Top 5 Customer Service & CX Articles for Week of October 6, 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.
To Set Your Brand Apart, Create Moments of Shareable Joy by Brent Ridge, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Larissa Jensen
(Harvard Business Review) Business leaders are always searching for ways to create impact—studying consumer sentiment data, monitoring economic indicators, running predictive models. But amid all this effort, the real challenge is cutting through the noise to create something that actually resonates.
My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five with a “Moment of Joy” with an interesting article about joy and the customer experience. And, you know, if it’s coming from Harvard Business Review, it’s worth the read. Enhancing CX with “joy” is, as the article states, “… a powerful catalyst for brand engagement and competitive advantage in an era where emotional resonance increasingly drives consumer behavior.”
Why Leaders and Consumers Have Different Ideas about Loyalty by Bryan Wassel
(Industry Dive) Leaders are reporting problems with loyalty programs as well. Nearly 3 in 5 executives say their loyalty programs aren’t delivering the outcomes they need, according to the PwC survey.
My Comment: In the past, I’ve written about the gap between leaders of companies thinking they create a better customer experience is better than it is. This concept now extends to loyalty. The article starts with some interesting (and disturbing if you’re a leader) findings from a recent PwC study. 89% of executives say customer loyalty has increased, while only 39% of consumers agree. Executives look at metrics/numbers and don’t always take the emotional connection into consideration.
Why the ‘Fewer Calls’ Myth Is Crushing Customer Loyalty by John Leonard
(CMSWire) Companies spend millions of dollars to win new customers, only to ghost them post-purchase. The obsession with deflection, shrinking support teams and automating human connection is a costly contradiction that undermines the very loyalty brands need to grow.
My Comment: Customer support should not be seen as a cost center. When done well, customer support retains existing customers, increases sales, and can produce loyalty. This article is filled with compelling reasons why human-to-human interactions are a driver of repeat business and customer loyalty.
How to Collect, Analyze, and Act on Customer Feedback: A Comprehensive Guide by Dan Gingiss
(Dan Gingiss) Customer feedback has three phases – Collect, Analyze, and Take Action – and yet many companies only focus on the first two. Following up on customer feedback to enhance customer experience is a matter of deciphering the data – and using it to your advantage.
My Comment: It’s one thing to get customer feedback. It’s another to take action on the feedback. This comprehensive article, written by my friend and fellow CX expert Dan Gingiss, has many excellent ideas on getting the right feedback, how to go about it, and taking appropriate action, and finally, taking action on it.
10 Common Customer Service Problems and How to Resolve Them by ProProfs Editorial Team
(ProProfs) You can have a great product and a very talented staff. But the one thing that the majority of customers will remember in all likelihood is the direct interaction they had with your business. And who is at the forefront of this experience? Your customer service team, of course!
My Comment: This excellent article lists 10 of the most common customer service issues and complaints and how to deal with them. There are solutions for issues such as long response times, hold times, too many transfers, and more (seven more, to be specific). Let’s hope you’re not guilty of any of these. But if you are, this article will help you fix what needs to be fixed.
BONUS
Make Fridays More Fun in Your Contact Centre by Megan Jones
(Call Centre Helper) Is your team fizzling out on a Friday or starting the weekend with a bang? It really should be the latter, but how do you keep things fresh and interesting?
My Comment: This week is Customer Service Week (my favorite holiday). While most people think the week is focused on acknowledging customers, and that’s not a bad idea, the week is intended to recognize the people (our employees) who make our customers love us. That’s why this article by Call Centre Helper is appropriate. Even though the focus is on Fridays, the ideas included are a perfect way to engage your customer-facing employees and have some fun as you celebrate Customer Service Week.
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.
To Set Your Brand Apart, Create Moments of Shareable Joy by Brent Ridge, Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Larissa Jensen
(Harvard Business Review) Business leaders are always searching for ways to create impact—studying consumer sentiment data, monitoring economic indicators, running predictive models. But amid all this effort, the real challenge is cutting through the noise to create something that actually resonates.
My Comment: We kick off this week’s Top Five with a “Moment of Joy” with an interesting article about joy and the customer experience. And, you know, if it’s coming from Harvard Business Review, it’s worth the read. Enhancing CX with “joy” is, as the article states, “… a powerful catalyst for brand engagement and competitive advantage in an era where emotional resonance increasingly drives consumer behavior.”
Why Leaders and Consumers Have Different Ideas about Loyalty by Bryan Wassel
(Industry Dive) Leaders are reporting problems with loyalty programs as well. Nearly 3 in 5 executives say their loyalty programs aren’t delivering the outcomes they need, according to the PwC survey.
My Comment: In the past, I’ve written about the gap between leaders of companies thinking they create a better customer experience is better than it is. This concept now extends to loyalty. The article starts with some interesting (and disturbing if you’re a leader) findings from a recent PwC study. 89% of executives say customer loyalty has increased, while only 39% of consumers agree. Executives look at metrics/numbers and don’t always take the emotional connection into consideration.
Why the ‘Fewer Calls’ Myth Is Crushing Customer Loyalty by John Leonard
(CMSWire) Companies spend millions of dollars to win new customers, only to ghost them post-purchase. The obsession with deflection, shrinking support teams and automating human connection is a costly contradiction that undermines the very loyalty brands need to grow.
My Comment: Customer support should not be seen as a cost center. When done well, customer support retains existing customers, increases sales, and can produce loyalty. This article is filled with compelling reasons why human-to-human interactions are a driver of repeat business and customer loyalty.
How to Collect, Analyze, and Act on Customer Feedback: A Comprehensive Guide by Dan Gingiss
(Dan Gingiss) Customer feedback has three phases – Collect, Analyze, and Take Action – and yet many companies only focus on the first two. Following up on customer feedback to enhance customer experience is a matter of deciphering the data – and using it to your advantage.
My Comment: It’s one thing to get customer feedback. It’s another to take action on the feedback. This comprehensive article, written by my friend and fellow CX expert Dan Gingiss, has many excellent ideas on getting the right feedback, how to go about it, and taking appropriate action, and finally, taking action on it.
10 Common Customer Service Problems and How to Resolve Them by ProProfs Editorial Team
(ProProfs) You can have a great product and a very talented staff. But the one thing that the majority of customers will remember in all likelihood is the direct interaction they had with your business. And who is at the forefront of this experience? Your customer service team, of course!
My Comment: This excellent article lists 10 of the most common customer service issues and complaints and how to deal with them. There are solutions for issues such as long response times, hold times, too many transfers, and more (seven more, to be specific). Let’s hope you’re not guilty of any of these. But if you are, this article will help you fix what needs to be fixed.
BONUS
Make Fridays More Fun in Your Contact Centre by Megan Jones
(Call Centre Helper) Is your team fizzling out on a Friday or starting the weekend with a bang? It really should be the latter, but how do you keep things fresh and interesting?
My Comment: This week is Customer Service Week (my favorite holiday). While most people think the week is focused on acknowledging customers, and that’s not a bad idea, the week is intended to recognize the people (our employees) who make our customers love us. That’s why this article by Call Centre Helper is appropriate. Even though the focus is on Fridays, the ideas included are a perfect way to engage your customer-facing employees and have some fun as you celebrate Customer Service Week.
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.
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