Posts by Shep Hyken

Things change quickly in business today. Innovations in technology touch on almost everything we do. So naturally, many people ask me about how customer service is changing. They’re thinking about things like artificial intelligence, or social media, or online chat, or email. Whenever I hear that question, though, I can’t help but think that for…

Is there one person in your organization who, above all others, drives your customer service culture? That person is The Force Within. Their extra effort stands out, and their enthusiasm for serving customers is contagious. In this brief video, you’ll hear a story about a recent experience on an airline where The Force Within made…

When a customer tells you that their experience was “fine,” what does that mean? Oftentimes, “fine” doesn’t really mean fine! When you hear someone say things are fine, it’s time to dig deeper to understand how the customer really feels. Because in customer service, fine often means okay at best—average, unimpressive. You might not be…

What’s the best customer service line you’ve ever heard? Is it empathy for a customer’s problem? An explanation of the problem? A timeline for a solution? In conversation with the leader of social media customer service for a major cable television provider, I heard an unexpected answer—but a brilliant one. Learn why the best response…

If you promise something to your customers, you better deliver! When you over promise and under deliver, it’s a big letdown for your customer. Don’t sell a half truth. If you get caught, it isn’t a half truth—it’s a lie. And that’s obviously a big problem. Now many business owners don’t intentionally mislead customers, but…

Were you surprised at the big business news last week that Amazon is acquiring Whole Foods? Do you wonder what this means for business? Are you thinking about what this says about how we should be thinking about our businesses today? In this brief live commentary we’ll look at why this move is driven by…

It’s the little things that, in the end, can make all the difference. When you’re looking for ways to improve your customer experience, finding small ways that you can incrementally improve things for your customers is a great strategy, and one that is often overlooked by most companies. Those seemingly trivial improvements might go unnoticed…

There are some situations where your hands are tied. Some industries are heavily regulated, and there are strict compliance rules and laws that you have no way around. These laws are often unfriendly to customers. But look for ways you can make life easier for your customers. Are there things that you can do that…

Have you ever had an interaction with a company that was so frustrating you lost confidence in their ability to do what you needed them to do? If you lose confidence in a company, would you still do business with them? Well, I recently had an experience that damaged my confidence in a company, and…

If you’re trying to create a great customer experience, look at places where you’re putting the responsibility on the customer rather than on yourself. What does that mean? Well, have you ever had an experience as a customer where a company acted like (and genuinely believed) they were doing you a favor, but were really…