor. A popular response from most people might be, “No problem.” However, a better response is, “It’s my pleasure.”

Can you see the difference? Some of these questions or sentences are more subtle than others. So, here is your homework assignment. Take time to think of the phrases you say day after day. Then, consider alternative ways of saying the same thing. Can you improve on your response? What’s the best way to phrase it? Properly structuring the words you use can be a powerful way to not only communicate better but to deliver a better customer experience.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote 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

(Copyright © MMXVII, Shep Hyken)

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5 Top Customer Service Articles for the Week of September 11, 2017

Each week I read a number of customer service and experience 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.

A Pop Culture Guide to Customer Care Training by Matt Searfoss

(TCFCR) Looking for a guide to build your customer care training session off of? Then look no further than the TV in front of you! Not everyone learns the same way, and today we are sharing with you some examples that excellent customer service training can adopt for those who may be more visual or auditory learners.

My Comment: Let’s start off this weeks list of articles with a short article that includes three videos from popular movies and TV shows. I’d not seen the clip from “The Office.” They will make you laugh, but they have a very serious message. Show these videos to your team. A perfect way to open a discussion about some very important customer service topics.

12 Ways To Keep Customer Interaction Alive In The Face Of Self-Service Technology Integration by Forbes Communications Council

(Forbes) With heightened consumer demand for automated self-service technologies, companies are answering the call and investing in do-it-yourself services. The potential for these DIY applications is growing, and companies like Delta are already integrating services such as biometric self-service bag drops in airports at increasing rates.

My Comment: It’s easy to lose a connection with customers when they opt for self-service or other support channels that potentially eliminate the human-to-human connection. Thanks for this great list of ideas.

Five Ways to Humanize Customer Service by Jeff Toister

(Toister Performance Solutions) Self-service is great and makes a lot of things easy. Yet there’s still times when a friendly word and a genuine smile is needed to create an exceptional experience.

My Comment: My friend and fellow customer service expert, Jeff Toister, has written another excellent article that features five simple ways to create a more “human” connection with your customers. I’m especially partial to number three, which is about giving the customer a little more time – even just an extra minute (or even less) to make the customer is happy and confident about the service they received.

6 Ways to Radically Advance Your Customer Service by Bill Carmody

(Inc.) By making these 6 enhancements, you are empowering your business to deliver quality customer service the way your customers are now demanding it.

My Comment: The title of this article intrigued me. Who wouldn’t want to “radically advance” their customer service? Pay attention to number six. That is a powerful concept and when done the right way, may have the biggest payoff.

Believing These Five Customer Experience Myths Could Stunt Your Company’s Growth by Holly Chessman

(Forbes) Online businesses often find it challenging to stand out in the crowd. One great way to gain a competitive edge is to improve customer experience.

My Comment: What you think may be creating a better service experience for your customers may be driving them away. The customer service “myths,” as the author calls them, are actually mistakes that many companies are making. They are assumptions that could be driving customers to the competition.

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

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Guest Blog: 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Answering Support Tickets

This week we feature an article by Belle Balace who talks about what you need to know about answering support tickets. There are different types of customers and it’s important to know how to deal with each one. – Shep Hyken

I have to be honest, answering support tickets or doing customer service isn’t the most thrilling job on earth but if you’re part of a startup or small business and you lack resources, you have no choice but to do it.

Just kidding, you actually have a choice to do it or not. BUT, if it’s not your passion or you have no interest at all, better ask someone to handle it for you or else you’ll cause a lot of damages.

If you like interacting or helping people or growing a business, then this is the job for you. It may not be the one of most exciting jobs in the world but it’s definitely one of the most important jobs in today’s digital age.

What You Need to Know About Answering Support Tickets

You have to know EVERYTHING about your product or company.

From big data to the smallest details, you have to know everything. The worst thing that can happen to you is when a customer or potential user asks a simple question and you can’t answer it right then and there.

Who doesn’t appreciate fast customer service? We all do. We love it when people answer our questions right away. If you want to make your customers happier or impress potential clients, know the basics, or even everything, so you can answer their questions quick.

When you don’t know the answer, ask for help.

To be realistic, there will always be times when you won’t know the answer to your customer’s question. And if you don’t know the answer, it’s completely fine to ask for help from your CEO or manager. They know the product or company better than you do.

What you never want to do is get back to a ticket you don’t know the answer to. Trust me, I’ve made this mistake before and it didn’t turn out so well. Save yourself from making a mistake and ask for help when you don’t know what to do.

Answering fast can produce revenue.

This one is very true. I was just answering a very simple ticket from a curious person and after less than an hour that person made a purchase. And let me tell you, it felt amazing. The good news is this can also happen to you.

You may not be sure with the returns of your investments in marketing or advertising but here’s something certain, you can never go wrong with investing in customer service. As Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, said in his book Delivering Happiness, “Another common trap that many marketers fall into is focusing too much on trying to figure out how to generate a lot of buzz, when they should be focused on building engagement and trust.”

What matters to you more, building more brand awareness or helping more people?

It’s never or will ever be about you.

There will be times when answering support tickets won’t make you excited as it did the other day but it’s part of the job. Just hang in there. Remember, it’s not about you. It’s about helping others and making your customers happier.

When you feel uninspired (which is totally normal because we’re not robots) you probably just need a little laugh. What I do is I watch a funny YouTube video until i feel better. Energy is contagious and when you’re answering support tickets, you always have express good energy or you just might transfer or attract bad energy. Feeling good makes you more patient with others.

You have to know who your customers are.

Now when you’re doing customer service for a long time, you can easily identify what type of customer you’re talking to or dealing with. This is important because let’s face it, some customers are worth your time, some aren’t especially if it’s taking all of your resources just to keep them.

According to Dana Severson, director of marketing at promoter.io, there are three types of customers Promoter, Passive, and Detractor which he perfectly illustrated in this infographic made with Visme the differences and characteristics.

Belle Balace is growth specialist at Visme.co, a powerful online presentation, infographic, and data visualization tool.

For more articles from Shep Hyken and his guest contributors go to customerserviceblog.com.

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: How AI Can Help The Airlines (And Any Businesses) Heal Their ‘Black Eye’

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The post Guest Blog: 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Answering Support Tickets appeared first on Shep Hyken.

Amazing Business Radio: Murph Krajewski

Murph Krajewski Shares Keys to Creating Better Customer Support Experiences

Do your customer facing employees have everything they need to do their jobs properly?

Shep Hyken interviews Murph Krajewski, VP at Sharpen, a cloud based service company that strives to create better agent experiences in support centers by merging technologies and relationships.

 Featured Interview:

Shep and Murph Krajewski discuss how Sharpen started by wanting to fix the root problem in customer service. Murph explains that the problem starts with the customer service agent’s experience. They discuss how the needs of an agent (both technological and human) must be met to allow that agent to be in a position to properly serve the customer, and Murph shares numerous examples.

Giveaway:

In this whitepaper, “Exposing the True Cost of Legacy Contact Center Software” Sharpen gets real about the true impact it can have for your operations, agent satisfaction, and customer service. (Link: www.SharpenCX.com/ABR)

Top Takeaways:

A person in distress can’t help anyone. Murph explains that if you don’t give the people on the front line, the tools (training/technology), they can’t give your customers the best experience possible.
Don’t get stuck in the past. New technologies should be embraced. As older technologies fade away new technologies are created and then new standards are set. When the original iPhone came out ten years ago, it was nothing short of amazing. But, today hardly anyone is using an original iPhone, which many consider to be an antique piece of technology. We’ve moved on to faster and updated versions like an iPhone 7 or iPhone 8.
Create a better experience for your support or front-line staff. Customer service jobs are one of the lowest rated jobs in the country; due to the hours, the pay, the stress levels, etc. These employees shouldn’t be undervalued and underpaid, they are responsible for making your most important asset – your customers – happy.
92% of customers say that an agent’s mood effects their experience. That is a tough statistic to ignore. A business must figure out how to improve the agent’s experience to be as good as, if not better, than their customer’s experience. Customer service is, after all, a service job. You need to create a service culture, and embrace those team members who need and want to serve, which is all of your front line and support center agents.

About:

Murph Krajewski is VP of Marketing at Sharpen, a cloud based contact center platform. He’s been in the contact center industry for nearly 20 years, in a variety of roles. These days Murph is focused on creating better experiences for contact center agents. He believes this will make for happier customers, and could one day change the world.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert , “New York Times” best-selling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.

“Companies are using the job function of a contact center agent, which has very low job satisfaction, to try to make their most important asset – their customers – happy.” – Murph Krajewski

 

      

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions … and more:

How do you make a customer service agent experience better?
How does an agent impact the customer’s experience?
How can I create better customer experiences?
What has the biggest impact on customer satisfaction?
How can I create better support agents?

The post Amazing Business Radio: Murph Krajewski appeared first on Shep Hyken.