Do you like to read a lot? Keep up with new thoughts in your professional field? I certainly do, especially my favorite customer service blogs. And we always end up expanding the way we look at things, the more we read.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
–Wayne Dyer
Are you continue working to find new things you love to do? Perhaps starting with your personal development? A very good idea these days … where change is the name of the game. Aim high. Explore. Stretch your boundaries.
But be sure and put learning in your skill bag.
All of these are used to remember for a growing knowledge of your enablers for success. Enablers for success that are essential for your personal and professional development and in doing what you love.
Our marketing agency focus on how to make small businesses better for successful growth. We believe growth depends on five key ingredients: creative marketing, customer service and experience, adaptation and change, your employees, and leadership.
All of these topics have important subheadings, of course, but these five ingredients are a great place to start.
While most ideas lead to nothing, some create enormous value. Calculus, the theory of evolution and the telephone made our lives better no matter who came up with them first. That’s not because of the idea itself, but what was built on top of it. Ideas only create a better future when they mix with other ideas. Innovation, to a large degree, is a combination.
The stories of Alexander Fleming and Jim Allison are instructive. In Fleming’s case, it was scientists at another lab that picked up the initial idea and did the work to make it into a useful cure. Then they went to America to work with other labs and, eventually, pharmaceutical companies to do the work needed to go from milliliters in the lab to metric tons in the real world.
Today we will begin a series on our favorite blogs on each of these topics. They are not the only ones we read; they are merely ones we try not to miss. Our first subject is customer service and customer experience.
We have three favorite bloggers that write in this field. We will tell you a little about each of them and then explain why they have become our favorites:
Customer service blogs … Bill Quiseng www.billquiseng.com
Bill Quiseng is a blogger and award-winning writer in the areas of customer service for front-line associates and customer service leadership for managers.
He has over thirty years of luxury resort/club management experience. Presently the resort manager at Marriott’s KoOlina Beach Club on Oahu, HI, Bill was the general manager of The Henry – Autograph Collection in Dearborn, MI. leading it to be ranked #1 Dearborn Hotel on TripAdvisor.com. Before that, Bill was the general manager of The Inn at Bay Harbor‐A Renaissance Golf Resort, MI.
Bill is a big believer in building strong relationships with customers, one of our hot buttons. He has been in this field his entire career with many companies and many locations across the country. As a result, he has a great network that he uses to his advantage in many awesome guest blogs.
Shep Hyken, is a customer service expert, professional speaker, and bestselling author who works with companies and organizations that want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees.
His articles have been read in hundreds of publications, and he is the author of Moments of Magic, The Loyal Customerand the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestsellers, The Cult of the Customer andThe Amazement Revolution.
This book was also recognized as a New York Times bestseller, and, his latest book, Amaze Every Customer Every Time.
Shep’s programs focus on customer service, customer loyalty, internal service, customer relations, and a motivational program titled “You Are The Magic!”
He is known for his high energy presentations, which combine important information with entertainment to create exciting presentations for his audiences.
Why I like Shep’s blog
This is an easy one. Shep tells great stories filled with many great experiences and examples. We learn the most from our and others’ experiences in a subject.
Shep’s experiences are: always interesting; so useful, the activity’s relevance is self-evident; wide-ranging, so varied, every critical thinking skill is exercised; and so effective, when the experiences themselves are forgotten, their benefits are fixed permanently in our memory.
Annette Franz http://CXjourney.blogspot.com
Annette has led Consulting Services departments for several companies that focus on improving both the customer experience and the employee experience by utilizing their software platforms to facilitate listening to and operationalizing the voice of the constituent.
She started her career in this space as a VOC consultant at J.D. Power and Associates and has been working with clients to transform their cultures and experiences for more than 20 years. She is currently Director, VOC Consulting at Confirmit.
In 2011, Annette began her blog, CX Journey™, as a way to share her learnings and experiences from the last 20 years. Her blog is currently syndicated on CustomerThink, Yahoo Small Business Advisors, FutureLab, Business2Community, and more, and she’s a guest blogger and ghostwriter for several others.
Why I like Annette’s blog
Annette has had many jobs in her continuing career in customer experience consultancy. As such she has worked with many businesses large and small on ways to improve customer experience design. Her writing is very easy to follow and represents both a world of her experiences and a large variety of interests.
The bottom line
We certainly encourage you to do some sample readings from these great blogs and tell us what you think. And better yet, refer us to some of your favorites in this field.
Do you have a lesson about making the customer experience better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add to the section below?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your customer attention and focus. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on customer focus from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of a small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.