Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of August 18, 2025
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 comments about each article and would like to hear what you think too.
Is Customer Service Getting Worse? Boomers and Gen Xers Seem to Think So by Jason Bramwell
(CPA Practice Advisor) Nearly half of U.S. shoppers say customer service provided by businesses is getting worse, according to results from the latest Consumer Pulse survey from GoDaddy, yet Gen Z and millennials remain more upbeat than their parents’ generations.
My Comment: We kick of this week’s Top Five roundup with a short article that shares some findings related to customer service getting worse. According to a survey from GoDaddy, half of U.S. shoppers say customer service is getting worse. That perfectly aligns with my customer service and CX research (50%). But not all shoppers/consumers feel the same. Age makes a difference. There’s a big difference between Gen Z and Baby Boomers.
5 Ways a Chatbot Will Help Your Customer Service Team by Daria Leshchenko
(Inc. Magazine) Global research and advisory firm Gartner predicted in 2023 much of what we are experiencing today. Generative AI, digital customer service, and conversational user interfaces are transforming the customer service journey, enabling customer service leaders to meet the rapidly growing expectations of the next generation of customer support.
My Comment: Yes, chatbots can help your customer service team. This article shares five ways to do so, recognizing that AI can offer 24/7 support, transfer the caller to a live agent when needed, communicate with the customer in multiple languages, and more. If this article intrigues you, be sure to check out my recently published article titled Five Reasons We Love Chatbots and Five Reasons We Hate Them .
How Retailers Are Using Delivery Personas to Build Customer Loyalty by Johannes Panzer
(Total Retail) While consumers’ e-commerce expectations grow more fragmented, one important solution is to offer dynamic delivery options that allow customers to choose based on their priorities. By designing delivery features around real customer behavior and operational capacity, retailers can drive down cost, reduce delivery failures, and retain more customers with every order.
My Comment: This article looks at a new way online retailers are personalizing the experience for their customers. There are many differences in the way people buy, based on background, gender, age, etc. What about how their orders are delivered? This article identifies five personas and how they like their merchandise delivered. The differences include cost, speed, eco-friendliness, and more.
B2B Customer Loyalty In The Age Of Ubiquitous B2C Convenience by Martha Salinas
(MinuteHack) B2B buyers increasingly expect the same convenience and ease they experience as consumers. That may sound self-evident, but for suppliers operating in complex, competitive environments, it’s a reality that demands attention: even your most longstanding customers wouldn’t hesitate to walk away with surprising speed.
My Comment: All customers, and that includes B2B customers, compare all of their experiences to the best experiences they have had with any company, and that most likely is a consumer experience. Why? Even purchasing agents in large companies are consumers. This article focuses on creating a B2B payment system similar to a consumer experience. Consider this an example of just one way we can bring B2C thinking into a B2B customer experience.
OpenAI Forgot the Golden Rule of CX: Don’t Yank Away What Customers Love by Dom Nicastro
(CMSWire) No matter how good these large language models like OpenAI’s baby ChatGPT get, customer experience will always matter. Always.
My Comment: Recently, OpenAI rolled out an updated version of its popular ChatGPT platform. Based on the features and benefits of the new ChatGPT 5, it seemed like customers would love it – but they didn’t. It’s like when Coca-Cola rolled out The New Coke. It didn’t take long for consumers to convince Coke to go back to offering the original Coke. That’s close to what OpenAI did. Almost immediately, they made ChatGPT 4 available with the upgrade as an option. They also apologized and acknowledged the problem. Yes, OpenAI’s intention was good. The execution didn’t work. The recovery is textbook excellent customer experience.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
Is Customer Service Getting Worse? Boomers and Gen Xers Seem to Think So by Jason Bramwell
(CPA Practice Advisor) Nearly half of U.S. shoppers say customer service provided by businesses is getting worse, according to results from the latest Consumer Pulse survey from GoDaddy, yet Gen Z and millennials remain more upbeat than their parents’ generations.
My Comment: We kick of this week’s Top Five roundup with a short article that shares some findings related to customer service getting worse. According to a survey from GoDaddy, half of U.S. shoppers say customer service is getting worse. That perfectly aligns with my customer service and CX research (50%). But not all shoppers/consumers feel the same. Age makes a difference. There’s a big difference between Gen Z and Baby Boomers.
5 Ways a Chatbot Will Help Your Customer Service Team by Daria Leshchenko
(Inc. Magazine) Global research and advisory firm Gartner predicted in 2023 much of what we are experiencing today. Generative AI, digital customer service, and conversational user interfaces are transforming the customer service journey, enabling customer service leaders to meet the rapidly growing expectations of the next generation of customer support.
My Comment: Yes, chatbots can help your customer service team. This article shares five ways to do so, recognizing that AI can offer 24/7 support, transfer the caller to a live agent when needed, communicate with the customer in multiple languages, and more. If this article intrigues you, be sure to check out my recently published article titled Five Reasons We Love Chatbots and Five Reasons We Hate Them .
How Retailers Are Using Delivery Personas to Build Customer Loyalty by Johannes Panzer
(Total Retail) While consumers’ e-commerce expectations grow more fragmented, one important solution is to offer dynamic delivery options that allow customers to choose based on their priorities. By designing delivery features around real customer behavior and operational capacity, retailers can drive down cost, reduce delivery failures, and retain more customers with every order.
My Comment: This article looks at a new way online retailers are personalizing the experience for their customers. There are many differences in the way people buy, based on background, gender, age, etc. What about how their orders are delivered? This article identifies five personas and how they like their merchandise delivered. The differences include cost, speed, eco-friendliness, and more.
B2B Customer Loyalty In The Age Of Ubiquitous B2C Convenience by Martha Salinas
(MinuteHack) B2B buyers increasingly expect the same convenience and ease they experience as consumers. That may sound self-evident, but for suppliers operating in complex, competitive environments, it’s a reality that demands attention: even your most longstanding customers wouldn’t hesitate to walk away with surprising speed.
My Comment: All customers, and that includes B2B customers, compare all of their experiences to the best experiences they have had with any company, and that most likely is a consumer experience. Why? Even purchasing agents in large companies are consumers. This article focuses on creating a B2B payment system similar to a consumer experience. Consider this an example of just one way we can bring B2C thinking into a B2B customer experience.
OpenAI Forgot the Golden Rule of CX: Don’t Yank Away What Customers Love by Dom Nicastro
(CMSWire) No matter how good these large language models like OpenAI’s baby ChatGPT get, customer experience will always matter. Always.
My Comment: Recently, OpenAI rolled out an updated version of its popular ChatGPT platform. Based on the features and benefits of the new ChatGPT 5, it seemed like customers would love it – but they didn’t. It’s like when Coca-Cola rolled out The New Coke. It didn’t take long for consumers to convince Coke to go back to offering the original Coke. That’s close to what OpenAI did. Almost immediately, they made ChatGPT 4 available with the upgrade as an option. They also apologized and acknowledged the problem. Yes, OpenAI’s intention was good. The execution didn’t work. The recovery is textbook excellent customer experience.
Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.
Published on August 18, 2025 06:33
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