Shep Hyken's Blog, page 81

Amazing Business Radio: John Ball

The End-to-End Customer Experience

Improving CX through Customer Workflows

 Shep Hyken interviews John Ball, the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Customer Workflows at ServiceNow. They discuss how companies can create a great end-to-end customer experience and enhance productivity through process mapping.

 

Top Takeaways:Customer service is traditionally focused on the engagement layer (how customers make requests) but not on customer operations (getting the job done). However, it is the customer operations that impact the customer’s experience the most.A convenient and frictionless experience is what makes customers want to come back. Strive to create ease and convenience externally and internally.Process mapping (having structured processes and workflows) empowers businesses to identify duplication of effort from customers and employees.In 2020, only companies that modernized and digitally transformed processes continued to deliver seamless customer experiences.Customers are more accepting when problems occur if they are given enough information, even before they ask for it.Quotes:

“ Organizations need to modernize workflows across customer engagement and service delivery to provide seamless experiences for customers.”

“Customers love information. Proactive communication (through texting, chatbots, etc.) creates a better customer experience.”

“Process mapping the customer engagement and customer operations is how businesses can improve their end-to-end customer experience.”

About:

John Ball is the executive vice president and general manager of Customer Workflows at ServiceNow, a company that creates great customer experiences through digital workflows.

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

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

What is process mapping?How does process mapping improve the employee experience?What happens in the engagement layer of customer service?How can businesses modernize customer operations?What is an end-to-end customer journey?

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5 Top Customer Service Articles of the Week 7-19-2021

Each week I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

Should the Chief Experience Officer Cease to Exist? by Mary Drumond

(Linkedin Pulse) The Wall Street Journal recently released an article called “Some Chief Experience Officers Want To Make Their Jobs Disappear” where they interviewed Chief Experience Officers and Chief Customer Officers from large corporations all over the country. Their conclusion? The role is likely not here to stay. In fact, it may quite possibly be on its way out!

My Comment: The CXO (Chief Experience Officer) has been a recent addition to the C-Suite in the past five or so years. This author questions if the position is really necessary? The article explains the role is “transitionary,” however I believe that there is no destination. It is a continuous journey. Standing still at any point means competition, innovation, and more will eventually surpass you.

Internal Customer Service: What You Must Know by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead

(Small Business Trends) There are a lot of tips and customer service best practices that can be implemented within a company to develop excellent internal customer service. Here are 18 of the most reliable ways to make sure your internal customer service is up there with the best.

My Comment: I’m a big fan of the internal customer service concept, and here are 18 internal customer service tips to create the experience that makes them want to work hard, engage with their customers (other internal customers and outside customers), and more.

How Consumers Now Define a Good Customer Experience by Jack M. Germain

(CRM Buyer) Despite U.S. storefronts reopening, e-commerce is still seeing a surge in sales. To maintain retail success in 2021 retailers will need to continue optimizing their digital experience.

My Comment: How do our customers define a good customer experience? You can’t define it for them. You can only hope to provide the experience that they think is good – or even great. Today’s consumers view customer service and experience as a major reason to do business with one company over another. So, here are a few ideas and stats that will help you deliver the experience that will give the customer what they want.

The Secret Behind ‘Wow’ Customer Experiences? Emotion by Liraz Margalit

(CMSWire) Experience is not measured by the fact that “everything was fine.” We won’t remember such an experience. To rise above the competition one must start talking about extraordinary experiences that trigger emotion.

My Comment: Do you want to really WOW your customer? The secret to doing so is to create emotion. Opportunities to WOW the customer don’t happen with every interaction. You must know how to spot them. And when you do, magic happens. This excellent article is written by a Ph.D. who understands customer behavior.

12 Ways To Implement Successful Employee Training Initiatives by Forbes Human Resources Council

(Forbes) Training is an essential, albeit costly, part of the onboarding process for new employees at any company. While proper training can put employees on a path to success within an organization, there are many ways in which training efforts can go wasted.

My Comment: Employee training (especially customer service training) is important and essential. It costs but becomes expensive when it’s not done properly. Here are twelve experts from the Forbes Human Resources Council sharing some common mistakes employers make when embarking on a training initiative.

BONUSAWS Contact Center Day: Best Practices for Great Customer Experience by Zeus Kerravala

(eWeek) Whether it’s an e-commerce giant like Amazon or a local shoe repair shop, great customer experience (CX) is a key factor that differentiates a business from its competitors.

My Comment: And just about the time I was finished with this week’s Top Five list, I ran across this article from the Amazon AWS Contact Center Day. I was one of the speakers on the session titled “Best Practices for Great Customer Experience.” Jennifer Featherling, director of contact center technology at Priceline, was also part of the program. This article includes a summary of some key points along with some stats from my 2021 Achieving Customer Amazement study.

Shep Hyken[image error] is a customer service expert, professional speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. Go to The Customer Focus to learn more about our customer service training programs. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

 

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Guest Post: How To Keep Your Customers Attention With Great In-Store Experience

This week we feature an article by Daniel Bishop, the assistant editor and marketing consultant for ReallySimpleSystems. He writes about creating a better experience for customers when they come into a store.

We all know that the retail landscape changed massively in 2020. However, the truth is that the Covid-19 pandemic probably only accelerated what was happening already. Consumers were turning to online delivery options, and they will continue to do so. To compete, brick and mortar stores have to do whatever they can to provide excellent customer experiences with every contact they have. That means offering new services, such as curbside pickup and delivery.  

However, it also means creating a better experience for customers when they come into a store. Much like visitors will click away from a poorly designed website, visitors will turn around and walk out if a store isn’t engaging and doesn’t attract their interest. There are simply too many other options to waste time on a subpar one. Here are some ways that you can create a superior in-store experience that will grab attention and excite your customers.  

It’s All About the Customers 

It’s never been easier for someone to sit at home in their pajamas and have everything they need to be delivered to their front door. That means that to keep customers coming back, you need to make your retail space stand out and provide exceptional customer service. Your staff should be trained to be friendly and informative, and ready to help at all times. While the ultimate goal is always going to be making sales, you want customers to feel that they are in a familiar place with friends, rather than being approached as potential sales prospects. Face to face is one of the big advantages that brick-and-mortar stores have over online retailers. You can’t beat personal interaction.  

Retailers need to focus on customization as well. This could take the form of appointment shopping and providing what amounts to personal shopper services to customers. While you will want to keep your physical store as the prime place for shopping your brand, you can still offer curbside pickup options and even delivery if you have the capacity to do so.  

Build a Community 

Many stores have found success by building a community around their brand. They not only sell certain products, but part of their appeal is the feeling of a shared experience. For example, bookstores can hold author readings and events based on children’s literature. Any store can do this, however. Stores that cater to the gamer crowd can hold competitions. Any brand can host live music that reflects its target demographic. Whatever it is, building a community will not only help draw people to your store but also build loyalty. You can become a place to gather and share, as well as buy things.  

Highlighted Product 

Another advantage that brick and mortar have over online is that customers can actually see the product in person. Online, it’s often hard to tell how big something is, or how it really looks. You certainly can’t try anything on. However, you can set up your space to highlight your best products and make it easy for customers to see and experience them. If you are concerned about COVID-19 contact issues, then you can place certain products in clear custom acrylic boxes that will display everything to customers but still keep them safe.  

Updated Checkout Procedures 

Let’s face it, before the pandemic nobody liked waiting in lines. However, post-pandemic, waiting in lines is even less desirable. It could mean standing next to someone who has the virus for an extended period of time. That’s why retailers need to find ways to expedite their checkout procedures to minimize the amount of time waiting. This can take the form of no-tap payment options, self-service kiosks, and portable scanning and debit machines that eliminate the need for a counter. Your staff can walk up to a customer, scan their items, and off they go. This also means that things are more convenient for customers, which should be one of your primary goals with everything you do.  

Safety 

Yes, everything is opening back up, but there is still a sizable portion of the population who remain concerned about coming into contact with the virus. Your retail space needs to respect that, and there should be steps in place to provide a safe environment. That means regular sanitization of surfaces, and making it easy for traffic to flow. If you and your staff are complacent, then you will lose customers. Put up signs and graphics that show the measures you are taking to maintain their safety, and make sure to follow through with those commitments. Doing this builds trust, and trust will build loyalty among your customers.  

Bundling 

Bundling is a technique that has been used in several sectors for decades. Retailers can take advantage of it as well. When a customer comes into your store to buy something, your staff should be trying to get them interested in a related product. You can even offer a discount for buying related products in a bundle. That way, you get sales that you might not otherwise have gotten, and the customer gets a discount on those products. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, and your customers will appreciate it.   

This has probably never been a more difficult time for physical retailers. There is a lot of competition from newer retail models, and a deadly pandemic has wreaked havoc on the sector. However, by providing a superior in-store experience, you can attract new customers and build loyalty to stay ahead of the competition and thrive.  

Daniel Bishop currently is the assistant editor and marketing consultant for ReallySimpleSystems, a CRM System that helps small businesses build long relationships, save time and make more sales.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Are Your E-Commerce Strategies Working?

 

 

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How to Say YES – Every Time

How do you say Yes to every customer request? Is it possible? Is this customer service utopia? My friend Christine Trippi wrote a book titled Yes Is the Answer. And Cameron Mitchell, about whom I’ve written before, wrote a book with a similar title, Yes is the Answer. What is the Question?

Both of these authors have a hospitality background. Trippi is a world-class, award-winning hotel manager and Mitchell is a super-successful restauranteur. Both know the value of their customers hearing yes for an answer.

If you dig a little deeper into the concept, it’s not so much about saying, “Yes” to every customer. It’s about not saying, “No.” And, that’s a pretty big difference, but not to the customer. So, let’s flip this around. Rather than always saying, “Yes,” the strategy can give you just as much impact if you never say “No.”

The key is in how you train people to not say, “No.” Unless the customer’s request is immoral, illegal, could cause the company to lose money (although sometimes that’s okay in the right situation), or something that is so far away from what the company does or sells, not saying, “No,” is not all that difficult. It’s about alternatives and options.

I asked Christine to tell me how she would deal with this scenario. The hotel she works at has no airport shuttle, but a guest who just landed at the airport calls and asks, “Do you have a shuttle to get me from the airport to the hotel?”

The simple answer is, “No.” The better answer is to say, “There are three options to get you to the hotel. You can take a cab, take an Uber or lift, or we’re happy to call a private service and arrange for your transportation.”

I once bought a pair of workout shoes from a shoe store. I loved these shoes so much I wanted to buy another pair. I went back to the same store, only to be disappointed that the brand discontinued that model. Without hesitation, the salesperson had an alternative that he said I would enjoy even more. I tried them on, they fit, and he was right.

In my book, Amaze Every Customer Every Time, I write about the concept, “One to say YES and two to say NO.” (I’ve written about this in past Shepard Letters, too.) Once you have the idea that you don’t want to say, “No” to a customer, you must empower your people to be able to do so. You teach them what they can say, “Yes” to, what they can’t do for the reasons previously mentioned, and how to think in terms of options and alternatives. The idea is that they come up with ways to take care of a customer, but if they feel they are forced to use, “No” for an answer, they go to their manager or supervisor for support. Hence, “One to say YES and two to say NO.”

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times, bestselling business author. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright © MMXXI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Jason Ten-Pow

Authentic Customer Conversations

Collecting, Sharing, and Acting on Customer Knowledge

Shep Hyken interviews Jason Ten-Pow, CEO and President of ONR, the CX consulting firm he founded in 2009. They discuss how businesses can create long-term and sustainable revenue and profits by talking to their customers.

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Top Takeaways:When businesses take the mundane transactions to the experiential, customers come to see what they will do next.Customer expectations have evolved over the last year and a half. What brands think their customers want has changed.Digital transformation has put a lot of power in the hands of some people (in organizations) who have no preparation or know-how on how to perform in digital roles. This has created an area of friction between the brand and the customer.Authentic conversations go beyond “Are you satisfied?” and “Did you buy?” to “What can I do to create a deeper connection?”Authentic conversations allow brands to understand the customer’s wants, needs, and desires. This data can be used to make decisions that will lead to long-term and sustainable revenue and profits.Quotes:

“2020 has accelerated the digital transformation for most companies. Only brands that handled digital transformation well can pivot effectively in times of crisis.”

“Loyal customers are created by having authentic conversations with them. Talk to your customers to find out what they perceive as good customer service, what they want, and what they need.”

“Collect, share, and act. The most successful companies have leaders that acquire customer knowledge and make decisions based on it.”

“Companies that foster authentic conversations create customers who are committed to the brand even when competitors come into the market.”

About:

Jason Ten-Pow is the CEO and President of ONR the CX consulting firm he founded in 2009. Ten-Pow’s passion for customer experience was sparked as a teenager working behind the meat counter of a carnival-themed grocery store in Toronto.

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

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

What is an authentic customer conversation?What is authenticity in customer service?How do you gain customer knowledge?Why is it important to have customer knowledge?What is a digital transformation strategy?

The post Amazing Business Radio: Jason Ten-Pow appeared first on Shep Hyken.

5 Top Customer Service Articles of the Week 7-12-2021

Each week I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

The Top Customer Service Trends: Digital Channels Overtake Service Options by Phillip Britt

(DestinationCRM) Even as interactions move to digital channels like chat, email, and social media, the companies providing the best customer service are ensuring that they don’t overdo digital to the extent that customers can’t reach a live agent when necessary.

My Comment: Customer service is changing as digital and self-service options to get questions answered and problems resolved to become more popular. That doesn’t mean live agents are going to disappear. As strong a case as this article makes for the digital-first options, it still supports the notion of reaching a live agent when necessary.

Customer Service Competency Class Now a Requirement for Fordham Admission by Isabella Scipioni

(The Observer) Now, in order to submit an application to Fordham, all students are required to take Customer Service Competency, a course soon to be offered in most high schools. The class is taught by an experienced retail or food service worker on how to behave when interacting with employees who are making minimum wage and are just trying their best.

My Comment: One of the questions we asked in our soon-to-be-released 2021 Achieving Customer Amazement study was if colleges should require a course in customer service. Out of 1,000 consumers, 65% said, “Yes.” Well, Fordham University takes this concept to the next level, requiring the course to be taken before admission.

3 Projects to Help You Deliver Good Customer Service Daily (+ Resources) by Laura Krajewski

(Sharpen) Microsoft says 90% of Americans use good customer service as a factor when deciding whether to do business with a company. Why would customers stay loyal to brands that are slow or can’t offer help?

My Comment: When it comes to customer support and contact centers, the people at Sharpen CX are pretty sharp. (Pun intended!) This article suggests three “projects” to consider. Even if you’ve already done any of them, they are the kinds of projects you resurrect every year or two. 1. Invest in the right tools. 2. Create a good coaching and training program. 3. Invest in a “formal” way to support your agents (and other employees), which yields greater productivity and stronger customer engagement.

Why It’s All About Respect, Consistency and Communication in Post-pandemic Retail by Judy Mottl

(Retail Customer Experience) Brand and strategy expert Margo Bloomstein shares insight on what’s happening now as retailers enter the post-pandemic realm and why it’s so important retailers pay attention to what consumers want and expect.

My Comment: Regardless of what industry you are in, respect and consistency are paramount to the success of your company. Retail CX interviewed brand and content strategy expert, Margo Bloomstein, to gain insights on what today’s customers want, need, and expect.

Do Companies Really Need Chief Experience Officers to Know Their Customers? by James Heskett

(Harvard Business School) Shouldn’t everybody be encouraged to regularly test the customer experience associated with buying and using both their companies’ and competitors’ products and services? Does it take a CXO to remind us of that?

My Comment: This article questions the relevance of the Chief Experience Officer (CXO). I’m a fan of the title, however, if you look at the responsibilities of this executive position, it varies from company to company. That’s not good or bad. Related to this article, it is about knowing your customers and your competitors. I love the very entertaining story that sets up the main point of the article.

BONUSESDoes a Customer Seek Customer Experience? by Gautam Mahajan

(Customer Value Foundation) How many people do you know who ask or seek an experience? Do you seek an experience? Most people want to have a normal experience. It is the bad experiences that cause people to turn away from products and services.

My Comment: Earlier this week I wrote an article about the difference between customer service and customer experience. One of our readers shared the following article. I would have included it at the top of this week’s list, but it was published several weeks ago. But I had to share it anyway. This is an excellent article about customer experience with plenty of research to support the author’s viewpoint.

10 of the Best Customer Experience Podcasts by Nick Glimsdahl

(Podchaser) There are so many podcasts to consider that are focused on Customer Service and Customer Experience, but which ones are worth listening to?

My Comment: Here is a list of the best customer experience (CX) podcasts put together by Podchaser. I’m honored to be included on this list with many of my colleagues and friends.

Shep Hyken[image error] is a customer service expert, professional speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. Go to The Customer Focus to learn more about our customer service training programs. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

 

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Guest Post: 5 Tips to Foster a Customer Community in Your Business

This week we feature an article by Davis Nguyen, the founder of My Consulting Offer. He writes about how to cultivate a customer community.

All company leaders know that their customers are the lifeline of their business — without loyal customers who would rather choose your product or service over one of your competitors, your business could ultimately become stagnant and fail. So it’s vital to do what you can to provide top-notch customer service and make your buyers or clients feel appreciated and heard. One way to do this is by fostering a strong customer community in your enterprise.

When you cultivate a customer community, you will create a network of loyal fans who may refer your company to their own business associates, friends, and family members. It is a fantastic way to grow your customer base and enhance your enterprise’s success. If you are wondering how to cultivate a customer community, here are tried-and-true ways to accomplish just that.

Send a Personal Welcome

This will really make your customers feel appreciated and like they are part of your business’s inner circle. There are many ways to send a personal welcome — for example, if you own a software business, send a quick introductory video that addresses them by name and offers helpful tips and info they may need. If you manufacture a product that stores and other sellers purchase in bulk to sell to consumers, send handwritten notes to every new seller after their first big order. Thank them for their business and let them know you can answer any questions.

If you own or work in the marketing department for a service business, you can also send personal emails to all of the company’s new clients. For example, if you work for a recruitment agency that helps people get placed in new jobs, you can send a personalized email welcoming all new clients to your company and offering links to articles about first-round interview questions or other helpful topics. The goal is to make your clients feel valued and supported.

Celebrate Your Customers’ Birthdays

This is a nice, personal touch. If your company acquires your customers’ birth dates for orders, appointments, or other reasons, send them a special gift on their birthday. For example, you can send them a $10 e-gift card for products on your website, no strings attached. Or, you can email your customers a coupon for 50% off one of your business’s services during the week of their birthday. Another fun thing your enterprise can do is celebrating your customers’ birthday month, where you email them a unique discount code valid for the whole month of their birthday.

Shout Out New Customers on Social Media

Another great way to cultivate your customer community is by welcoming your new clients and buyers on your social media platforms. For example, if your products business secures a contract with a new brick-and-mortar store or e-commerce seller, share on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram how excited your company is about the new partnership. If you work for a B2B service business that acquired a corporation as a customer, say “We are so excited to announce that we are working with XX company” on your social media. On top of this, also post about any big wins your customers have on your social channels.

Reply to All Comments & Posts on Your Social Media Pages

Get your team involved in reading and answering all of the posts on your company’s social media platforms, rather than just having the company page “like” positive posts or only reply to negative posts. For example, every time someone posts a comment on your page that praises your enterprise’s products or services, reply to this person to let them know that you appreciate their business and that you are glad they are satisfied with their experience.

Further Enhance Engagement

When appropriate, you want to encourage conversation and the exchange of ideas among members of your community. You can do this by monitoring the conversations on your social media platforms to identify topics that are relevant to the active members. Then, you can share interesting articles about the topic and ask questions for your followers to answer in the comments. Also, make sure to always send email updates on new products and services.

To Wrap It All Up

Without your customers or clients, your business wouldn’t be the success that it is today. Foster a strong customer community by sending a personal welcome to new clients & buyers, celebrating your customers’ birthdays, and doing social media shoutouts. Also, reply to all of your customers’ posts and comments on your social media channels and encourage conversation and the exchange of ideas amongst your followers. Doing all of this will help you build a customer community that will help your enterprise progress and grow.

Davis Nguyen is the founder of My Consulting Offer, a top program that helps people land their dream jobs in management consulting.

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

Read Shep’s latest Forbes article: Are Your E-Commerce Strategies Working?

 

 

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Customer Service Versus Customer Experience … What’s the Difference?

It is one of the most common questions I’m asked in interviews: What’s the difference between customer service and customer experience (also known as CX)?

While I’ve written about this before, my original article about customer experience was more about how to create a more interactive experience. The example I used was how Home Shopping Network (HSN) incorporated gamification into the customer experience. It offered games and puzzles on its website. The prize for winning the game or solving the puzzle was in the form of discounts. That’s a great – and even fun – experience, but there is much more to it than that.

First, a little history. I remember the term customer experience being used as a fancy phrase to describe customer service. Many years ago, that’s all it was. Some smart person was trying to give a facelift to the term customer service. Not long after that, however, other smart people started using the term customer experience to describe every interaction with a company. That included customer service and much more.

This is where it confuses some people. Customer service is part of customer experience, but customer experience goes to a much broader level. Some of the obvious experiences include navigating a website, reading promotional emails and text messages, watching the brand’s videos and much more. Even opening a package is part of the customer experience. Think about how cool it is to unbox an iPhone or iPad. Back in the day, Steve Jobs was very specific about how he wanted the unboxing of the company’s products to be an amazing CX.

Some say that customer service is what happens when the customer experience goes wrong.

That’s part of it, but it’s not the whole picture. If you’ve followed my work, you know that customer service is not a department that deals with problems and complaints. It’s a philosophy to be embraced by every employee, from the CEO or owner to the most recently hired. It’s how you interact with people, both your internal and external customers.

The customer support department deals with questions, problems and complaints. Of course, their customer service skills must be at the highest level when dealing with unhappy customers and solving problems.

So, a short definition of customer service is all of the interactions that customers have with the people in the company. We can even broaden that to digital interactions, which now include chatbots, interactive experiences on a website and more. Just to emphasize, these interactions include, but go beyond, the interactions for customer support.

Customer experience includes customer service – and everything else a customer might experience when doing business with you.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times, bestselling business author. For information on The Customer Focus customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

(Copyright © MMXXI, Shep Hyken)

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Amazing Business Radio: Heather R. Younger

Empowering Employees through Caring Leadership

The Impact of Caring Leadership on Employees and Customers

Shep Hyken interviews Heather R. Younger, Founder of EmployeeFanatix. They discuss the importance of alignment and the servant mindset in empowering self-leaders.

Top Takeaways:Hire people who assume a leadership position when it comes to taking care of the customer. (Even if you’re not a leader, manager, or supervisor, it doesn’t mean you can’t treat the customer as if you are.)Everybody is a customer. Show up in a way that is receptive to the needs of both your customers (internal customers and external customers).To create self-leaders, the leaders of the company need to provide support and empower their front-line employees to say, “Yes”.Empowerment is providing a space for your employees to take risks (within limits and expectations set by your organization) and use their gifts to create a great customer experience.Caring leadership is showing daily actions that show concern and kindness to those you lead.A caring leader allows their people to breathe through the difficult experiences of the job and help them become more resilient in the process.Caring leadership is how you touch the lives of those who are looking to you for guidance. Leaders must look for ways to expand their circle and make people feel like they belong.Quotes:

“To be a leader, one needs to be intentionally aligned with themselves and who they aspire to be.”

“Self-leaders show up with the servant mindset. They are attentive to the needs of everyone around them – and they are customer-focused.”

“No matter what title you have, what matters most is how you make people feel. Lead yourself with integrity and be congruent with who you are.”

About:

Heather R. Younger has earned her reputation as “The Employee Whisperer.” She is a  best-selling author, and her newest book, The Art of Caring Leadership, emphasizes the need for kindness, compassion, and empathy in all leaders.

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

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

How does caring leadership impact employees and customers?What does it mean to empower employees?Why is empowering employees important?What is a self-leader?How do you empower your employees to become self-leaders?

The post Amazing Business Radio: Heather R. Younger appeared first on Shep Hyken.

5 Top Customer Service Articles of the Week 7-5-2021

Each week I read many customer service and customer experience articles from various resources. Here are my top five picks from last week. I have added my comment about each article and would like to hear what you think too.

[Infographic] The different types of emails to send to your guests by Tony Loeb

(Experience Hotel Blog) The Experience Hotel team decided to conduct a survey on the impact of the different types of emails you can send to your customers.

My Comment: Do your customers open your emails to them? Experience Hotel analyzed more than 9 million emails they sent to their guests. Even if you’re not in the hotel industry, you’ll find the results interesting. They may even make you rethink how you email your customers.

7 ways leaders can model great customer service by Jeff Toister

(Toister Solutions) You have to walk the talk if you want your employees to be customer-focused. Here are seven ways to do it.

My Comment: I’ve always believed that the way a leader or manager treats employees is how they are going to treat their customers. This article from customer service expert Jeff Toister provides seven ways leaders can become role models on how their employees should act toward each other and their customers.

How to design and run a customer loyalty program for small businesses by Raúl Galera

(MultiBriefs) customer loyalty programs are all about retaining buyers through special discounts that offer rewards for repeat purchases. But how do you go about designing and running an effective customer loyalty program? Read on to learn more.

My Comment: I’m often asked about loyalty programs. I recognize the main reason for the program isn’t as much about loyalty as it is about repeat business. That’s marketing. Nothing wrong with that. Who doesn’t want repeat business? Often these programs, when the company manages the customer experience properly, can turn repeat customers into loyal customers. Here is a brief article about how to start designing a customer loyalty program.

It’s Time to End Customer Login Struggles … for Good by Tara Sporrer

(CustomerThink) With more people doing business online than ever before, companies are gaining clarity on what’s working and what needs attention when it comes to the digital customer experience.

My Comment: I was reluctant to include this article in the roundup, not because it isn’t a good article, but because you may think the subject is soft. It’s about customers having trouble logging into a website. The statistic quoted was that 38% of consumers report login issues as a major struggle point. Yikes! Something simple as a login should never create friction for your customers.

Most U.S. Workers Say Employee Experience Directly Impacts Customer Service, According to New Eagle Hill Consulting National Employee Survey by PRNewswire

(MarTech Series) A new national employee survey from Eagle Hill Consulting finds that 64 percent of U.S. workers believe that employee experience directly impacts their ability to serve customers. Yet, less than half (38 percent) say that their organization places a great deal of importance on employee experience and satisfaction.

My Comment: Let’s close out this weeks’ Top Five with an article that goes back to one of my favorite topics; culture. And I get to share one of my favorite lines: What’s happening to employees inside a business is felt on the outside by the customer. This article focuses on how the EX impacts the CX.

BONUS

Top 10 Must-Read Customer Experience Books by Sofia Ohlson

(LUMOA) Our list includes books written by well-known CX experts and leaders with a long experience working within customer experience in different industries. In addition, we asked the authors to share a quote and explain what made them write the book and why you should read it.

My Comment: I’m honored and flattered that my book Cult of the Customer has made this amazing list of the “must-read” customer experience books. Thank you, Lumoa, for including me on this list!

Shep Hyken[image error] is a customer service expert, professional speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. Go to The Customer Focus to learn more about our customer service training programs. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

 

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