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

You Need to Know What Your Customers Think of AI

Leave a reply

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

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Customer Experience is Changing

Leave a reply

If You Don’t Like Change, You’re Going to Hate Extinction

Customer Experience is Changing

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Depending on which studies and articles you read, customer service and customer experience (CX) are getting better … or they’re getting worse. Our customer service and CX research found that 60% of consumers had better customer service experiences than last year, and in general, 82% are happy with the customer service they receive from the companies and brands with which they do business.

Yet, some studies claim customer service is worse than ever. Regardless, more companies than ever are investing in improving CX. Some nail it, but even with an investment, some still struggle. Another telling stat is the growing number of companies attending CX conferences.

Last month, more than 5,000 people representing 1,382 companies attended and participated in Contact Center Week (CCW), the world’s largest conference dedicated to customer service and customer experience. This was the largest attendance to date, representing a 25% growth over last year.

Many recognized brands and CX leaders attended and shared their wisdom from the main stage and breakout rooms. The expo hall featured demonstrations of the latest and greatest solutions to create more effective customer support experiences.

The primary reason I attend conferences like CCW is to stay current with the latest advancements and solutions in CX and to gain insight into how industry leaders think. AI took center stage for most of the presentations. No doubt, it continues to improve and gain acceptance. With that in mind, here are some of my favorite takeaways with my commentary from the sessions I attended:

AI for Training

Becky Ploeger, global head of reservations and customer care at Hilton, uses AI to create micro-lessons for employee training. Hilton is using Centrical’s platform to take various topics and turn them into coaching modules. Employees participate in simulations that replicate customer issues.

Can We Trust AI?

As excited as Ploeger is about AI (and agentic AI), there is still trepidation. CX leaders must recognize that AI is not yet perfect and will occasionally provide inaccurate information. Ploeger said, “We have years and years of experience with agents. We only have six months of experience with agentic AI.”

Wrong Information from AI Costs a Company Money—or Does it?

Gadi Shamia, CEO of Replicant, an AI voice technology company, commented about the mistakes AI makes. In general, CX leaders are complaining that going digital is costing the company money because of the bad information customers receive. Shamia asks, “How much are you losing?” While bad information can cause a customer to defect to a competitor, so does a bad experience with a live customer service rep. So, how often does AI provide incorrect information? How many of those customers leave versus trying to connect with an agent? The metrics you choose to define success with a digital self-service experience need to include more than measuring bad experiences. Mark Killick, SVP of experiential operations at Shipt, weighed in on this topic, saying, “If we don’t fix the problems of providing bad information, we’ll just deliver bad information faster.”

Making the Case to Invest in AI

Mariano Tan, president and CEO of Prosodica says, “Nothing gets funded without a clear business case.” The person in charge of the budget for customer service and CX initiatives (typically the CFO in larger companies) won’t “open the wallet” without proof that the expenditure will yield a return on investment (ROI). People in charge of budgets like numbers, so when you create your “clear business case,” be sure to include the numbers that make a compelling reason to invest in CX. Simply saying, “We’ll reduce churn,” isn’t enough. How much churn—that’s a number. How much does it mean to the bottom line—another number. Numbers sell!

Final Words: Love Change, or Else

Neil Gibson, SVP of CX at FedEx, was part of a panel and shared a quote that is the perfect way to end the article. AI is rapidly changing the way we do business. We must keep up, or else. Gibson quoted Fred Smith, the first CEO and founder of FedEx, who said, “If you don’t like change, you’re going to hate extinction.” In other words, keep up or watch your competition blow past you.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.

Image Credits: Pixabay

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Customers Love These Five Words

Leave a reply

Customers Love These Five Words

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

“So you don’t have to …” These five words are powerful, and whether or not customers realize it, they love them.

Think about what makes certain companies stand out from their competitors. Is it their product? Is it price? These matter, but as I’ve been preaching for decades, the differentiator is the customer experience. And specifically, the experience I want to focus on in this article is convenience.

These five words, “So you don’t have to,” form a statement that embodies the essence of creating a convenient customer experience. When companies take on certain responsibilities, eliminate friction points and other tasks to make the buying process easier for a customer, they are sending a message to their customers that says, “We’ll handle this so you don’t have to.”

Amazon delivers packages to your doorstep … so you don’t have to drive to the store.
Online grocery delivery services shop for your food and deliver it … so you don’t have to spend time in the store, pushing the cart, waiting in line to check out, and like Amazon, you don’t even have to drive to the store.
Auto-renewal subscriptions charge you automatically … so you don’t have to remember to re-subscribe.

Shep Hyken Five Words Cartoon

I can go on with numerous examples. The So You Don’t Have To experience is about making it easy for your customers and saving them time, energy and effort. My annual customer service and experience research consistently shows that convenience is a major driver of customer loyalty. In fact, 66% of customers say convenience is more important than friendly service, and 58% of customers are willing to pay more for it.

So, how can you deliver the So You Don’t Have To experience to your customers? Here are four ideas to get you started:

Identify Your Customers’ Friction Points – Identify any areas of stress or effort in your process that can be changed or eliminated to make it easier for your customers.
Practice Proactive Service – Train your team to solve customers’ problems proactively before they contact you – ideally before they even know there is a problem. Examine the reasons for these problems and find ways to eliminate them altogether.
Become Your Customer – Look at your processes as if you are the customer. Mystery shop your own business and experience what your customers experience.
Don’t Be Shy – If you’re going to make it easy for your customers, let them know. Explain why doing business with you is different.

Every time you remove a step, eliminate a form, reduce waiting time or simplify a process, you’re telling the customer you value their time. Whether the words are explicitly stated or implied through your actions, you’re saying, “We’ll handle this … so you don’t have to.”

Image Credits: Unsplash, Shep Hyken

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

The Tricky Business of Tariffs

Leave a reply

The Tricky Business of Tariffs

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Tariffs are creating havoc and panic for both customers and businesses. Depending on what you read, the cost-of-living increase for the average consumer can be thousands of dollars a year. And it’s the same for business, but often at a much higher cost. Anything a business purchases to run its day-to-day operations is potentially exposed to higher prices due to tariffs. Whatever businesses buy—supplies, inventory, equipment and more—when it costs them more, that cost is passed on to their customers.

This isn’t the first time there has been “tariff panic.” As recently as 2018, there were tariffs. I wrote a Forbes article about an e-bike company that was forced to raise its prices due to a 25% import tariff. The company was open about the reasons for the price increase and embraced the problem rather than becoming a victim of it. Here are some ways to manage the impact of tariffs:

Be Transparent: Everyone may know about the tariffs, but explaining how they are impacting costs will help justify the price increase. In other words, don’t hide the fact that tariffs are impacting your costs.
Partner with Vendors: Ask vendors to work with you on a solution to lower costs that won’t hit their bottom lines. If you buy from a vendor every month, maybe it’s less expensive to buy the same amount but ship quarterly instead of monthly. Work with them to find creative ways to reduce costs. This can benefit everyone.
Improve Efficiency to Offset Costs: If you’ve thought about a way to improve a process or efficiency but haven’t acted on it, now may be the perfect time to do so. Sometimes being forced to do something can work in your favor. And be sure to share what you’re changing to help reduce costs. Customers may appreciate you even more.
Add Value Instead of Just Raising Prices: When price increases are unavoidable, find a way to justify the higher cost. It could include anything—enhanced customer service, a loyalty rewards program, a special promotion and more. Customers may accept paying more if they feel they are getting more value in return.

What NOT to do:

Don’t Take Advantage of Customer Panic: As I write this article, people are going to car dealerships to buy cars before the prices increase and finding that the dealers are selling above the retail sticker price because of the demand. Do you think a customer will forget they were “gouged” by a company taking advantage of them during tough times? (That’s a rhetorical question, but just in case you don’t know the answer … They won’t!)
Don’t Say, “It’s Not my Fault”: Even when price increases are beyond your control, don’t be defensive. This can give the impression of a lack of confidence and lack of control that can erode the trust you have with your customers.
Don’t Say, “It’s the Same Everywhere You Go”: If the customer understands tariffs, they already know this. Stating you have no choice isn’t going to make the customer feel good. Go back to the list of what you can do and find a way to avoid this and the “it’s not my fault” response.

Customers want to hear what you’re doing to help them. They also like to be educated. Knowledge can give the customer a sense of control. Demonstrating genuine concern for the situation and sharing what you’re doing to minimize the impact of tariff-related price increases builds trust that will pay dividends long after the current economic challenges have passed.

Image Credits: Unsplash, Shep Hyken

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Bringing a Hospitality Mentality to Customer Experience

1 Reply

Bringing a Hospitality Mentality to Customer Experience

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Want to know the secret to creating an amazing customer experience? It’s simpler than you might think. I recently interviewed Michael Cecchi-Azzolina on my podcast, Amazing Business Radio, and his answer was refreshingly straightforward: “Be kind. Just be nice.”

Cecchi is the owner of Cecchi’s restaurant in New York City and author of Your Table is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’. With nearly 40 years in the hospitality industry, he’s learned that kindness trumps everything else.

It’s Called “Hospitality” for a Reason

Cecchi noticed something interesting. Customers weren’t just thanking him for good service—they were specifically thanking him for his “hospitality.” This shift represents something important. People don’t just want service. They want to feel welcomed, valued and cared for.

Cecchi said, “This is new. I’ve been doing this for almost forty years, and I’ve only been hearing this the past year and a half or so.” The trend in what customers want and expect—for all industries, not just hospitality—is an experience that includes employees who are friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. That’s hospitality.

The Food or Service Question

Years ago, Cecchi interviewed for a job with legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer, who asked him a question that would stick with him for decades: “What’s more important, food or service?” After years of working with world-class chefs, Cecchi’s answer is clear: “It always came down to the service.”

His point is, you could have the best product in the world, but if your service is poor, customers won’t come back. As Cecchi put it, “If you have a surly waiter, a maître d’ who’s rude, a bartender who doesn’t acknowledge you … chances are you’re not coming back.”

My annual customer service and experience research backs this up. Every year, my survey finds that rudeness and apathy are the top reasons customers leave businesses. Sure, the product is important, but kindness — the opposite of rudeness and apathy — is what keeps them coming back.

We Don’t Sell Products—We Sell Experiences

One of my favorite quotes from our conversation was when Cecchi said, “We don’t sell food. We sell an experience. The experience begins when our front door opens. If the lights are perfect and the music is right and you’re getting this wonderful smile from the person at the door … you’re winning.” This is true for every business. You aren’t selling insurance, software or consulting services. You’re selling an experience wrapped around those things.

What does this look like in your business? What’s your equivalent of perfect lighting and the right music? It might be as simple as answering the phone with a smile in your voice or remembering a customer’s name.

The Broadway Principle

Cecchi’s first job out of high school was working at Playwrights Horizons. They had no money to pay him, but he wanted the experience. His boss knew Cecchi needed money to live, and it would be a short time before Cecchi would have to move on, so the boss got him a job at the restaurant across the street.

Cecchi compared restaurant service to Broadway theater: “This is a theater. We’ve got a script. We’ve got a set … those actors who were crushing it, they might have had a breakup that day or someone died in the family. You must put that aside.”

I call this the Broadway Principle. Legendary actor Richard Burton used to tell himself before performances (paraphrased): “Tonight, I want to be so good that I cheat the audience that was here last night.”

What if everyone, no matter their business or industry, approached customer interactions with that level of commitment?

Hiring for Heart, Not Just Experience

Cecchi’s hiring philosophy is not focused on the experience that employees have in the restaurant industry. Although that helps, he’s looking for people who genuinely love interacting with others. “I don’t hire people because of their resume,” he explained. “It takes a really special person to understand what real hospitality is.”

In 2011, I interviewed Jim Bush, former SVP of Worldwide Customer Experience at American Express. His hiring philosophy was similar. I’ll never forget his advice about hiring. Bush explained that given the choice between someone with 10 years of experience in a contact center or someone who worked at a restaurant, he’d hire the restaurant worker every time because they understood how to take care of people. In other words, they understand the hospitality mentality.

It’s All About Emotion

At its core, business is emotional. As Cecchi put it, “Restaurants are an emotional experience. People come in because they’re on a date, or celebrating a birthday or an anniversary.” Again, this isn’t just true for restaurants. Whether you’re buying a car, choosing a healthcare provider or selecting a software vendor, emotions drive decisions.

Cecchi shared a story that perfectly captures the power of hospitality: “I had six women at one table who’d been in the restaurant about 12 times. I jokingly said, ‘Thank God there are no other restaurants in New York City.’ And one of them looked at me and said, ‘Michael, there’s no restaurant in New York City that treats us the way you do here.’”

That story summarizes what we should all aim for—to be the one business that treats customers like no one else does. And it starts with something as simple as being kind, the core of the hospitality mentality.

Image Credits: Unsplash, Shep Hyken

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

When You Don’t Have What the Customer Wants

Leave a reply

When You Don't Have What the Customer Wants

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

I recently responded to a question on LinkedIn: A customer is furious about an out-of-stock item. How do you turn their frustration into satisfaction?

I added a second part to that question. What if what the customer wants is something you’ve never had in stock? Some customers might still be angry that you do not have what they want. And even if they aren’t, whether the item is out of stock or you just don’t carry it, that doesn’t mean you can’t make the customer happy.

Before we go further, let me do a very quick recap of how to deal with any upset or complaining customer. This is my five-step process for handling complaints:

Apologize for the problem.
Acknowledge what the problem is.
Discuss the resolution. (In a moment, I’ll cover this in detail.)
Accept ownership. It may not be your fault, but now you own taking care of the customer.
Act with urgency.

So, back to #3, the resolution. Is the item the customer wants temporarily out of stock? If so, when will it be in, and when can the customer expect to receive it? Giving customers information gives them a sense of control.

Shep Hyken Empty Shelves Cartoon

What if you’re out of the item and won’t get any more back in inventory? This is an opportunity to shine. If you can’t suggest a reasonable alternative, does a competitor have what the customer wants? Yes, I’m suggesting sending the customer to a competitor. Even if the sale goes to a competitor, the customer will realize you’re more interested in getting them what they want and need versus making a sale, which can go a long way in building trust that takes the relationship to a higher level.

One of my favorite examples comes from an Ace Hardware store. It was a very cold winter, and a customer was upset to find out the store was out of space heaters. Rather than say, “Sorry,” and send the customer away, the associate called a competitor, confirmed they had a space heater, and asked them to hold it for his customer. And who do you think the customer loved after that experience? (It’s a rhetorical question, but just in case you can’t figure it out … Ace Hardware!)

Any time a customer is unhappy or has a complaint, it’s an opportunity to resolve the problem and turn a Moment of Misery™ into a Moment of Magic®. For inventory issues, it’s an easy fix. Always think to yourself, even if you have to give up the sale to a competitor, “Is what I’m doing right now going to get the customer to come back?” When you have the customer’s best interest in mind, they will!

Image Credits: Unsplash, Shep Hyken

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

I Quote Dead People

Leave a reply

I Quote Dead People

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

The other day, I was talking to a friend about famous movie lines. He said one of his favorite movies was The Sixth Sense starring Bruce Willis, and his favorite line came from 9-year-old Cole, played by Haley Joel Osment, who said, “I see dead people.”

I responded, “That’s funny. I quote dead people.” He looked at me strangely. He laughed. We’re both speakers, and we often use motivational quotes to emphasize our points. I told him the story of a client who felt one of my quotes was outdated. She said, “Nobody knows who you were referring to,” even though I prefaced the quote by mentioning that most of the audience wouldn’t recognize the actor I was about to quote, but that what he said was still relevant.

I could have quoted my father, my third-grade teacher, the 16th president of the United States or Aristotle, who died in 322 B.C. The point is, it doesn’t matter if the person is recognizable, living or dead. It’s what we can learn from them.

I Quote Dead People Cartoon Shep Hyken

So my line, “I quote dead people,” is now in my standard explanation prior to quoting someone who has passed and whose name may not be recognizable. Here are six of my favorite quotes I’ve used in customer service and experience keynote speeches:

Leonardo da Vinci said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Companies that are easy to do business with will win over competitors that offer complicated, cumbersome and inconvenient experiences.
Aldo Gucci said, “Quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.” Our customer service research shows that people will pay more for a quality experience.
Zig Ziglar said, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” Help your customers get what they want – not always what you want to sell them – and they will reciprocate by giving you business.
The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” There are many ways you can interpret this. I’ll go with the importance of preparation. When you have an important meeting, your customers deserve your best. Take time to prepare!
Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, said, “There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Keep that in mind each and every time you’re interacting with a customer.
Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos, said, “Customer service shouldn’t be a department, it should be the entire company.”

I’ve quoted many great minds of the past – some well-known, others less recognized. Their words can be powerful, educational and inspiring. But no matter who said them, always give credit where it’s due. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, and as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wisely said, “The time is always right to do the right thing.”

Image Credits: Gemini, Shep Hyken

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Mediocrity is the Enemy

Leave a reply

How Successful Companies Reclaim Their Competitive Edge

Mediocrity is the Enemy

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

In 1983, I read In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman. This iconic business book featured case studies of successful companies. Forty years later, many of these companies are no longer considered “excellent.” Some are no longer in business. Many organizations that once stood as industry leaders started operating on autopilot, allowing standards to slip, not paying attention to the competition and not keeping up with their customers’ expectations.

I recently interviewed John Rossman, a former Amazon executive, on Amazing Business Radio. We discussed the business challenge of sinking into mediocrity that he writes about in his new book, which he refers to as a manifesto, The Pig, the Lipstick and the Playbook of Champions.

One of the intriguing sections in his manifesto is titled The Tragic Tale of Competitive Advantage, where he refers to Kodak, Blockbuster and Xerox as “examples of once category-defining companies that could not move beyond the success that made them disrupters.” These are the types of brands whose leaders could have benefited from reading this short but powerful work.

Below are several key takeaways from our interview. These are leadership principles that can help us avoid mediocrity—or worse, failure—and improve our chances for success.

Leadership: The Pig and the Lipstick

Rossman explains that the “pig” in the title of his leadership manifesto refers to a successful business. The “lipstick” represents the lies we tell ourselves. For example, leaders say, “Next year, we’ll grow more.” “Next year, we won’t disappoint customers.” “Next year we’ll innovate.” These lies create two challenges that businesses face today:

Once a company becomes successful, it has an increasingly difficult time reinventing its value proposition.
A gradual acceptance of mediocrity in how the employees work together, serve customers and measure success can creep in. Over time, mediocrity doesn’t just become acceptable. It becomes the target.

Embrace Humility

To break free from mediocrity, Rossman emphasizes that change must begin with humility. Companies must be willing to admit their shortcomings, whether they’ve disappointed customers or employees or failed their own ambitions. He recommends instituting a formal Voice of the Customer program and paying close attention to disappointed customers. Rossman says, “I truly believe in humility as a starting point for change. Recognizing where we fall short with customers is crucial to being able to innovate and thrive.”

Don’t Play Defense

Rossman talked about “gold standard” companies that slipped from playing at the top of their game, including Boeing, Intel, Nike and Starbucks. Rossman referenced an interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, who summed up what happened as the company started changing its model. Schultz said, “The worst thing that a company can do, like a sports team, is start playing defense because you’re afraid to fail. That’s a disease.”

Rossman’s response to companies in that situation came from his Amazon days, when he learned about the concept of Big Bets.

Taking Big Bets

The concept of Big Bets is about ambition. Rossman explains, “The concept of big bets at Amazon is that the ‘big’ is the ambition, not the size of the bet. Everything is an experiment with the intention of winning, realizing that many won’t. Understanding that failure comes with the game of innovation is a critical mindset.”

In other words, an innovation mindset comes from running many small experiments with big intentions, knowing full well that many will fail, but also knowing that the ones that succeed will keep you competitive and can potentially transform the business. You must constantly place these bets, or your successes may eventually fall to the level of mediocrity as competition catches up and potentially passes you up.

A Perfect Ending

Toward the end of the manifesto, Rossman shares a Michelangelo quote that sums up his way of thinking and is a perfect way to end this article: “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and ache, including Boeing, Intel, Nike and Starbucks. Rossman referenced an interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, who summed up what happened as the company started changing its model. Schultz said, “The worst thing that a company can do, like a sports team, is start playing defense because you’re afraid to fail. That’s a disease.”

Rossman’s response to companies in that situation came from his Amazon days, when he learned about the concept of Big Bets.

Taking Big Bets

A Perfect Ending

This article was originally published on Forbes.com.

Image Credits: Pexels

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Turning Around Declining Customer Satisfaction

Leave a reply

Turning Around Declining Customer Satisfaction

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

One of our subscribers asked, “How can I reverse our company’s declining customer satisfaction ratings?”

Not knowing specifics about the company, its customer feedback, how long the scores have declined, and other details makes it a difficult question to answer. Still, I felt compelled to share something that could help. What I came up with is a list of three “to-dos” that any company should use to find out what’s causing a downward trend.

As I was writing down my ideas, I realized that this list could also be used to find out what is causing customer satisfaction to go up. After all, don’t you want to know why customers are happy – and then do more of the same? Think about that as you read my short list. With that in mind, we’ll focus on the question of declining customer satisfaction.

Feedback Collection Cartoon Shep Hyken

My first response was three words: Find the friction!

Often, there are specific places in the customer’s journey that cause a drop in satisfaction. I refer to those as friction points. We want to eliminate or at least mitigate them. So how do you find these places? Three ideas:

1. Mystery shop your company. If you want to find out what customers experience, become a customer of your own company. Find out what customers experience during busy times, how long they have to wait on hold, how long it takes for someone to respond to an email and more.
2. Ask your customers. Get feedback through surveys and direct communication. When you hear about a complaint, follow up directly with the customer to learn more. Don’t assume it’s a one-off situation. If it’s happening to one customer, it could happen to many.
3. Ask your employees. The people working the front line, which includes the customer support team, salespeople and anyone else who interacts directly with customers, hear customer comments, both good and bad. Have ongoing conversations with front liners to learn what they are hearing.

Learning what customers are experiencing firsthand and having conversations with customers and employees is far different than reading a report. There’s nothing wrong with a report, and I advocate for that as well, but why not both? And once you have the information, don’t just talk about it. Do something about it. Find where there’s friction. Learn what makes customers unhappy. Change what needs to be changed. Then, watch for a trend of declining complaints and start to reap the benefits of rising customer satisfaction.

Image Credits: Pexels, Shep Hyken

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.

Boring AI is the Key to Better Customer Service

Leave a reply

Boring AI is the Key to Better Customer Service

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Boring can be a good thing. When something works the way it’s supposed to, it shouldn’t be a surprise. There shouldn’t be friction or drama if a customer has a problem or wants a question answered. It should just be easy. And when it comes to customer service, “easy” and “boring” are good. The experience should just happen the way the customer wants it to happen. You might call that boring. I call that excellent.

That was the beginning of a conversation I had with Damon Covey, general manager of unified communications and collaboration for GoTo, on Amazing Business Radio. GoTo is one of the leading cloud communications companies, providing software and solutions to companies of all sizes and helping them implement AI systems that work, without the complexity and stress that can come from new technology. Covey’s goal for our conversation was to demystify AI, cutting through the noise and complexities of flashy AI and taking it down to a practical level. Boring was the word he liked to use, emphasizing it should be easy, simple and uncomplicated.

In our discussion, Covey said that large companies used to make six- and seven-figure investments to implement AI. Today, AI technology is far superior and, at the same time, much less expensive, so even the smallest companies can afford it. They can get advanced technology for hundreds of dollars, not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Covey said, “For example, a small bike shop or an automotive dealership can now provide the same advanced customer service options as large corporations.” With that in mind, here are the main takeaways from our conversation:

Conversational AI

Until recently (within the past two or three years), a basic chatbot had to follow pre-set rules. Conversational AI provides a much broader opportunity, allowing a computer to interact with people in a natural, human-like manner. Today, AI can understand and respond to customers’ questions and issues with much more flexibility. It has the capability to recognize different languages and understand fumbled phrases, much like a human would. By using conversational AI, businesses can provide 24/7 service, allowing them to respond to customer queries and schedule appointments even when the customer contacts them outside of regular business hours.

Treat AI Like a Team Member

If you hire a new employee, you train them. Treat your AI solutions the same way. Covey said that, similar to training an employee, you need to set specific parameters and provide the AI with the necessary information to ensure it stays within the scope of your business requirements. He emphasized the importance of making sure the AI only draws from the information provided by your business, such as your website, FAQ pages, product manuals, etc., rather than pulling from a source outside of your company, to maintain accuracy and relevance. Covey said that AI should be continuously optimized and trained over time to improve its performance, much like you would train and coach a human employee to expand their capabilities.

Productivity: Automating Processes

Covey talked about automating processes. Anything you do more than three times can be a candidate for AI automation. For example, AI can integrate with a business’ telecommunications system to automate the process of taking notes during calls. It can then summarize the call, put the information into the customer’s record and create a list of next steps, if appropriate. This is a simple function that helps employees be more productive. Instead of an employee typing notes and summarizing the call, AI can handle the task so the employee can move on to helping the next customer.

Augmenting the Business

AI can help businesses do things they don’t normally do, such as remain open for certain functions (like customer support) after hours. It can act as an after-hours receptionist, answering phone calls, setting appointments or providing basic information to customers after business hours. That turns a business that’s typically open during traditional hours to a 24/7 operation.

It is Easier Than You Think

At the end of the interview, Covey dropped a nugget of wisdom that is the perfect way to close this article. For many, especially smaller organizations, deciding what technology to use and how to best use AI can be a daunting decision. It shouldn’t be. Covey says, “Start with the problem you want to solve, and solve for that problem.” He added that you should start using the technology for small problems. Once you understand how it works, the more complicated issues will be easier to solve for.

And that brings us back to where we started. AI doesn’t need to be complicated or flashy. It should be boring—in a good way. Start small, focus on one problem at a time and let AI do what it’s supposed to do: make customer service easier and more efficient. When done right, your customers won’t be amazed by the AI—they’ll just be amazed by how easy it is to do business with you.

Image Credit: Unsplash

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

Sign up here to join 17,000+ leaders getting Human-Centered Change & Innovation Weekly delivered to their inbox every week.