April 2014: My Favourite Five Customer Experience Stories

“There is no wealth like knowledge, and no poverty like ignorance.” – Buddha

Every week, I scan, scour and listen for customer service and customer experience blogs, articles, news, advice and stories that I think are worth sharing. Though I will continue to send them out through my Twitter account, I thought I’d start rounding up the best of the week in a regular blog. Whether the words come from a thought leader in this field, are a great case study or lesson learned, advice, cautionary tale or recommendation, I hope you find some use for them and share your own thoughts and ideas.

Here’s my favourite five customer service stories/articles this month:

1) 15 Statistics That Should Change The Business World – But Haven’t – Colin Shaw. A collection of great stats that are often used but rarely followed. Why the hell is that?

2) The Five Agreements of Customer Experience by Annette Franz Gleneicki. Inspired by don Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements, Annette applies these ideas to customer engagement. It’s a pretty nice fit.

3) 5 Phrases That Should Never Be Used In The Customer Service Business by Steve DiGioia. Working in the retail and service industry space, I’ve used a few of these myself over the years. I bet you have to. We should stop that.

4) Millennial Customers Require a Different Customer Experience: Here’s Where to Start by Micah Solomon. The “Millennial” – an often misunderstood creature that is growing in importance when it comes to the customer experience. Their expectations and experiences are different, and we need to understand them better.

5) Customer Service Beliefs that Can Hurt Your Business – Personal Branding Blog. Customer service has had a lot of mantras over the years. Even with how quickly thought leadership is spreading new ideas faster and farther with social technology, there are still a few that keep popping up. You might want to rethink some.

Every month, I’ll be trying to share new ideas or stories I’ve read that I think you might enjoy. Hope you find it all valuable. If there’s any websites on customer service or the customer experience that you think I might enjoy, please let me know.