Shep Hyken's Blog, page 185

5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of August 1, 2016

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.

12 Unique Ways to Build Brand Loyalty Through Social Media by YEC

(AllBusiness) Social media is an invaluable tool to help market your brand, but what good is it without a target audience? There are plenty of unique ways to engage your community and boost your social following, each of which helps customers get to know the names and faces behind your brand and stay loyal to your product or service.

My Comment: Social media enhances the customer experience. It’s a brand builder. I’m still amazed at the companies that aren’t taking advantage of engaging with their customers through social. Here are twelve ways to use social media to enhance the relationship you have with your customers.

Consumer Disappointment with Customer Service Is Real by Dianna Labrien

(Tech.Co) Indeed, it seems sometimes as if “customer service” is just a dark hole that customers enter and then eventually extract themselves because it is just not worth the hassle.

My Comment: All types of businesses (B2B, B2C, large, small, etc.) can benefit from reading this article. Customers want an easy and smooth transaction. But, no one and no company is perfect. When things go wrong, that’s where, as the old saying goes, “the rubber hits the road.” Customers want access to a quick solution. That could be with a live support agent, a self-service solution, instant chat, etc. It doesn’t matter. As long as it’s easy and somewhat painless. This article has some good suggestions on how to exactly that.

Myths Busted: Great Customer Service Starts Here by Doug Sandler

(Doug Sandler) With customer service being my focus, I explored the myths believed to be most prolific in a wide variety of industries for companies big and small and developed a hit list of five myths related to providing great customer service. Following each myth I provide additional insight, personal observations or explanations for common misconceptions.

My Comment: This excellent article takes some of the customer service “truths” and turns them into “untruths.” Is the customer always right? Is fast response to a customer always the goal? The short answer is “no.” Be sure to read why (along with other “myths that need to be busted) to learn a new way of thinking about the customer service “rules” you’ve always believed in.

7 Things Pokemon Go Can Teach You About Service Innovation by Manuel Grenacher

(LinkedIn) So what can companies that provide service learn from Pokemon Go’s wild success?

My Comment: It seems there is something in the news about Pokemon Go every day. This article uses the popular game as a metaphor for teaching service innovation. These are great ideas that almost any customer service/experience innovation program can benefit from.

A small change on Twitter – A Massive Twitter Customer Care Implication by Mark Shaw

(Mark Shaw) A small change on Twitter – A Massive Twitter Customer care Implication

My Comment: As social media, and specifically Twitter, emerge as major channels for communication between the customer and the support center, it’s important to get the latest information. The author shares what’s new at Twitter and offers tips to enhance social customer service.

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: 3 Proven Ways to Personalize the Customer Service Experience

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Ross Clurman, writes about how important it is to personalize the customer service experience. Regardless of the type of business you are in, there is always an opportunity to personalize the customer experience. – Shep Hyken

One of the most-important factors in providing an exceptional customer service experience is personalizing each and every touchpoint between you (the business or service provider) and your customers. No matter how informal the channel or medium (i.e. Twitter vs. direct mail vs. in person) every exchange should be personal, timely, and suited to your customer’s preferences.

Personalizing the customer service experience is much more than including a first name and the day of the week in your message. It involves actually getting to know your customers — scary, right?!. As quickly as humanly possible, identify the problem, the solution they want, and their preferences.

Your customer preferences could include:

Medium of communication (e.g. Twitter, email, phone, online chat, text messaging, etc.)
Time of day
Day of week
Format (i.e. Do they prefer formal, or informal communications?)

Always remember the golden rule of customer service: Treat your customers the way they want to be treated.

Personalizing the customer service experience will speed along the process and make your customers trust you, and eventually fall in love with your business (which is a very good thing).

We help consumers across the globe resolve customer service issues with businesses everywhere. Here are three proven techniques we employ to personalize the customer service experience.

Maintain an up-to-date customer database.

If your business were a living thing, your customer database would be the brain. An easily accessible repository of all the important information about your customers in a centralized and shared space. The information you collect and store about your customers should include their purchase history, communication preferences, basic contact info (like phone, email, and mailing address — perhaps even social profile URLs). We also recommend keeping track of some additional information you can use to personalize the customer service experience, like their nickname and birthday.Think about what information is important to your business. For instance, if you’re a hair salon, it makes sense to know when your customer got their last haircut, what color they prefer, the stylist, and even what they like to drink (if your salon serves beverages).

Being fast to respond (when a customer reaches out) is nice, but making that communication personal is even more important.
An open “conversational” view of every customer service exchange.

Keeping track of customer conversations across communication channels is key. This is the idea on which we founded our entire company — omni-channel customer service communication. The idea that when your customer changes the channel (i.e. they go from talking to us via email to a social network, or any other medium) it doesn’t break the customer service experience.This way, when your customers change channels (which they will do) you don’t have to start the conversation over and re-discover who they are, what they need, and how we should address them.
Publish a publicly visible customer service “oath” and mission statement.

Everyone within our organization knows our mission statement and our values, and anyone who is interested can find them on our website. Our mission statement and values are central to everything we do (including how we communicate with customers, prospects, colleagues, etc.).Every business (no matter how big or small) should define a clear, memorable mission statement and make it public. In addition, define a simple, straightforward customer service “oath” or code of conduct. This will ensure everyone in your organization knows how to treat customers (and customers know you care).

Remember: People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.

These three proven practices will help your business create a customer-centric culture and help personalize the customer service experience.

Ross Clurman is co-founder and CEO of an Austin, Texas-based startup, COMNIO. COMNIO helps small businesses manage their marketing, social media, customer service, and more — 24/7. COMNIO also helps consumers resolve customer service issues with any business on Earth. Ross has co-founded three successful startups since graduating from Kansas State University in 2005 and also enjoys writing about customer service, marketing, and communication-related topics on COMNIO’s customer service blog.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: 10 Ways To Deliver Better Social Media Customer Service

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Don’t Just Fix the Problem. Fix the Customer

Customer Service Training

There is an old customer service saying that has to do with whenever someone disagrees with a customer:

You’re not trying to win an argument. You’re trying to win a customer.

You really can’t win an argument with a customer. It’s not that the customer is always right. They aren’t.  If you’ve followed my work, you know that I believe the customer is not always right. So, how can you let them always win an argument? First, don’t get in the argument to begin with. Sure, you can win the argument, but you lose the customer. But, what you can always do is be respectful. You can let the customer keep their dignity. You can agree to disagree. You can work toward a mutually agreed upon solution. In short, you win the customer, not the argument.

This concept became even more evident to me as I sat in on a meeting with one of the top automotive manufacturers in the world, Lexus. They are known for great cars and incredible service. At one of their corporate meetings they had a roleplay exercise where some of their employees pretended to be unhappy customers and others pretended to be employees at a dealership. It was fascinating to watch great training come to life, as the employees representing the dealership managed the customer’s complaints with skill and tact.

One very clear message came out of the exercise. They were not just trying to just fix the car. They also wanted to fix the customer. They wanted to move the customer from unhappy to happy. From angry or disappointed to pleased. From frustrated to fulfilled.

At Lexus, they recognized that a broken car can also mean a broken customer. The challenge is to fix both.

Sometimes a customer is legitimately upset. For example, they may have brought their car in more than once to have the car serviced for the same problem. So, what will make them happy? Maybe the customer wants a refund for the repairs or a credit for a future repair. Or, maybe the customer doesn’t want any financial compensation. They just want their car fixed and taken care of by a service rep who truly cares, shows empathy (that one’s important) and apologizes for the inconvenience.

You don’t have to be in the car business to take advantage and learn from Lexus. Learn what will make the customer happy. It may be as simple as just asking. (You don’t know if you don’t ask.) It’s definitely not arguing with the customer. Find out what’s behind any frustration, disappointment, and even anger. Talking it through with the customer, rather than pointing blame or making excuses may be the simple solution. Yes, you may be in a situation that is more complicated than a car repair. Yet, however simple or difficult the situation is, don’t argue. You might win the argument, but you may lose the customer in the process. Look for the solution that is reasonable and is a win/win for both you and your customer.

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 © MMXVI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Annette Franz

Annette Franz Reveals the 7 Deadly Sins

of Customer Service

Shep Hyken speaks with customer experience expert, Vice President of Client Experience at Compellon and author of the popular blog CX Journey™, Annette Franz. In this high-content packed interview, they discuss seven deadly “sins” of the customer experience. Annette shares tips that can help you prevent some of these deadly sins. Annette is also an expert in customer journey mapping and gives us some ideas that we can implement immediately. So, if you want to avoid some common, yet potentially devastating, customer experience and service mistakes, you can’t afford to miss this episode of Amazing Business Radio!

Click here to listen and subscribe to Amazing Business Radio on iTunes.

“(Customer Experience) is really the sum of all interactions that a customer has with a company.”- Annette Franz

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of July 25, 2016

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.

The omni-channel strategy for customer service part 1: email by Heerd

(Heerd) If you’re finding your interactions with customers over email tend to end negatively or that you’re always on the back foot, perhaps this list of the essential practices of email customer service can help!

My Comment: Email is still a viable way to communicate with customers. This article has a number of excellent ideas to help ensure that your customer service email strategy is successful. Simple, yet effective tactics we can use right away. This is Part One of a series of articles, and I’m looking forward to what’s next.

An Amazing Experience: Personalize your CX Today! by Colin Shaw

(Beyond Philosophy) Many of you will have seen this video of a little girl whose parents surprised her with a new doll?

My Comment: One way to improve the customer experience is to personalize it. And, if you can add an emotional connection, even better. This is a heartwarming story of a personalized gift. If you like this story, you might like the author’s eBook which includes short stories that focus on customer experience.

Why You Have Customer Churn and What You Can Do About It by Vanessa Rombaut

(PieSync) Read all about why you have customer churn, why this metric is more important than customer acquisition, and what you can do to reduce it.

My Comment: I’m not a big fan of the term customer churn. Not because I don’t like the words. I don’t like what it means. It is something we hope to avoid. Who wants customer churn? (Rhetorical question, but the correct answer is “no one.”)  This article gives some insight to the reasons customers leave, and how you might lower your percentage of customer churn.

The 27 Best Customer Service Books by Mathew Patterson

(Help Scout) If you’re starting, growing or working in a customer service team, we’ve collected the books we think are most worth your valuable time.

My Comment: Looking for a “summer reading” business book? Our friends at Help Scout shares a great list of 27 books on customer service, experience, culture and more that will help keep you at the top of your game. I’ve read most of these, and if you haven’t already, you should, too!

5 Ways to Deliver an Unexpectedly Delightful Customer Experience by Square

(Square) Here are some ideas and strategies for delivering a memorable (in a good way) customer service experience.

My Comment: Here is a list of five great strategies to create a great customer experience that will get your customers to come back. The ideas seem slanted for B2C companies, but don’t think they wouldn’t work for any type of company.

BONUS

The Art of Amazing Your Customers – 11 Powerful Customer Service Lessons by Vala Afshar

(The Huffington Post) What can companies do today to bolster their ability to amaze customers? Amazing customers is a function of having a strong: culture, people, strategy, process, and technology (and the order matters).

My Comment: Here is a bonus article. (So, this week is a TOP SIX article week!) My friend and customer service/experience expert, Vala Afshar, interviewed me for a broadcast for Salesforce. Here is a Huff Post article he wrote based on the ideas and concepts we discussed in the interview. While I usually don’t include articles that have me as a primary feature in this Top Five roundup, Vala did such a great job capturing the ideas, I couldn’t resist. Also, if you don’t follow Vala on social media and become a regular reader of his column, you should.

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: Rebuilding the Foundations of Customer Support in the New World of Software as a Service

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Boaz Amidor, shares four techniques that have striking, measurable results when it comes to the efficiency of the Customer Support Program of companies providing online and mobile customer support. It is no doubt that excellent customer support is crucial to success. – Shep Hyken

Not a word about Pokémon Go hysteria from this point on.

But nonetheless the world has gone online and some of the online world has invaded our physical reality using augmented reality. While effects and gadgets have changed music dramatically over the past decade, at the end of the day some things remain very much the same as they have for generations—you still need a catchy hook and a good performance.

Customer support is just like this. Although there have been substantial technological advances and correspondingly transformed expectations, the heart of Customer Service Management is a lot like it used to be, even for companies that sell software or platform as a service, like Salesforce, Airbnb, PayPal, Infusionsoft, and WalkMe.

Be that as it me, you can always adjust the building blocks of your method to better reflect the trends of the Customer Service world. The following four techniques have striking, measurable results when it comes to the efficiency of the Customer Support Program of companies providing online and mobile customer support.

This will draw from insights by Michael Maoz, a research vice president at Gartner Research, Shep Hyken, author and editor of this blog, and Help Scout.

Secure Commitment from Leadership

In a Gartner analysis of the guiding principles of CRM, Michael Maoz writes that a complete and viable customer service strategy requires leadership at the top to not merely implicitly approve of customer-facing strategies, but to actively promote them through the investment of substantial resources as well as through leadership.

It is critical to bring the whole company in line with the same unified goal when it comes to customer service—to embed service excellence in all departments – product, marketing, sales, training etc.

In a related vein, the editor of this blog Shep Hyken comments on the part of the executive in a holistic CS strategy, observing that “If you’re unsure, as the owner, what direction your business should take, it will rub off onto your employees.”

Plot Out Customer Journeys

Another crucial part of remodeling your customer service core is to begin using a customer journey map, if you have not already incorporated it into your workflow. Customer Journey Maps are an invaluable tool for visualization of the disparate backgrounds and desires of your clients, and for a sense of how to better reach out to your customers as they travel through the different sectors of your  company.

It is crucial to plot out at least a couple of distinct customer profiles, as they may have wildly divergent backgrounds and different progressions through the company.

To make a whole customer journey map, Maoz recommends analyzing the “life moments, human factors and psychology behind the experience”,  determining which departments handle help requests and questions,  and concerning oneself with the client’s preferences for contact.

Furthermore, customer journey mapping is a good opportunity to search for potential holes in the service chain. When a department is not doing its share, it has negative effects on the entire customer experience.

Actively Solicit Customer Feedback

Obviously, refining your customer support strategy isn’t just something you do on the inside. If your goal is to discover what your customers want, it’s a good idea to ask your customers. According to recent research published at Help Scout, the main thing getting between companies and customer feedback is the perception from customers that their feedback is not valued: “Forty-three percent of those surveyed stated that they don’t complain/leave feedback because they don’t think that the business cares…Of those same customers, 81 percent said they would be willing to leave feedback if they knew they would get a fast response!”

Help Scout has found some research that suggests the main roadblock to getting customer feedback is the feeling from the customer that it’s not wanted, writing that in a recent survey “Forty-three percent of those surveyed stated that they don’t complain/leave feedback because they don’t think that the business cares…Of those same customers, 81 percent said they would be willing to leave feedback if they knew they would get a fast response!”

Help Scout believes that something as easy as a fast “We’ll get back to you!” response to customers can result in more feedback. A personal email can have a big effect: if you can get a customer to reply to a personal email account when signing up for your website, you can expect to participate in some revealing, in-depth conversations—customers are more open in personal, non-public channels.

Continuously Measure Performance and Perfect Feedback Loop

Perhaps the most critical part of measuring the health of your CS strategy is to use both internal and customer-facing performance metrics. On a regular basis, do your customer service employees completely resolve customers’ issues? Do they go so far as to proactively reach out to customers before issues even come up?

With strong fundamentals, your company can erect skyscrapers. If you’re building on a swamp, you’ll have trouble making it to a few stories. It’s the executive’s responsibility to make sure it’s stone below you as opposed to quicksand.

Now that you’ve mastered the basics, identify technologies that can take your customer support strategy to the next level with technologies like Zendesk, WalkMe and Chatbots that can help lower the volume of support requests coming in, increase self-service adoption and cut support costs.

Boaz Amidor, Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications at WalkMe™ – The Enterprise Class Guidance and Engagement Platform, that instantly simplifies the online user experience.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: Nine Ways To Get Customer Feedback

 

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Another Competitive Advantage: Uniqueness

Business Strategy

Not all hotdogs are the same.

I love a good hotdog. Since I was a little boy, I can remember my parents taking me to the ball game and having a delicious hot dog.

I also remember some family barbecues where we had those fancy big thick kosher hot dogs. It took a while, but I eventually developed a taste for the fancier hot dogs.

Well recently I took a liking to a Chicago style hot dog. These dogs are different. It’s not a true Chicago hot dog unless it includes very specific ingredients. You start with a Vienna all-beef hot dog that is boiled, not grilled and placed into a soft poppy seed hot dog bun. Then you add the ingredients, in this specific order. Yellow mustard, sweet green pickle relish, onion, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt. The pickle spear is laid on top of all of this. And, forget about ketchup! That is considered Chicago style hot dog blasphemy.

So, why am I sharing all of this information about Chicago style hot dogs? Because this dog is a metaphor for a competitive business success strategy, which is uniqueness.

You can buy a hot dog in many places around the world, but not all of them serve up the Chicago style hot dog. The street vendor in New York isn’t serving a Chicago style dog. Sure, there are places in cities outside of Chicago that will serve the authentic Chicago style dog. And, if that particular dog is what you really want, and you don’t live in Chicago where this style of hot dog is the norm, you may drive a little further and spend a little more money to get it. That’s what uniqueness does.

So if a hot dog is a metaphor for business, what makes your dog different? This is your competitive differentiator. For example, there are lots of car dealers that sell the same make and model of the car you own. What one thing, perhaps unique compared to the other dealerships, did your dealership do to make you buy the car from them? It can be price, location, customer service, speed and any other feature or benefit that separates them from the other dealerships.

The big uniqueness question is, “Why should a customer buy from you over your competition?” It is tied to what you do that is different. Give me one reason – or several. Is it quality, speed, price, customer service or any other feature that makes you unique in your market place? The answer is what gives you a competitive advantage worth exploiting.

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 © MMXVI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Jeannie Walters

Jeannie Walters Shares How to Improve the Customer Experience

Shep Hyken speaks with the CEO of 360Connext, keynote speaker, and Certified Customer Experience Professional (CCXP) Jeannie Walters, on improving customer experience. They discuss customer experience mission statements, customer expectations, and how to improve everyday interactions. Jeannie shares her expertise, as a leading authority on microinteractions, and how by improving these seemingly minor details you can greatly impact the customer experience. The customer experience is integral for every business, so you can’t afford to miss out on this expert advice.

Click here to listen and subscribe to Amazing Business Radio on iTunes.

“A lot of things that are really minor in the grand scheme of things (microinteractions), can make a really big impact, either negative or positive, to an impression.” -Jeannie Walters

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of July 18, 2016

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.

Pokémon Go Shows What Augmented Reality Can Do For Customer Experience by Mark Hillary

(LinkedIn) The really interesting cultural phenomenon around Pokémon Go is that it has very quickly normalised AR. Instead of it being a difficult  concept, understood only by techies and app-creators, now it’s suddenly mainstream. Media channels all around the world are explaining to people young and old that this new game blends reality with game play.

My Comment: I have been fascinated by the popularity of Pokemon Go, the new augmented reality game that kids and adults are downloading onto their smartphones. The game integrates fantasy with reality, and could be a game-changer in business. This article shows how customer experience and marketing can tie into a game. Read this article to find out how what we thought was in our future is happening today, as you read this article.

When Social Media Turns Customer Service Nays Into Yays by Katie Cooper

(Social Media Beast) Here’s the basics on how customers are taking to social media to talk about their brand experiences, and what they expect in return.

My Comment: Social media customer service is still a hot topic, and many people and clients I work with still aren’t on board. This article has some stats and facts, along with some examples, that will prove how effective and important this customer service channel can be.

Funny Customer Service Quotes to Prevent You From Delivering Bad Service by Olga Kolodynska 

(LiveChat) Read funny customer service quotes to find out why customers are like teeth and why not responding on Twitter is quite similar to hanging up the phone on customers.

My Comment: Want to smile today? Then read this article. Some very funny, but at the same time very serious, customer service quotes.

Customer Loyalty: Obligation or Happy Marriage? by Jeanette McMurtry

(Target Marketing) News Alert: Marriage today has reached an all-time high and all-time low. According to research referenced in a recent Time magazine article, married people describe marriage as “more satisfying or less satisfying” than any other generation ahead of our time, meaning the degree of happiness or the opposite is higher than ever.

My Comment: I’ve always felt that the relationship between a business and a customer is like a marriage. You court the customer to buy. Once they do, you continue to show respect and admiration as the relationship grows. You want a long-term, loyal relationship (sounds like a marriage to me). This article focuses on a couple of important ideas that can help any marriage – and any customer relationship.

Mobile Usage – Experience realtime growth of mobile usage data by Bart Platteeuw

(DealSunny) In an effort to put this all in to perspective we here at DealSunny have developed the first animated mobile statistics graphic. Instead of just publishing the numbers, it updates all of the key indicators in an awesome real time display – check it out!

My Comment: Finally, here is a very cool page that shows, in real time, some mobile usage statistics. Customers and consumers are turning to their smart phones for many things other than using it as a phone. Take a moment to look at this. I thought it was fascinating, and I think you will, too!

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: Breaking Out of Your Customer Experience Comfort Zone

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Tom Hoffman shares a personal story that translates into a great lesson for the customer experience.  We must always be looking for new and different ways to improve upon the customer experience. – Shep Hyken

My daughter Caroline’s class recently had their 8th grade formal. Leading up to the dance, her friends informed her that a certain boy was planning to invite her. You know how these types of things can play out in Middle School. Anyway, with just a week to go before the big event and growing restless, Caroline, who tends to be a bit shy, decided to break out of her own comfort zone and ask the boy to the dance using a creative poster board she planned to present to him on the school bus. He accepted and they and their friends had a wonderful time. Caroline’s bold actions serve as a reminder about how each of us need to challenge ourselves from time to time and take chances that can stretch us personally or professionally. This includes trying out new approaches that could improve the customer experience.

For instance, say your organization relies on customer surveys and other conventional forms of customer feedback but has considered exploring other sources of customer feedback such as recorded calls in the contact center that can be analyzed to identify trends or sources of customer frustration that can be acted on.

Meanwhile, companies that are intrigues by the potential value of applying customer journey mapping but haven’t yet taken the plunge can start small by using Post-it Notes to plot out different stages of the customer journey. Doing so can help companies to better understand the paths that customers take to purchase or to receive support and to identify any friction they may face in their experiences that can be removed.

Of course, there are other tactics that customer experience professionals can explore. This can include challenging organizational assumptions about customer experience such as conjecture about the touchpoints customers are using based on outdated information. Or confronting functional or business leaders regarding organizational silos that are preventing customer-facing associates and supervisors from gaining a comprehensive view of customers.

New tools and techniques are constantly emerging that offer companies new ways to enhance and even differentiate the customer experience. Exploring new approaches to enhance the customer experience doesn’t always require a major financial commitment when a small pilot project can be used to test a hypothesis. But it does involve a willingness to try new things.

Tom Hoffman is Executive Business Editor at 1to1 Media where he’s responsible for overseeing the organization’s custom content operations. As part of his role, Hoffman works directly with clients on projects such as e-books, white papers, executive Q&As, case studies, and webinars. Hoffman, a graduate of St. John’s University, also contributes to 1to1 Media’s award-winning publications, including 1to1media.com.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: What’s Hot In Customer Service — And What’s Not

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