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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of June 27, 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.

ON DEMAND: Microsoft’s 2016 Global State of Customer Service Report Reveal by Bill Peterson

(Microsoft) Whether you’re in customer service, marketing, sales, IT – or especially if you’re the CEO, CFO or CDO – you’ll be fascinated by the results revealed by Microsoft’s new 2016 Global State of Customer Service Report which polled 5,000 consumers across Brazil, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US on their customer service preferences and expectations.

My Comment: Just the other day I interviewed Tricia Morris of Microsoft for Amazing Business Radio. She shared the new report, The Microsoft Global State of Customer Service. There were 5,000 consumers interviewed throughout the world. The information is fascinating. You will have to fill out a form to get the report, but I promise you it is worth it.

Essential Customer Service Skills We’ve Forgotten in the Digital Age by Stuart Leung

(Salesforce) More and more clients are having negative customer experiences, and those experiences are translating into a substantial dollar-loss for businesses throughout the nation.

My Comment: As the world becomes more and more digital, it is easy to miss opportunities to connect on an emotional level with the customer. Here are four customer service skills that the author of the article feels companies have to relearn. Perhaps you’ve experienced a lack of these with some of the people you do business with. Or, maybe your own organization is guilty of missing these opportunities. (I hope not.) And when you’re finished with the article, there is a link to 25 more tips from our friends at Salesforce.

Customer experience in the age of disloyalty by Blaise Lucey

(Marketing Land) In the age of the aggregator, the brand is irrelevant. Columnist Blaise Lucey says it’s all about the customer experience and creating compelling content that’s relevant to your audience.

My Comment: What drives a customer to do business with you the first time – and ideally the second, third, fourth, etc. In an era where people search on the web for the lowest price, much of what is sold is a commodity. This article shares a few ways to get out of the commodity trap and enjoy the benefits of repeat/loyal customers. This line from the article articulates this perfectly: In an age where aggregators find and retrieve a thousand different options for customers to choose from, a real customer experience is not defined by products. It’s defined by interactions between brand and customers.

New Temkin Group Research Shows Connection Between Net Promoter Score Metric And Loyalty by Temkin Group

(PRNewswire) Net Promoter® Score (NPS®) has become a popular customer experience metric. NPS classifies customers into one of three categories­—promoters, passives, and detractors—based on their likelihood to recommend the company to friends and colleagues.

My Comment: This press release shows some compelling numbers between the ever-popular Net Promoter Score survey and the likelihood that a customer will repeat a purchase, forgive a problem and try new offerings. These stats and facts make a compelling argument (as if one is really needed) to focus and invest in the customer experience.

Millennials and Customer Service by Heerd

(Heerd) A millennial is someone born between 1980 and 2000, so they’re generally quite young and part of the generation that first started using digital space, the internet and smartphones. Their exposure to the world has been almost completely different to generations before them and, consequently, how they interact with people and deal with problems is different. How? Well, let’s discuss.

My Comment: There is no doubt that each generation of customers has it’s unique characteristics on how you interact and do business with them. Millennials, approximate age of 18-34, seem to be a focus of much research. The information in this article highlights some of the most important and powerful techniques, tactics and strategies you can use to provide a better customer experience.

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: Answer the Questions Customers Don’t Know to Ask

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Jeremy Watkin shares a story demonstrating the importance of empowerment to great customer service. If you empower employees to come up with creative solutions to problems, you’ll be amazed at the results. – Shep Hyken

My wife and I recently celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, I stopped by the local grocery store, Fred Meyer, to pick up her favorite flowers: gerber daisies. They were actually the flowers we had at our wedding.

As I looked through the gerber daisies, I noticed that they had a wonderful selection that looked like they had just been cut. I selected two bunches, one red and one white. It was at that point that the nice lady in the flower area looked at them and said “Wow, those really are beautiful!”

She went on to talk about how gerber daisies in particular will tend to droop after a few days and how coiling a little piece of wire around the stem can prevent that and keep them looking fresh for longer. Then she said, “You know what? I’m going to give you a couple pieces of wire so when that happens, you’ll be able to wrap the stems.”

At the time I was grateful to her for taking the time to share that advice with me. Fast forward five days and a couple of the flowers finally drooped. I grabbed the wire, wrapped the stems, and sure enough, they still look great! Sure, cut flours eventually get old and die but I sure was happy to be able to enjoy them for a bit longer.

This speaks to a value that really marks a great customer service professional. I often call this empowerment where we take that little bit of extra time to educate the customer while we serve them. Another way to phrase this is: Answering the questions the customer didn’t even know to ask.

Think about that for a moment. If you work in technical support, perhaps customers need help connecting the product to the Internet. Take a few extra moments to highlight some resources they might want to refer to so they can use the product once it is connected to the Internet. Or perhaps you work in a restaurant where customers take orders to go. Take the extra few moments to offer cutlery, napkins or condiments to go with their meal.

As customer service professionals, we are the experts when it comes to our product or service. That’s not to say that customers aren’t or can’t be but after thousands of customer interactions, we get pretty good at understanding what customers need in order to have a great experience. Take the extra few moments to share your knowledge and expertise with them.

In the case of my flowers, the lady sharing her wisdom with me made a huge difference in my experience. In many cases, answering the questions the customer didn’t know to ask prevents the aggravation of having to contact support again. In all cases, it significantly increases the value of our product or service we provide.

Jeremy Watkin is the Head of Quality at FCR , the most respected outsource provider. He has more than 15 years of experience as a customer service professional.  He is also the co-founder and regular contributor on Customer Service Life .  Jeremy has been recognized many times for his thought leadership.  Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn for more awesome customer service and experience insights.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: Customer Service Is Much More Than Rules And Policies — It’s A Philosophy

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When Improv Meets Business

Customer Experience

I recently was invited by Pegasystems to attend Pegaworld 2016, their annual users’ conference. The conference was everything about CRM (customer relationship management). While there were some amazing demonstrations and stories that came out during the general and educational sessions, one lesson jumped out at me. It had to do with improvisational acting.

So, what does improv have to do with CRM and business? According to Don Schuerman, Pega’s Chief Technology Officer and VP of product marketing, quite a lot. He shared an interesting lesson that he learned from studying and performing the art of improvisational acting.

First, you must understand what improv is about. The Wikipedia definition says that improvisational acting is a form of theater where most or all of what is performed is created at the moment it is performed. In other words, there isn’t a script. One actor starts out with an idea and the other actor(s) build from that. The actors have no idea where the scene will end. Fun for some, and a little scary for others. And as it relates to business, very relevant.

Don’s lesson was about a technique called Yes, And. This is really the backbone of what improvisation acting is all about. First, you listen intently to the other actor. You acknowledge what he or she said, and then add to the conversation. The acknowledgement is the Yes, and the addition is the And.

According to Don, not only does this make sense in the theatrical world, but also brilliantly applies to business. While Don’s focus is on the digital business world, this technique works for any type of interaction you have with your customers. Be it digital or face-to-face, today we must improvise to meet the expectations and needs of our customers. After listening to what the customer wants, acknowledge them, which is the Yes. Then add value based on our expertise, which is the And.

Here’s a very simple example. Let’s say I contact my wireless phone provider. I have a question about my monthly bill. The customer service rep appears to be very knowledgeable and gives me the information I need. That’s the Yes. And, that’s where most CSR’s might end the conversation.

But, my rep is well trained and rather than end the conversation, she offers up some suggestions to enhance my experience, and at the same time, save me a few dollars each month. That’s the And. She acknowledged and then improvised with ideas.

Now, this is important. If you were paying attention, you might notice that I didn’t call my wireless provider. I contacted them. While it could have easily have been on the phone, it wasn’t. It was on their website and I interacted with their “instant chat” system. I typed in my question and my CSR typed back the answer and suggestions.

By the way, with technology today, it could have been a computer responding to me in the “chat.” Chat technology has come so far that most people can’t tell the difference between the robotic responder and a human. And, if the robot or computer senses the customer is confused, it will “improvise” and immediately transfer the issue to a human – seamlessly. The customer won’t know the difference.

The point is that in-person, on the phone, instant chat, or any other type of interaction, the concept of Yes, And, is a great technique to create a better customer’s 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 © MMXVI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: John Ruhlin

John Ruhlin On Using Gifts To Cut Through Noise, Increase Revenue, And Retain Your Customers

Shep Hyken speaks with John Ruhlin, the number one Cutco Knife salesman in the world and author of his new book “Giftology: The Art and Science of Using Gifts to Cut Through the Noise, Increase Referrals, and Strengthen Retention.” John shares gift giving strategies and ideas for you to use in both your personal and business life. John has taken the act of gift giving and turned it into an art. Don’t make a logo mistake or giving something that won’t be remembered – or even appreciated. And, why giving food or candy is a bad idea. Everyone can use these great tips from the guru of gift giving, so don’t miss this episode of Amazing Business Radio!

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

”A gift (by nature) should be recipient focused.”- John Ruhlin

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of June 20, 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.

World’s 3 MOST Customer Centric Companies: How do they do it!! by Kushal Dev

(Customer Guru) Here are our top three picks for the most customer centric companies and some lessons on how they manage to be customer-centric despite their size and diversity.

My Comment: If you asked me to list the three of the most customer centric companies, I would have guessed two out of three correctly (and you probably would, too). Here are three great companies, Amazon, Southwest Airlines and TD Bank (I wouldn’t have guessed this last one), that are relentless when it comes to being customer focused. The author shares nine specific tactics and strategies that these companies excel at to achieve customer centricity. All are great concepts that are appropriate for just about any company.

Use Emojis and Other Tips to Make Customer Service More Personal by Dianna Labrien

(TechCo) Even when conducted online, customer service should always have a personal touch. With conversational interfaces being hotter than ever, and big data offering personal experience to the customers, you have to value your customer service more than ever before. But how can you do that?

My Comment: While this excellent article talks about making customer service more personal, I would say another word to describe the concepts are about being more engaging. But, let’s not split hairs. Here are six ideas that will make customer service both more personal and engaging.

Successful customer experience moves past loyalty and towards desire by Barb Mosher Zinck

(Diginomica) When it comes to customer experience, companies struggle to bridge the gap between loyalty and desire. Recent data sheds light on the method behind great CX – and the obstacles still to be overcome.

My Comment: This article features some of the brilliance of Jeanne Bliss, a rock star in the customer experience world. The big take away is the level beyond customer loyalty, which is desire. The concept of desire is loyalty on steroids.

The Definitive Guide to Creating a Successful Loyalty Program by Timi Garai

(Antavo) Have you thought of running a loyalty program for your online store? Do you struggle to convince your colleagues or yourself?

My Comment: The title of this article is claiming a “definitive guide.” That is a big promise to make. While it may or may not be a “definitive guide,” it is overflowing with outstanding information on loyalty programs. From stats and facts to specific how-to’s, you’ll find something here that will help you start or enhance your loyalty program. Great article!

How chatbots have kick started a paradigm shift in customer service technology by Chloe Green

(Information Age) AI is increasingly being used to complement customer-brand interactions – what steps companies can take to harness this disruptive technology?

My Comment: The instant chat option as a channel for customer service is a growing option. (Actually I think it should be called “instant text,” but I digress.) The idea of bringing artificial intelligence, or as it’s now called, a chatbot, is technology we can all be excited about. It’s virtually impossible to distinguish between the chatbot and a human, and if the bot/computer senses the customer is confused, it seamlessly hands off the text conversation to a human. Pretty cool stuff!

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: The Power of Training in Customer Service

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Ian Landsman writes about the importance of training and preparing customer service representatives to interact with customers. I agree that every employee should go through customer service training, and it should be ongoing. – Shep Hyken

Most of us go through training when we start a new job, learning the systems, tools and processes we need to accomplish our day-to-day responsibilities.

While customer service skills come to some naturally, there is still a tremendous amount to be learned before successfully working with any business’ customers. In-depth training will help new and longtime customer service employees be equipped to provide support in various scenarios, while continuously reminding your employees how your company expects customers to be treated.

According to Peppers and Rogers Group, 65% of companies provide effective tools and training to gain trust with their customers. On the other hand, other research has also shown that 42% of service agents are unable to efficiently resolve customer issues due to disconnected systems, archaic user interfaces, and multiple applications.

So, how do you ensure that your company is one that properly trains and prepares its service representatives to interact with customers?

Pay Attention When Hiring

Your customer service representatives are the ones most frequently interacting with the people that sustain your company’s livelihood. These are critical hires.

Beyond just the typical resume and cover letter, there are key characteristics hiring managers should lookout for when interviewing customer service representatives, including:

Empathy
Patience
Positivity
Adaptability

It may happen that a great candidate doesn’t fit all of these ideal personality traits. Customer service training can teach employees how to take on these qualities by incorporating group activities like:

Role-playing to put yourself in the perspective of someone else
Brainstorming better ways to say “no” to a customer complaint
Learning deep-breathing or stress-relief techniques

Employees who have these skills when hired or quickly gain them will provide better customer support as they start to engage customers on a more frequent basis. However, the learning doesn’t stop there.

Provide An Understanding of the Company & Product

When a customer calls a service representative, they expect them to be an expert in the company’s product. Therefore, employees need to be given in-depth insight on each product or service.

The designer should explain the small details that led to the final product, driving both usability and aesthetic.
A developer and/or product manager should provide a demo of any service.
Customer service employees should have hands-on time with the product or service, going through the purchase process and using the product or service themselves.
All employees should be familiar with the brand personas that make up the various segments of the customer base, and their various interests and needs leading to purchase and continued use.
They should also be familiar with brand messaging, speaking as a united voice on behalf of the brand.

And of course, at all times, all customer-facing employees should be familiar with current protocols for handling common questions or recurring issues.

Incorporate Shadowing & Real-World Experience

Whenever you’re working with people, nothing goes as planned. That’s why customer service representatives need to have a good understanding of the real-world scenarios they’re going to face. As part of their training, employees should be assigned to watch the work of an experienced representative. This will give them a chance to see how the processes discussed are applied in reality.

Allow them to see how common questions are answered, solutions to client frustrations are provided, and other customer inquiries are handled. Then role-play to practice what has been taught.

Keep Training

Initial training for customer service reps is necessary, but it’s also vital to continue educating staff as policies, services, and your customers themselves change

Monthly or quarterly meetings for the customer service team may be beneficial to share situations in which they felt under or over-prepared, success stories of an unhappy customer now a loyal patron, or suggestions on improving the customer experience at other touch points.

This ongoing conversation can keep quality customer service top-of-mind and ever improving.

Ian Landsman is the founder of Helpdesk by Helpspot, help desk software for customer service professionals. He writes a regular blog about the fundamentals of excellent customer service, titled The Delightenment Blog. Follow Ian via Twitter and LinkedIn.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: New And Intriguing Lessons Learned At Pegaworld 2016

 

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Seven Ways to Properly Give a Gift to Your Customers

The After-Experience

Congratulations to my buddy John Ruhlin who has a new book that just came out, Giftology. In this book he covers the art of the appreciation gift. You may be familiar with his name if you’ve been following my work. I’ve covered some of his ideas in the past. He’s a rock star when it comes to understanding how to make people feel special and appreciated.

One way to make a customer feel appreciated is with a special gift. Now, keep in mind that some companies have policies that their employees are not allowed to receive gifts from customers over a certain amount when you are giving a customer a gift. If you are constrained by a low budget, from either the customer’s policies or what you want to spend, remember that it is the thought that counts. With that I share with you seven ways to properly give a gift of appreciation to your customers.

Personalize the gift. John sells some high-end kitchen knives. One of his favorite gifts is to give a big butcher knife with a personalized engraving on the blade. The one John gave me reads: For the Hyken Home. Very classy!


Don’t put your logo on the gift. If it is a really special gift, the customer will always remember where it came from. There is a difference between a gift and a promotional item. Whenever I see the knife John gave us, I always think of him. I don’t need to see his logo.


Give a gift you know your customer will enjoy and appreciate. You don’t want your gift to be put in a closet to collect dust. I just did a speech for a client who sent me a special thank you gift; an autographed hockey puck by one of the St. Louis Blues. He knows that I love hockey and my favorite team is the Blues. By the way, this gift is personal, doesn’t have a logo and is displayed on the bookshelf in my office for everyone to see.


If you want your gift to be truly memorable, consider something other than a consumable, also known as food. Now, I love chocolate and caramel popcorn, so maybe I don’t 100% agree with this one, but I get John’s point. Too many things can go wrong. There can be diet issues and someone may not like what you send them. And, it’s gone in short time. (Chocolate doesn’t last long in my office.)


Consider what John refers to as the “inner circle,” which can include the customer’s spouse, kids or even the customer’s assistant, or someone else who he or she works with. It’s nice to recognize and appreciate them as well. My wife loves the knife that John gave me… I mean us.


As we’re talking about customers, don’t forget about your internal customers. A surprise gift or taking employees to lunch can go a long way in building stronger morale and engagement. Show the people you work with that you care.


Consider giving a gift when it’s least expected, instead of out of obligation. Everyone sends holiday cards and holiday gifts. I’m not against that, but a gift that is given when it’s least expected will stand out and be even more appreciated.

In one of the books I wrote, The Amazement Revolution, I talk about the after-experience. The idea is to do something special for your customers that is unexpected, appreciated and memorable. So, surprise your customers with something that is thoughtful and personal. Something they will enjoy and appreciate.

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: John DiJulius

John DiJulius on Secret Service &

The Customer Service Revolution

Shep Hyken speaks with John DiJulius, international consultant, best-selling business author and owner of the award winning John Robert’s Spa. John shares ideas from his latest book, “The Customer Service Revolution.” They discuss the radical overthrow of conventional business mentality which is transforming the employee and customer experience. This provides an opportunity for higher sales, a boost in employee morale, and brand loyalty. The result is that price becomes irrelevant. You can’t afford to miss this episode as John shares his expertise on creating an amazing customer experience!

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

“Help make price irrelevant to companies, so they don’t have to compete in price wars and can start competing in experience wars.” – John DiJulius

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5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of June 12, 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.

How Twitter’s Recent Changes Affect Customer Service by Dan Gingiss

(SocialMediaToday) Recently, Twitter announced several changes to how it calculates the number of characters in a tweet. Marketers rejoiced because they now have additional characters with which to include photos, videos, and polls. Twitter purists rejoiced because the platform kept its 140-character limit and didn’t expand to a once-rumored 10,000 character limit.

My Comment: Twitter has become an important customer service channel. This excellent article is filled with ideas and tips to help any business understand how to use Twitter as a way to interact with customers for complaints, praise and any other customer comments. And, more than just another channel, Twitter has created applications specific for customer service and business.

Difficult Customers 101: The 4 Difficult Customers & How To Tame Them With Customer Support by Jack Plantin

(Support Your App) No matter what industry you’re in, which product you’re selling, how well you’re doing your job… there will always be difficult customers that will unintentionally (or intentionally) make your life a living hell. Here are four common characters and how to tame them.

My Comment: Outstanding article on four types of customers that can make your life miserable. (The author has a more colorful way of saying it!) Jack Plantin uses the words “Expert,” “Aggressor,” “Con Artist” and “Turtle” to describe four styles of difficult customers and then shares how to handle them.

The Top 8 Customer Experience Trends in 2016 (Infographic) by David Younger

(The Service Manager) From leveraging self-service tool for personalisation to embracing an omni-channel customer servicing, here are eight trends in customer experience that are going to be relevant to most businesses in 2016.

My Comment: This is actually an infographic that hits on some of the top trends happening in customer experience, with a few predictions on what to expect in the near future. Perhaps one of the most important trends is the first one, that emphasizes how self-service customer service is a viable channel. Gartner predicts that in 2020 85% of business relationships will be handled without any human interaction.

24 Experts Reveal Their Top Customer Retention Strategies For B2C Brands by Clutch

(Clutch) In today’s competitive marketplace, consumers have an increasing amount of choices- and they aren’t afraid to try them. There always seems to be a new product, service, or experience within reach of a brand’s current customer. And as we all know, replacing an existing customer costs 7 times more than retaining them. So how do you ensure your brand is retaining its precious customer base?

My Comment: Who isn’t interested in customer retention and loyalty! This is a roundup of 24 customer service and experience experts (and I’m honored they included my comment) who “reveal” their favorite tips, ideas and strategies on how to retain customers.

When Upselling Makes for a Bad Customer Service Experience by Conversational

(Converstional) How important is customer service to your business? Is it more important than sales? That’s a tough question to answer. Because your company relies on sales to stay in business, you might be tempted to say that sales are more important than customer service.

My Comment: Don’t you just hate when you call for support and the customer service rep tries to upsell you to spending more with them? This is a trick question. Yes, there are companies that abuse the privilege to upsell, and this article shares three of them. But, in the right situation, an upsell is important – so important that to not upsell is bad customer service. For example, if you go to the hardware store and buy a can of paint and the salesperson doesn’t ask if you if you need a brush, he/she is failing you with bad service. In the right situation, upselling is great service. Done wrong, it builds distrust and kills the relationship.

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: What Hospitality Industry Has Taught Us About Customer Service Best Practices

This week on our Friends on Friday guest blog post my colleague, Benny Tjia shares lessons learned from the hospitality industry about creating a customer focused culture. I agree that the hospitality industry seems to be the perfect place to find excellent examples of good (and bad) business practices as well as examples of customer service. – Shep Hyken

It was roughly about three years ago when I started developing Bornevia, a customer service help desk software, along with my team. Starting small, we continued to expand over the time period, until an inevitable problem comes as we started receiving customers’ feedback and complaints in a more regular basis. Having no previous hands-on experience in managing a customer service team whatsoever, in particular we weren’t sure what kind of mindset or culture we should have for our company in order to interact with the customers the best way possible.

At the beginning we did lots of interviews with other customer experience experts to learn more. But as we turned to myriad of resources and whitepapers for answers, we eventually found out that some of best customer service practices we’ve read were in fact from case studies in hospitality industries. Proper customer service is something this line of business have trained for — possibly for hundreds of years at the big hotel chains.

Combining all the resources I’ve read, I will note down for you some of the most important points on providing great service just like those in the hospitality industry:

They put the customer (or guest) first

It’s not just a lip-service; in fact, it looks more like their primary goal in their day-to-day practice. In the case of J.W Marriott for instance, the hotel brand states that they maintain the “Spirit to Serve”, as well as protecting and respecting customers in their business conduct documentation. What this means is that Marriott hotels all around the globe have long embedded such strong customer-first values into their main principle and tradition as a business.

In the light of all this, it’s no wonder J.W. Marriott retains their position as one of the biggest hotel brands all over the world.

They are adaptive to changes

Hospitality, we can say, is a pretty ‘old’ industry. While they have been with us possibly for hundreds of years, they are actually adapting well in this technology era. Talking about customer service, these hotel management companies, general managers and marketing directors are improving guest relationships by taking advantage of the shift happening with customer service.

For instance, there was a time when a guest is happy or disappointed by the hotel service, they would tell the staff right away. However, things are a bit different today, with customers opting instead to share their experience on social media — be it a good or a bad one.

Amazingly, many hoteliers have been quite adept in handling this shift from the more traditional interaction to a digital one. Their online reputations are remarkable too.

Take Delta Hotels for an example. In 2013, a guest named Mike McCready tweeted that his room’s view wasn’t so nice. He didn’t tag the hotel, and he wasn’t asking for anything. Delta’s customer service practice was truly magnificent as within an hour, they offered him a room with a better view. Mike also found a dish of sweets and handwritten card from the staff at his hotel. Of course, he’s impressed.

They have strong ethical commitment

Scott Nadel, COO of DMC Hotels, wrote about the increasing role of ethical principles in the hospitality industry, especially within their operational standards. These include accountability, honesty, integrity and respect for others. For example, at many hotels I’ve been in, customers are given what is promised and at the promised price.

In my opinion, focusing on these ethics-based service is exactly what compels the customers to keep coming back. While such approach could be costly at first, it’s more likely to contribute the long term success of your company.

This is since as Nadel further commented creating a strong ethical environment can result in customer satisfaction and loyalty. This would in turn lead to profitability growth, since your company is likely to have successfully enhanced the quality of the customer experience.

Those points above inspire me to infuse the customer-first culture into my startup. Further acknowledging the fact that giant companies in the hospitality industry are usually long-lived, any budding startups should learn as much from them in order to survive.

Benny Tjia is co-founder and CEO of Bornevia , SaaS product for better and more responsive customer support. He was educated and worked in the US. He likes writing about startups, growth, and customer experience.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes Article: How To Get Hundreds Of Positive Online Reviews

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