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Balancing Automated and Human Customer Service

The most important component of the customer experience—the combination of products, services, brand reputation, discoverability, and more—is easily customer service. In fact, one could say that no matter what your industry is, it’s your most important product. No wonder so many businesses are seeking new and innovate ways to enhance…
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The Here and Now

Many of our blogs talk about taking the right steps to ensure lasting customer loyalty as a way to spur long-term success. After all, loyal customers are the ones who keep coming back and spreading positive word-of-mouth to their friends, family, and greater social network. That’s the essence of having…
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When a Problem Spirals Out of Control

One of the chief advantages of offering a superior customer experience is that you have far fewer customer service problems to combat. That said, there’s no way to entirely eliminate them because mistakes can and do happen, and some problems are completely external to your business. We must therefore admit…
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Courting and Keeping Your Customers

New customer acquisition is usually the most expensive component of a business’s relationship with its clientele. Broadly, it includes everything from the salaries paid to marketers and salespeople to the advertising. Consequently, acquisition is far costlier than retention, as the Harvard Business Review reports: “Depending on which study you believe,…
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Communication Is Key Part 4

In parts one, two, and three of this series, we’ve taken a look at the different types of communication that happens within a business. This has included the top-down edicts from leadership to subordinates, the bottom-up disclosures from subordinates to leadership, and the interpersonal talk between peers and teams. All…
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Positive vs Negative Reviews

This week’s topic covers part five of Shep Hyken’s ACA 2021 report, which is all about how customers rate and review their experiences at different businesses. We all know that word-of-mouth is critical to maintaining a good reputation and driving referrals, but what do the numbers actually say? The first…
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The Trust Economy

Reputation is everything. It encompasses every aspect of your business, from the quality of your products to the care you show your customers. It’s word-of-mouth, and it’s the number of stars on Google Reviews, Yelp, or whatever else. Perhaps most of all, it’s a measure of your business’s trustworthiness to…
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Encouraging Positive Reviews

We’ve long stressed the importance of maintaining your business’s reputation, as public opinion is slow to change and so crucial to your ongoing success. There are many factors that can influence that reputation, but one major concern is the reality that negative customer experiences are far more likely to result…
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Communication Channels and the Customer Experience

A business’s ability to communicate with its customers is critical for its long-term survival. Sales, services, and support all rely on communication, otherwise we might as well all shop from mail-order catalogs. For decades, the two primary channels for doing so were either in-person or were over-the-phone. But since the…
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