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

Customer Experience Failures Are a Gift

Leave a reply

Customer Experience Failures Are a Gift Pixabay

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

When things go wrong for your customer, that’s when you have the best opportunity to prove how good you really are. Anyone can look good when everything is running smoothly, but your true customer service “chops” show up during a service failure.

I recently went to a doctor’s office for an appointment. I arrived early to check in. The nurse at the desk was – no exaggeration – horrified that she had to tell me there was a glitch in the scheduling software, and my appointment had to be rescheduled. While some people might have taken a, “That’s too bad … it happens attitude,” she couldn’t have been more apologetic, showing tremendous empathy, and immediately went to work to find another time for me to return to see the doc.

I was at a restaurant and ordered a sandwich without mayonnaise. (I hate mayonnaise!) Of course, the sandwich came out slathered with mayo. The server spotted the mistake while setting the plate down in front of me. Before it even hit the table, she put it back on her tray. She served the rest of the food to everyone else at the table, and like the nurse who had to reschedule my appointment, she apologized and showed empathy. She immediately went to the kitchen to fix the problem. Several minutes later, I had a perfect sandwich.

Shep Hyken CX Failure cartoon

After both of these experiences, I received email messages asking me to complete a short survey. I gave each of these people and businesses a perfect, five-star rating. It wasn’t that they were flawless. In both cases, mistakes were made. But they each made a flawless recovery. In both situations, they didn’t offer a refund or anything for free. They just fixed the problem – but they did it with style. And when someone cares as much as these ladies did, how could I stay mad at them?

One important point: For this approach to work, problems have to be rare, not frequent, occurrences. No matter how nice employees are or how well they handle issues and complaints, if problems happen regularly, customers won’t trust the company. Excellence in recovery can only overcome occasional failures, not “systematic” ones.

I don’t need to rehash my Five Steps to Handling a Moment of Misery (Complaint), but it’s important to point out that both people handled the problems well. Rescheduling an appointment seems like a bigger issue than remaking a sandwich, but that’s not the point. The point is they both fixed the problem, and the attitude they took while doing so became even more important than the fix.

Both of these stories illustrate how, when you really care, you can win back your customer. A mistake isn’t the end of your relationship with a customer. Handled the right way, it’s an opportunity to build trust and loyalty by showing how good you really are when things don’t go according to plan.

Image credits: Pixabay, Shep Hyken

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

Does Every Customer Get Your First-Time Energy?

Leave a reply

Does Every Customer Get Your First-Time Energy?

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

While this isn’t formal research, I’ve asked many people the question, “What do you think is the most common question that customers ask employees?” I made the point that this isn’t about calling customer support; it’s a people-to-people interaction.

Almost everyone answers correctly: “Where’s the bathroom?”

If you were asked that every day – sometimes multiple times throughout the day – at what point would you start to act frustrated with any customer who asked you that question?

Here’s the point: The 50th person asking you where the bathroom is doesn’t know they are the 50th person. For them, it’s their first time asking you, and your response should make them feel that way.

This reminds me of my days performing magic shows at trade shows. One of my clients hired me for 10 straight days, during which time I performed twelve 20-minute shows daily – that’s 120 shows!

After the final show, my client asked, “How is it that after doing all of those shows throughout the week, you seem to be just as fresh as the first show?”

Feels Like the First Time Shep Hyken Cartoon

I hadn’t thought about it, but with not much thought, I answered, “I think about each audience. Everyone in the audience deserves my best effort and energy, as if they were my first. If I came off as bored or tired, I’d be letting them down, not to mention letting my client down. So, even though I may have performed the same tricks and delivered the same lines for every show, each audience – even the 120th audience after 119 shows – deserved my very best effort – my first-time energy.”

When a server at a restaurant recites the daily specials for the 12th time that night, do you want to hear them delivered with enthusiasm or with the boredom of repetition? Or maybe it’s a chef who has been asked 20 times a night for many years to prepare a dish that earned him a reputation and keeps customers coming back again and again.

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio understood this principle perfectly. The story is a perfect example of this concept. A reporter interviewed DiMaggio and asked why he played every game so hard. He replied, “Because there might have been somebody in the stands today who’d never seen me play before and might never see me again.”

The best employees, chefs, athletes, and entertainers understand that repetition is their challenge, not the customer’s problem. They find ways to keep their responses and reactions fresh, be it the first or 500th time. This mindset transforms an ordinary customer experience into something extraordinary. Every customer deserves your first-time energy.

Image credit: Pixabay

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

Small Flaws Can Taint the Entire Customer Experience

Leave a reply

Details Count

Small Flaws Can Taint the Entire Customer Experience

GUEST POST from Shep Hyken

Have you ever walked into a restaurant bathroom and found paper towels scattered on the floor or an overflowing trash can? What immediately crossed your mind? What did you think about the restaurant? For most of us, our thoughts jump to, “If they can’t keep their bathroom clean, what is their kitchen like?”

I call this the Bathroom Experience, a powerful metaphor for how seemingly minor details can dramatically impact customers’ perceptions of a business. A clean bathroom goes unnoticed because it’s expected. But a dirty one? That sends customers a message that the restaurant might be neglecting other details.

This concept extends far beyond restaurants. Before moving into my current office, I toured the building and specifically checked the bathrooms on multiple floors. The way the building maintained its bathrooms told me what I needed to know about how the property management company handled details throughout the rest of the building.

The concept also extends beyond restrooms. Recently, I checked into a higher-end hotel, and as I was relaxing on my bed, I looked up and noticed thick dust coating the air vents. I found myself wondering what I would breathe in throughout the night. We could refer to this as the Vent Experience.

Dirty Bathroom Shep Hyken Cartoon

These mismanaged details are oversights that create a ripple effect. When a customer picks up a rental car and discovers the glove compartment won’t stay closed, they might wonder, “If they missed this, I wonder if they checked to make sure the brakes were working properly.”

Many years ago, my assistant sent a performance agreement to a client who booked me for a speech. The client called me to discuss canceling the booking. It turns out the agreement had a number of typos and punctuation errors. I was shocked and embarrassed. It turns out my assistant accidentally sent the draft she was working on instead of the final version. I apologized and explained what happened. Fortunately, the client accepted the explanation, but I’ll never forget his comment, which made me realize how important little details are. He said, “I am hiring someone who is supposed to be a good communicator. The document you sent had so many errors, I questioned your ability to do the job.” Ouch! That hurt, but he was 100% correct.

Here’s the point: Details that seem insignificant to you might concern your customers. For some, these examples cause customers to make assumptions about other things that they can’t see.

So, what’s your version of the Bathroom Experience? What small detail is your team overlooking that customers notice and use to judge you and your business? Finding and fixing these details doesn’t just solve small problems; it prevents customers from imagining bigger ones.

Image credit: Pixabay

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

The Reasons Customers May Refuse to Speak with AI

Leave a reply

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

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

Creating Memorable Experiences to Drive Loyalty

Leave a reply

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

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

Don’t Adopt Artificial Incompetence

Leave a reply

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.

Image Credits: 1 of 950+ FREE quote slides available at http://misterinnovation.com

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com

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

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

Leave a reply

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

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

Doing the Basics Can Be Surprising

Leave a reply

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.

HALLOWEEN BONUS: Save 30% on the eBook, hardcover or softcover of Braden Kelley’s latest book Charting Change (now in its second edition) — FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE — using code HAL30 until midnight October 31, 2025

Image Credits: Pexels

This article was originally published on Forbes.com

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

Are You Getting Your Fair Share of $860 Billion?

Leave a reply

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

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

Don’t Make Customers Do These Seven Things They Hate

Leave a reply

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

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