5 Top Customer Service Articles For the Week of July 30, 2012

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.

Design: Because Great Customer Experiences Don’t Happen By Accident by Kerry Bodine

(Forrester) Design is a straightforward and repeatable problem-solving process that incorporates the needs of customers, employees, and business stakeholders.

My Comment: Great article about designing the customer experience. A great customer experience shouldn’t happen by accident. The Mayo Clinic provides an excellent example of how an old design that is outdated (and may negatively impact the experience) can be updated to enhance the customer experience.

Whiny Customers: 5 Types of Complaints (& How to Handle Them) by Peter Shankman

(Inc.) Thanks to social media, complaining has never been easier. Here are a few types of cranky customers–and some good ways to handle them.

My Comment: Very funny! A very humorous look at different types of complainers. I’ll be sharing some of these descriptions with my clients. Regardless of the title you give the complainer, the goal is not to just take care of them and fix the problem. You also want to gain back their confidence.

What’s Working for Us? Investing in Our Customers by Lanham Napier

(Huffington Post) I know it’s not fun, but bear with me a moment and think back to 2009. Every time you turned on the television all you saw were red arrows thrusting downward next to each financial indicator. At Rackspace, we didn’t need the news reports to tell us where things were heading. We could see it by monitoring our customers, who were getting much less traffic on their websites and using less computing than they had signed up for. Some asked for help. Others simply suffered in silence.

My Comment: This is a great article about how Rackspace puts their customers first. They are so confident about delivering value and great service to their customers that they offer them the freedom to move to another vendor “on a whim.” This is the kind of company you want to do business with.

8 Customer Service Sins to Avoid by Jon Gelberg

(Inc) In a recent customer service survey, United Airlines came in dead last. Here’s why–and how not to suffer the same fate.

My Comment: It is a shame that the airlines get hit pretty hard when it comes to customer service. Sometimes they can’t control it (weather, FAA Traffic, etc.), but many times they can. The Eight Customer Service sins to avoid, with minimal tweaking work for just about any business.

Eleven Tips for Wooing Customers by Cathrine Ann

(Huffington Post Canada) For the time being, customers’ wallets may be closed more than open, so the best way to keep and grow that wallet share is with positive customer service experiences every time. People are still going to buy, so ensure that they buy from you and not your competition.

My Comment: Here are eleven ways to “woo” your customers. The bottom line is that our customers want and expect more than ever. They learn what good customer service is (hopefully from us instead of our competitors) and even companies outside of our industry who set great examples. You can’t go wrong incorporating most, if not all of this list.