Five For Friday: Customer Service Inspiration
Happy Friday! This week, I have been inspired by a few different posts, detailing how the voice of the customer helped a company gain and retain customers, as well as how delegation and employee empowerment make a difference in companies. Here are the articles that inspired me this week:
On the Business is Personal blog, the post “Empowerment and the Silent Cell Phone” urges readers to consider how empowerment can help strengthen you and your staff… and possibly lead to a vacation day once in a while. How can you empower your employees so that you can focus on ‘bigger picture’ items or broader customer initiatives?
Over at the Customer Think site, Ernan Roman discusses how Palms Trading Company stayed true to it’s artists and it’s roots, while also employing a voice of the customer initiative and cutting edge strategies to effectively gain and retain customers. Are you listening to the voices of your customers? How can you respond to their needs and improve your business?
Guest blogger Bassam Salem writes “5 IVR Mistakes that Can Damage a Brand” on the 1to1 Media blog. What are you doing to make sure that your phone system and your agents help customers reach the resources that they need, while also improving their experiences with your company?
Mark Hurst writes on the Good Experience Blog about their “Good Customer Experience at Starbucks and Warby Parker.” Hurst points out that the key to the turnaround of Starbucks and the Starbucks experience has been the commitment of Starbucks to “put [their] feet in the shoes of [their] customers.” Further, Hurst points out that it is not enough to simply have a great customer experience in the store or on the phone; rather you must deliver a great product in addition to the great experience. How are you improving your customers’ experience? What can you do to put yourself in your customers’ shoes?
Every detail matters in customer service, proclaims People2People Service blogger Maria Palma. Likening the customer experience to painting on canvas, Palma asserts that the seemingly minor details contribute to the overall success of your business. How can you show your employees that their jobs matter in the customer experience and the success of the business?
What has inspired your customer service this week? How can you listen to the voice of the customer in your business in order to continue to deliver superior customer experiences?