Guest Service

The Shepard Letter: Five Ways to Eliminate Customer Churn

In customer experience, details make the difference. Every detail either adds confidence or creates friction.

The Shepard Letter: The One Thing Most Companies Fail To Do After Receiving Customer Feedback

The best companies turn first-time customers into loyal fans who come back, spend more, and tell others about you.

When employees spend their time fixing problems that AI can’t solve, customer service ends up enhancing AI.

Customers notice when their feedback leads to improvements. Employees notice when leadership listens to them.

My three suggestions for becoming a customer-focused organization that gives customers the best experience possible.

Research from Forrester finds that companies prioritizing proactive customer experience achieve 41% faster revenue growth and 51% better customer retention than their peers. Those aren’t customer service metrics. They’re business outcomes, directly tied to leadership decisions at the top.

Customer service failures are inevitable. Learn how training and consistent recovery processes build trust and improve CX.

Every friction point you eliminate is a step toward making it easier to do business with you and easier for them to choose to come back.

The technique everyone loves to dismiss may be the most important persuasion tool a CX leader has

A few years ago, presenting customer survey results to a VP of Sales at a major technology company, I faced a familiar challenge. The results were mostly positive. Customers trusted the sales team. They rated responsiveness highly. There was just one problem: customers consistently said the salespeople did not understand their business well enough.

Answering the phone is a critical customer service skill. Learn why customers still prefer phone support and how training improves experience.

Customers want information. But that doesn’t mean they want every detail. There’s a difference. If they want more, they’ll ask.

Customers don’t decide what they think about your company based on ads or slogans. They decide based on every interaction they have with you.

Every interaction that follows reinforces that the customer made the right decision to do business with you and not your competition.

The Shepard Letter: Every Company Needs a ‘Reasonable Department’

It’s time to talk about negative reviews again. It’s been a while since I last approached this topic, and while my thoughts on how to handle negative reviews haven’t changed, they have expanded.

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. 
Maybe this has happened to you. You walk into a fast-food/quick-serve restaurant. You’re in line to order your meal. It’s now your turn. As you are looking at the list of menu items, you freeze. Maybe you are overwhelmed by the choices, or maybe you can’t decide between two items. You realize there are people in line behind you, and they are thinking, “What’s going on up there? Can’t they decide what they want?” This adds to the pressure and creates anxiety. What a terrible feeling to experience, and that obviously impacts your overall customer experience. 

According to Global Payments’ new research report, “order anxiety” is a real thing. The anxiety comes from confusion. The result is potential lost revenue.

Customers want simple, consistent customer service experiences. When done right, they drive repeat business and customer loyalty.

What if gamifying customer service wasn’t about competition where there are winners and losers, but instead, about personal performance?

The best employees and companies are the ones who turn intentions into clear expectations, consistent actions, and measurable results.

Don't penalize your most loyal customers. Here are 7 best practices to increasing customer loyalty even after a problem.

AI enables powerful customer experience personalization. Using it responsibly is key to building trust and avoiding frustration.

“It’s company policy” may be the second most expensive phrase in business. It shows customers a lack of flexibility and authority.