Balancing Customer Service and Self-Service

Our world seems to be getting more automated by the day, and so it’s natural that many small businesses find themselves grappling with the balance between providing hands-on customer service and offering the convenience of self-service options. Customers’ expectations continue to evolve with the times, with many placing a high…
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Soothing the Burn of Rising Prices

Price increases are a constant challenge for both businesses and consumers alike. Inflation, supply-chain frustrations, and even rising minimum wages have all contributed to higher costs for everyone. These complications affect everything, both upstream and down, leaving many customers feeling like they’re being taken advantage of. However, with some thoughtful…
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Peloton Interactive: A Case Study

One of the most important assets any company enjoys is its reputation, both in the way it is perceived by consumers and by how it is seen by potential employees. A bad reputation is hard to shake off, as memory for the mistakes seems to last longer than for the…
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The Power of “Yes”

In the world of customer service, the word “no” acts as a barrier that shuts down communication and ultimately stifles solutions. As Dr. Nido Qubein, a renowned motivational speaker and entrepreneur, said, “I always start with a yes. It doesn’t always end that way after we’ve done the study, but…
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Train for Success: Use Mystery Shopping for Leadership Development

Strong leadership is the cornerstone of any successful small business. Effective leadership drives both company growth and fosters a positive work environment, as it sets the tone for providing an exceptional customer experience through example. When leaders prioritize customer satisfaction, their actions resonate through the company and provide the right…
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Beware the Over-Reliance on Automation in Customer Service

We’ve seen the major technology companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft invest hundreds of billions of dollars into developing machine-learning software to improve everything from the photos we take with our smartphones to how personal assistants transcribe text-to-speech. There’s also been a mad scramble for across all industries to adopt…
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Bridging the Gap Between Perception and Reality

We’ve long extolled how the Customer Experience (CX) is your business’s most important product, and that no matter how good your actual goods and services are, a poor CX will doom your business. Most business owners, CEOs, and managers agree, but many have deluded themselves into believing that their businesses…
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A Seamless Experience

This is the final part of our in-depth analysis of customer-experience expert Shep Hyken’s recent article, “Top Customer Service and CX Predictions and Trends for 2024,” where we’ll consider the rising importance of item five on his list of predictions, “Convenience Rules.” Hyken tells us, “Prior to the pandemic, convenience…
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Make ‘Now’ Your Business

This is part four of our in-depth analysis of customer-experience expert Shep Hyken’s recent article, “Top Customer Service and CX Predictions and Trends for 2024,” where we’ll take a look at item four on his list of predictions: “Customers Want It Now.” Hyken explains that customers are becoming less patient…
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