Author Archives: Shep Hyken

About Shep Hyken

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times, bestselling business author. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

The Reasons Customers May Refuse to Speak with AI

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The Reasons Customers May Refuse to Speak with AI

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

If you want to anger your customers, make them do something they don’t want to do.

Up to 66% of U.S. customers say that when it comes to getting help, resolving an issue or making a complaint, they only want to speak to a live person. That’s according to the 2025 State of Customer Service and Customer Experience (CX) annual study. If you don’t provide the option to speak to a live person, you are at risk of losing many customers.

But not all customers feel that way. We asked another sample of more than 1,000 customers about using AI and self-service tools to get customer support, and 34% said they stopped doing business with a company or brand because self-service options were not provided.

These findings reveal the contrasting needs and expectations customers have when communicating with the companies they do business with. While the majority prefer human-to-human interaction, a substantial number (about one-third) not only prefer self-service options — AI-fueled solutions, robust frequently asked question pages on a website, video tutorials and more — but demand it or they will actually leave to find a competitor that can provide what they want.

This creates a big challenge for CX decision-makers that directly impacts customer retention and revenue.

Why Some Customers Resist AI

Our research finds that age makes a difference. For example, Baby Boomers show the strongest preference for human interaction, with 82% preferring the phone over digital solutions. Only half (52%) of Gen-Z feels the same way about the phone. Here’s why:

  1. Lack of Trust: Trust is another concern, with almost half (49%) saying they are scared of technologies like AI and ChatGPT.
  2. Privacy Concerns: Seventy percent of customers are concerned about data privacy and security when interacting with AI.
  3. Success — Or Lack of Success: While I think it’s positive that 50% of customers surveyed have successfully resolved a customer service issue using AI without the need for a live agent, that also means that 50% have not.

Customers aren’t necessarily anti-technology. They’re anti-ineffective technology. When AI fails to understand requests and lacks empathy in sensitive situations, the negative experience can make certain customers want to only communicate with a human. Even half of Gen-Z (48%) says they are frustrated with AI technology (versus 17% of Baby Boomers).

Why Some Customers Embrace AI

The 34% of customers who prefer self-service options to the point of saying they are willing to stop doing business with a company if self-service isn’t available present a dilemma for CX leaders. This can paralyze the decision process for what solutions to buy and implement. Understanding some of the reasons certain customers embrace AI is important:

  1. Speed, Convenience and Efficiency: The ability to get immediate support without having to call a company, wait on hold, be authenticated, etc., is enough to get customers using AI. If you had the choice between getting an answer immediately or having to wait 15 minutes, which would you prefer? (That’s a rhetorical question.)
  2. 24/7 Availability: Immediate support is important, but having immediate access to support outside of normal business hours is even better.
  3. A Belief in the Future: There is optimism about the future of AI, as 63% of customers expect AI technologies to become the primary mode of customer service in the future — a significant increase from just 21% in 2021. That optimism has customers trying and outright adopting the use of AI.

CX leaders must recognize the generational differences — and any other impactful differences — as they make decisions. For companies that sell to customers across generations, this becomes increasingly important, especially as Gen-Z and Millennials gain purchasing power. Turning your back on a generation’s technology expectations puts you at risk of losing a large percentage of customers.

What’s a CX Leader To Do?

Some companies have experimented with forcing customers to use only AI and self-service solutions. This is risky, and for the most part, the experiments have failed. Yet, as AI improves — and it’s doing so at a very rapid pace — it’s okay to push customers to use self-service. Just support it with a seamless transfer to a human if needed. An AI-first approach works as long as there’s a backup.

Forcing customers to use a 100% solution, be it AI or human, puts your company at risk of losing customers. Today’s strategy should be a balanced choice between new and traditional customer support. It should be about giving customers the experience they want and expect — one that makes them say, “I’ll be back!”

Image credit: Pixabay

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Creating Memorable Experiences to Drive Loyalty

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Memory-Driven CX

Creating Memorable Experiences to Drive Loyalty

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Why do customers come back to the places where they love to do business? Our annual customer experience research ranked the top experiences that get customers to come back:

  • Helpful employees
  • Knowledgeable employees
  • Friendly employees
  • A convenient experience
  • Hassle-free shipping and delivery
  • Easy returns
  • Personalized experiences
  • Empathy

The decision to come back could include any one of these or a combination of items on this list — or anything else that the customer experiences the first or last time they did business with the company or brand. The point is that it’s not the experience itself that drives loyalty — it’s the memory of the experience that truly determines loyalty.

This subtle but powerful distinction explains why some businesses enjoy fierce loyalty. The customer’s memory creates an emotional connection that transforms a simple transaction into one of many interactions—in other words, a repeat and/or loyal customer. A recent MarTech article about creating these emotional connections through CX memories and how B2B and B2C brands are winning over customers with “memory-driven CX” included some compelling ideas that validate this concept. The article emphasized the power of a sentence that starts with the words, “Remember when. …” It turns out that the memory of a good experience can boost dopamine in the brain, and the result is that customers are more likely to trust and stay with the brand.

And that is the basis of an emotional connection. Dopamine is a chemical the brain releases that makes you feel good. This chemical release potentially happens twice: during the actual interaction with the brand and when the customer recalls the interaction at a later time and date.

This doesn’t happen by accident. Just as a brand can be purposeful about giving the customer an experience worthy of remembering, it can also be purposeful about getting the customer to recall the experience.

Certain companies have done this at scale. Chewy, the online pet supply retailer, sends birthday cards to its customers’ pets. The cards are often personalized with the pet’s name. Starbucks sends its “members” a free drink or food item for their birthday. It also celebrates “coffee anniversaries,” reminding customers of when they first joined its rewards program. Netflix sends a “What We Watched” summary of what its subscribers have watched in the past year.

You don’t have to be a recognizable brand to do this. Any size company—in any industry—can do the same with a little thought and this five-step process:

  1. Create the Experience: First, you must deliver an experience that is positive and worth remembering.
  2. Identify Key Touchpoints: Map the customer journey (if you haven’t already done so) and identify the key touchpoints that could have the highest emotional impact.
  3. Enhance the Key Touchpoints: Once you’ve identified the impactful touchpoints, engineer them to become memorable. For example, Trader Joe’s, the grocery store chain, trains its employees to interact with customers when they check out, enthusiastically commenting about what’s in the customer’s cart. This last impression leaves a lasting impression.
  4. Design a Follow-Up Campaign: Design a campaign similar to Chewy, Starbucks or Netflix that reminds the customer why they enjoy doing business with you.
  5. Measure the Impact: Don’t assume the prior four steps are working. Ask or survey your customers to ensure you’ve created the “Remember When” experience that will help drive repeat business.

When customers are excited about their experience, they say, “I’ll be back.” Taking that to the next level is doing something that gets the customer to think back on the experience, creating a “Remember When” dopamine reaction moment. That reinforces the original (or last) experience the customer had with you. By deliberately creating experiences worth remembering and then helping customers remember those memories, you are increasing the chances of the customer coming back. And the more they come back, the more likely they are to become a coveted loyal customer.

Image credit: Pexels

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Don’t Adopt Artificial Incompetence

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Don't Adopt Artificial Incompetence

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

I’ve been reviewing my customer experience research, specifically the section on the future of customer service and AI (Artificial Intelligence). A few findings prove that customers are frustrated and lack confidence in how companies are using AI:

  • In general, 57% of customers are frustrated by AI-fueled self-service options.
  • 49% of customers say technologies like AI and ChatGPT scare them.
  • 51% of customers have received wrong or incorrect information from an AI self-service bot.

As negative as these findings sound, there are plenty of findings that point to AI getting better and more customers feeling comfortable using AI solutions. The technology continues to improve quickly. While it’s only been five months since we surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, I bet a new survey would show continued improvement and comfort level regarding AI. But for this short article, let’s focus on the problem that needs to be resolved.

Upon reviewing the numbers, I realized that there’s another kind of AI: Artificial Incompetence. That’s my new label for companies that improperly use AI and cause customers to be frustrated, scared and/or receive bad information. After thinking I was clever and invented this term, I was disheartened to discover, after a Google search, that the term already exists; however, it’s not widely used.

So, AI – as in Artificial Incompetence – is a problem you don’t want to have. To avoid it, start by recognizing that AI isn’t perfect. Be sure to have a human backup that’s fast and easy to reach when the customer feels frustrated, angry, or scared.

And now, as the title of this article implies, there’s more. After sharing the new concept of AI with my team, we brainstormed and had fun coming up with two more phrases based on some of the ideas I covered in my past articles and videos:

Feedback Constipation: When you get so much feedback and don’t take action, it’s like eating too much and not being able to “go.” (I know … a little graphic … but it makes the point.) This came from my article Turning Around Declining Customer Satisfaction, which teaches that collecting feedback isn’t valuable unless you use it.

Jargon Jeopardy: Most people – but not everyone – know what CX means. If you are using it with a customer, and they don’t know what it means, how do you think they feel? I was once talking to a customer service rep who kept using abbreviations. I could only guess what they meant. So I asked him to stop with the E-I-E-I-O’s (referencing the lyrics from the song about Old McDonald’s farm.) This was the main theme of my article titled Other Experiences Exist Beyond Customer Experience (EX, WX, DX, UX and more).

So, this was a fun way at poking fun of companies that may think they are doing CX right (and doing it well), but the customer’s perception is the opposite. Don’t use AI that frustrates customers and projects an image of incompetence. Don’t collect feedback unless you plan to use it. Otherwise, it’s a waste of everyone’s time and effort. Finally, don’t confuse customers – and even employees – with jargon and acronyms that make them feel like they are forced to relearn the alphabet.

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This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Why Amazon Paid $3.9 Billion to Get into the Healthcare Business

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Why Amazon Paid $3.9 Billion to Get into the Healthcare Business

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Amazon is known for its amazing customer experience, despite most customers never talking to an Amazon employee. How does this digital experience — with no human interaction—drive so much loyalty? The short answer is confidence. There is very little that goes wrong with an Amazon experience, and if by chance it does, its system takes care of almost all problems—again, without human interaction. That said, if a customer does need to talk to a human, which is very seldom, the customer support team is there.

But what happens if you combine technology with a high-touch business, like a doctor’s office? You get One Medical, which Amazon bought in 2023 for $3.9 billion. One Medical’s founder, Dr. Tom Lee, is a Harvard-trained primary care physician who then went on to Stanford to get an MBA. Before opening his first clinic, he asked himself, “Why do we do these in healthcare like we’ve always done them? Why does every waiting room look like some sterile IKEA? Why do I wait in a reception area and then wait again in the exam room?” It was questions like these that caused Lee to tinker with and disrupt the traditional medical visit model.

Starting with one clinic, Lee created a different experience. He built an app and charged patients an $89/year subscription that gave them access to doctors. He focused on simple things like getting an appointment without making a call. Those little things were the start of what turned out to be a stellar experience that allowed him to expand, ultimately catching the eye of Amazon.

When the Amazon deal was completed, HealthCare Dive reported that Amazon now had a network of more than 220 medical offices in 27 U.S. markets with more than 836,000 members plus 9,000 enterprise clients. Neil Lindsay, SVP of Amazon Health Services said, “We’re on a mission to make it dramatically easier for people to find, choose, afford and engage with the services, products and professionals they need to get and stay healthy, and coming together with One Medical is a big step on that journey.” That’s what Amazon does. They make it easy for customers.

Joseph Michelli, bestselling business author of numerous books that tell the stories of iconic brands like The Ritz-Carlton, Starbucks, Mercedes and others, recently released a new book, All Business Is Personal: One Medical’s Human-Centered, Technology-Powered Approach to Customer Engagement, that tells the One Medical story. I had a chance to interview him on Amazing Business Radio, and here are the highlights that will give you some insight into why Amazon became interested in acquiring this amazing company.

Question Everything

Just ask, “Why?” It doesn’t matter what type of business you are in, there are reasons for everything. Often the reason a company or person does something is because “We’ve always done it this way.” So, question everything. Maybe you’ll still do it the way you’ve always done it, but at least you will have tried to find a better way.

Create a Stellar Customer (Patient) Experience

As Lee created a Customer Experience (CX) that drove impressive ratings, he looked at the friction most patients experienced. He started with an obvious pain point, the waiting room, which is, as the name implies, a room for people to wait. Some patients in traditional medical practices are forced to wait for unreasonable amounts of time. But not at One Medical. In addition to being easy to get a same-day or next-day appointment, Michelli shared that 95% of patients are seen within three minutes of their scheduled times. As already mentioned, Lee questioned every aspect of the patient’s experience, and he found many ways to make it better.

Blend Technology with the Human Touch

Technology, like apps and AI, makes life more convenient for customers by allowing things like easy online scheduling or getting immediate answers from AI chatbots. Often, technology can feel cold and impersonal, especially in healthcare. The best use of technology is to make things faster and simpler, but smart businesses, like One Medical, know to offer human backup when a customer/patient needs it. Finding the right balance between tech and the human touch keeps your business from being a commodity—just “another faceless service.”

Convenience Is King

People love doing business with companies that create convenient experiences. For One Medical, this means offering same-day appointments, speedy callbacks or handling many issues online versus the phone, so the patient doesn’t have to wait on hold or wait for a callback. Research shows that 73% of customers will pay more for a convenient experience. The easier you make someone’s experience, the more likely they will come back as well as tell others about you.

Make It Personal, Not Just Personalized

It’s great to remember a customer’s name or recall past purchases. That’s personalization. To take it a step further, make it personal. Make the customer feel that you care about them. That means when the customer (or patient) talks to an employee, they feel cared for, listened to and valued. Personal connections build trust and confidence, which leads to repeat business and potential loyalty.

The Effort Is Worth It

These five reasons (and a few more) are what gave Amazon 3.9 billion reasons (as in dollars) to acquire One Medical. Even if you were to practice these reasons flawlessly, you may never catch Amazon’s attention, but you will catch your customers’ (and potential customers’) attention. And that will make the effort worthwhile.

Image Credits: Pixabay

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Doing the Basics Can Be Surprising

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Doing the Basics Can Be Surprising

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Just in case you didn’t know, I have a weekly customer service and Customer Experience (CX) podcast, Amazing Business Radio, that has been running for 12 years. Each week, I get the honor of interviewing some very smart people. Recently, I met Eric Stone, author of Jumpstart Your Workplace Culture. One of the topics we discussed was the WOW experience.

Before we go further, I have always had concerns about organizations that attempt to WOW their customers at every interaction. It’s just impossible to do. The concept of WOW is often associated with going above and beyond what’s expected, so much so that the customer is “blown away” by the experience. The problem is that’s not always possible. That’s why I took it out of my vocabulary and started using the word amazing to describe what I think WOW really is all about, which is a consistent and predictable experience that ALWAYS meets, and only occasionally exceeds, the customer’s expectations. It’s easy to say, “The people at that company are amazing.” It’s a little clunky and awkward to say, “The people at that company are WOW.”

That’s why I loved what Stone said: “Wow is a surprise.” In other words, it’s not about every experience. It’s about the occasional opportunity to surprise a customer. It could be something big, such as handling an emergency situation in which employees go above and beyond. As I said earlier, you can’t count on that type of opportunity for every transaction, but what you can do is find little ways to surprise your customers. For example, if you return a call quickly, the customer might say, “Wow, that was fast!” That’s not an over-the-top or above-and-beyond experience, but it’s a small surprise.

With that in mind, let’s use the return phone call as an example. When you know people are often surprised and make comments like, “Wow, that was fast,” simply because you called them back quickly, don’t just say, “Thank you,” and feel good about the experience. Instead, operationalize the experience. In other words, make quickly returned calls part of your official process. Set a standard, such as all calls are to be returned within two hours (or whatever the appropriate length of time you feel is right for you).

With that as an example, what other interactions do you have with customers that need to be formally operationalized? Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

  • All phone calls are to be answered within three rings.
  • A promise to only transfer a customer once, knowing you’ll get the customer to the right person the first time.
  • Proactive updates to inform customers before they reach out to you asking for information.
  • Following up after a resolution to make sure a customer is still happy.
  • Acknowledging customer milestones, such as congratulating them on their 10th order with you, their birthday, etc.

None of these ideas are above-and-beyond types of WOW experiences, but they will cause a customer to notice. Use these examples to help you get creative about finding other simple or small WOWs you can operationalize and make part of the customer’s regular experience when they do business with you.

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Image Credits: Pexels

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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Are You Getting Your Fair Share of $860 Billion?

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Are You Getting Your Fair Share of $860 Billion?

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

According to Qualtrics, there is an estimated $860 billion worth of revenue and cost savings available for companies that figure out how to create an improved Customer Experience (CX) using AI to better understand and serve their customers. (That includes $420 billion for B2B and $440 billion for B2C.) Qualtrics recently released these figures in a report/eBook titled Unlock the Potential through AI-Enabled CX.

I had a chance to interview Isabelle Zdatny, head of thought leadership at Qualtrics Experience Management Institute, for Amazing Business Radio. She shared insights from the report, including ways in which AI is reshaping how organizations measure, understand and improve their relationships with customers. These ideas are what will help you get more customers, keep existing customers and improve your processes, giving you a share of the $860 billion that is up for grabs. Here are some of the top takeaways from our interview.

AI-Enabled CX Represents a Financial Opportunity

The way AI is used in customer experience is much more than just a way to deflect customers’ questions and complaints to an AI-fueled chatbot or other self-service solution. Qualtrics’ report findings show that the value comes through increased employee productivity, process improvement and revenue growth. Zdatny notes a gap between leadership’s recognition of AI’s potential and their readiness to lead and make a change. Early adopters will likely capture “compounding advantages,” as every customer interaction makes their systems smarter and their advantage more difficult for competitors to overcome. My response to this is that if you aren’t on board with AI for the many opportunities it creates, you’re not only going to be playing catch-up with your competitors, but also having to catch up with the market share you’re losing.

Customers Want Convenience

While overall CX quality is improving, thanks to innovation, today’s customers have less tolerance for friction and mistakes. A single bad experience can cause customers to defect. My customer experience research says an average customer will give you two chances. Zdatny says, “Customers are less tolerant of friction these days. … Deliver one bad experience, and that sends the relationship down a bad path more quickly than it used to.”

AI Takes Us Beyond Surveys

Customer satisfaction surveys can frustrate customers. AI collects the data from interactions between customers and the company and analyzes it using natural language processing and sentiment. It can predict churn and tension. It analyzes customer behavior, and while it doesn’t look at a specific customer (although it can), it is able to spot trends in problems, opportunities and more. The company that uses this information the right way can reap huge financial rewards by creating a better customer experience.

Agentic AI

Agentic AI takes customer interactions to a new level. As a customer interacts with AI-fueled self-service support, the system can do more than give customers information and analyze the interaction. It can also take appropriate action. This is a huge opportunity to make it easier on the workforce as AI processes action items that employees might otherwise handle manually. Think about the dollars saved (part of the $860 billion) by having AI support part of the process so people don’t have to.

Customer Loyalty is at Risk

To wrap this up, Zdatny and I talked about the concept of customer loyalty and how vulnerable companies are to losing their most loyal customers. According to Zdatny, a key reason is the number of options available to consumers. (While there may be fewer options in the B2B world, the concern should still be the same.) Switching brands is easy, and customers are more finicky than ever. Our CX research finds that typical customers give you a second chance before they switch. A loyal customer will give you a third chance — but to put it in baseball terms, “Three strikes and you’re out!” Manage the experience right the first time, and keep in mind that whatever interaction you’re having at that moment is the reason customers will come back—or not—to buy whatever you sell.

Image Credits: Pexels

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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Don’t Make Customers Do These Seven Things They Hate

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Don't Make Customers Do These Seven Things They Hate

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Recently, I had an experience with a company and thought, “I hate this … Why do they make me do this?” This question wasn’t because of curiosity. No, I was thinking that this is something other customers must hate as well, but they make them do it anyway. So, I started a personal brainstorming session to list various processes, requirements, policies, rules, and more that cause customers to question why they continue to do business with these companies. Of course, my mind immediately went to customer service and experience issues, but there’s much more. With that in mind, here are seven practices, steps, processes, and policies that customers hate, but companies make them do it anyway.

Customers Hate:

  1. To Wait – Long hold times and long lines are frustrating and send negative messages, such as the customer’s time isn’t valued or the company is understaffed.
  2. Repeating Anything – Calling customer support and being passed around to different people, having to repeat your story again and again, isn’t fun. Nor is filling out forms that repeat the information you’ve already filled out on previous forms.
  3. Finding Hidden Fees – A stated price should be the price – with no extra fees. I recently checked into a hotel. They told me I had a $30 food and beverage credit as part of my stay – a nice surprise. Upon checking out, I noticed a $30 charge referred to as a “Destination Fee.” I asked about it, and the clerk said it was to cover the $30 food and beverage credit.
  4. Filling Out Bad Surveys – Customers are learning to dislike surveys, especially if they are long. There are right and wrong ways to do surveys. And a bad survey shouldn’t be the last thing a customer experiences when doing business with you.
  5. Listening to Complicated Phone Options – If you’ve called a company and been told to “listen to the following as our options have changed,” so you listen to the many options, and once you choose one, there are even more options … Well, I think you get the picture. There’s better technology to get the customer to the right person or the information they need.
  6. Annoying Pop-Up Windows – If you’ve been on a website and are reading information or an article and pesky pop-up windows keep interrupting you with irrelevant messages and advertising, you’re a victim of annoying pop-up windows.
  7. Anything that Requires Unnecessary Effort – Maybe you have a simple request or question. Why should it take a long time to fill out forms, answer unnecessary questions or more to get an answer?

There is a theme to this list. All of these imply the company doesn’t respect the customer’s time, energy, and effort. The goal should be the opposite: to respect and value your customer’s time, energy, and effort. Don’t create friction and put customers through anything more than necessary to get them what they want. In short, have a goal to be the easiest company to do business with. If you’re serious about it, you’ll find ways to eliminate and mitigate friction. And this list is far from complete. There are many, many other things customers hate doing.

So, here’s your assignment. Sit down with your team and brainstorm all the things they hate to do when doing business with any company. Then, ask what they think customers might hate about doing business with you. This can be processes, steps, policies, and more. Once you have the list, you know what to do. Eliminate all that makes doing business with you painful – or at least make some of the less painful. Don’t make your customers do things they hate doing!

Image Credits: Shep Hyken, Pixabay

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The Secret to Endless Customers

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The Secret to Endless Customers

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Marcus Sheridan owns a pool and spa manufacturing company in Virginia — not a very sexy business, unless you consider the final product, which is often surrounded by beautiful people. What he did to stand out in a marketplace filled with competition is a masterclass in how to get noticed and, more importantly, get business. His most recent book, Endless Customers, is a follow-up to his bestselling book They Ask, You Answer, with updated information and new ideas that will help you build a business that has, as the title implies, endless customers.

Sheridan’s journey began in 2001 when he started a pool company with two friends. When the 2008 market collapse hit, they were on the verge of losing everything. This crisis forced them to think differently about how to reach customers. Sheridan realized that potential buyers were searching for answers to their questions, so he decided his company would become “the Wikipedia of fiberglass swimming pools.”

By brainstorming every question he’d ever received as a pool salesperson and addressing them through content online, his company’s website became the most trafficked swimming pool website in the world within just a couple of years. This approach transformed his business and became the foundation for his business philosophy.

In our interview on Amazing Business Radio, Sheridan shared what he believes is the most important strategy that businesses can use to get and keep customers, and that is to become a known and trusted brand. They must immerse themselves in what he calls the Four Pillars of a Known and Trusted Brand.

  1. Say What Others Aren’t Willing to Say: The No. 1 reason people leave websites is because they can’t find what they’re looking for — and the top information they seek is pricing. Sheridan emphasizes that businesses should openly discuss costs and pricing on their websites. While you don’t need to list exact prices, you should educate consumers about what drives costs up or down in your industry. Sheridan suggests creating a comprehensive pricing page that teaches potential customers how to buy in your industry. According to him, 90% of industries still avoid this conversation, even though it’s what customers want most.
  2. Show What Others Aren’t Willing to Show: When Sheridan’s company was manufacturing fiberglass swimming pools, it became the first to show its entire manufacturing process from start to finish through a series of videos. They were so complete that someone could literally learn how to start their own manufacturing company by watching these videos. Sheridan recognized that sharing the “secret sauce” was a level of transparency that built trust, helping to make his company the obvious choice for many customers.
  3. Sell in Ways Others Aren’t Willing to Sell: According to Sheridan, 75% of today’s buyers prefer a “seller-free sales experience.” He says, “That doesn’t mean we hate salespeople. We just don’t want to talk to them until we’re very, very, ready.” Sheridan suggests meeting customers where they are by offering self-service options on your website. For his pool and spa business, that included a price estimator solution that helped potential customers determine how much they could afford — without the pressure of talking to a salesperson.
  4. Be More Human than Others Are Willing to Be: In a world that is becoming dominated by AI and technology, showing the human side of a business is critical to a trusting business relationship. Sheridan suggests putting leaders and employees on camera. They are truly the “face of the brand.” It’s okay to use AI, just find the balance that helps you stay human in a technology-dominated world.

As we wrapped up the interview, I asked Sheridan to share his most powerful idea, and the answer goes back to a word he used several times throughout the interview: Trust. “In a time of change, we need, as businesses, constants that won’t change,” Sheridan explained. “One thing I can assure you is that in 10 years, you’re going to be in a battle for trust. It’s the one thing that binds all of us. It’s the great currency that is not going to go away. So, become that voice of trust. If you do, your organization is going to be built to last.”

And that, according to Sheridan, is how you create “endless customers.”

Image Credits: Shep Hyken

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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Four Keys to a World-Class Customer Experience

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Four Keys to a World-Class Customer Experience

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

I’m going to start this article with a theme I’ve preached for years: When it comes to customer service and experience, our customers no longer compare us just to our competitors. Their mental benchmark, whether they know it or not, comes from the best experience they have had from any company or brand. It’s companies like Amazon, Apple, Costco, Chick-fil-A, and others that excel in providing an experience that gets customers to come back, that become our customers’ standard for service. When they have anything other than a positive experience, they may say something like, “Why can’t they be as good as _____?” (Fill in the blank with their favorite company.)

With that in mind, I’d like to offer up the idea that if we focus on creating an experience based on trying to be better than a competitor, and that may mean you are the best in your industry, it still may not meet a customer’s expectations. All you are is the best dog in a horse race.

Being best in your industry means best in class, but as I just mentioned, it may not be enough. What you want to do is start comparing yourself – as in your company – to the obvious customer experience leaders. No, you may not be able to do what Amazon or Apple do, but using them as a model can help you move from best in class to world class.

Best in Class Shep Hyken Cartoon

So, how can you make this shift? Start by identifying what makes world-class companies so appealing to their customers. In my annual customer service and customer experience (CX) research, we find the best companies and brands share certain traits:

  1. Consistency – Customers can predict their experience every time. It’s not great one time and the next time just average. Consistency creates predictability, and if the consistent experience is what customers want and know they will get, they come back.
  2. Quick Response – Whether it’s Amazon’s instant confirmation emails or a faster-than-expected returned phone call or email, customers love it when the companies they do business with are fast in their communication.
  3. Empowered Employees – Your customers are frustrated when they are dealing with employees who aren’t allowed to make decisions. If you hire good people and train them well, let them do their job. Not only will customers be happy, but your employees will appreciate the company they work for even more.
  4. Friction-Free – I wrote an entire book on this topic, The Convenience Revolution. Find ways to be easy to do business with. Eliminate anything that is a hassle or has friction associated with it.

Here’s why I love these ideas. You don’t have to be Amazon or Apple to implement any of these. Any company, regardless of size or industry, can do this. You don’t need a technology budget to respond to customers quickly or empower your team.

Look at your customer journey and ask: What would world-class companies, such as Amazon, do at this touch point?” Or, “How would Apple handle this situation?” This exercise can reveal the opportunities you might miss when you’re only comparing yourself to your direct competitors.

Image Credits: Pixabay

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You Need to Know What Your Customers Think of AI

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You Need to Know What Your Customers Think of AI

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Ten years ago, only the most technologically advanced companies used AI — although it barely resembled what companies use today when communicating with customers — and it was very, very expensive. But not anymore. Today, any company can implement an AI strategy using ChatGPT-type technologies, often creating experiences that give customers what they want. But not always, which is why the information below is important.

The 2025 Findings

My annual customer service and customer experience (CX) research study surveys more than 1,000 U.S. consumers weighted to the population’s demographics of age, gender, ethnicity and geography. It included an entire group of questions focused on how customers react to and accept (or don’t accept) AI options to ask questions, resolve problems and communicate with a company or brand. Consider the following findings:

  • AI Success: Half of U.S. customers (50%) said they have successfully resolved a customer service issue using AI or ChatGPT-type technologies without needing human assistance. In 2024, only three out of 10 customers (32%) did so. That’s great news, but it’s important to point out that age makes a difference. Six out of 10 Gen-Z customers (61%) successfully used AI support versus just 32% of Boomers.
  • AI Is Far From Perfect: Half of U.S. customers (51%) said they received incorrect information from an AI self-service bot. Even with incredible improvement in AI’s capabilities, it still serves up wrong information. That destroys trust, not only in the company but also in the technology as a whole. A few bad answers and customers will be reluctant, at least in the near term, to choose self-service over the traditional mode of communication, the phone.
  • Still, Customers Believe: Four out of 10 customers (42%) believe AI and ChatGPT can handle complex customer service inquiries as effectively as humans. Even with the mistakes, customers believe AI solutions work. However, 86% of customers think companies using AI should always provide an option to speak or text with a real person.
  • The Phone Still Rules: It’s still too early to throw away phone support. My prediction is that it will be years, if ever, that human-to-human interactions completely disappear, which was proven when we asked, “When you have a problem or issue with a company, which solution do you prefer to use: phone or digital self-service?” The answer is that 68% of customers will still choose the phone over digital self-service. That number is highly influenced by the 82% of Baby Boomers who choose to call a company over any other type of digital support.
  • The Future Looks Strong For AI Customer Support: Six out of 10 customers (63%) expect AI-fueled technologies to become the primary mode of customer support. We asked the same question in 2021, and only 21% of customers felt this way.

The Strategy Behind Using AI For CX

  • Age Matters: As you can see from some of the above findings, there is a big generational gap between younger and older customers. Gen-Z customers are more comfortable, have had more success, and want more digital/AI interactions compared to older customers. Know your customer demographics and provide the appropriate support and communication options based on their age. Recognize you may need to provide different support options if your customer base is “everyone.”
  • Trust Is a Factor: Seven out of 10 customers (70%) have concerns about privacy and security when interacting with AI. Once again, age makes a difference. Trust and confidence with AI consistently decrease with age.

The Future of AI

As AI continues to evolve, especially in the customer service and experience world, companies and brands must find a balance between technology and the human touch. While customers are becoming more comfortable and finding success with AI, we can’t become so enamored with it that we abandon what many of our customers expect. The future of AI isn’t a choice between technology and humans. It’s about creating a blended experience that plays to the technology’s strengths and still gives customers the choice.

Furthermore, if every business had a 100% digital experience, what would be a competitive differentiator? Unless you are the only company that sells a specific product, everything becomes a commodity. Again, I emphasize that there must be a balance. I’ll close with something I’ve written before, but bears repeating:

The greatest technology in the world can’t replace the ultimate relationship-building tool between a customer and a business: the human touch.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.

Image Credits: Google Gemini

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