Creating a Responsive Customer Service Strategy

#CustomerExperience leaders need to split their strategies into deliberate bottom-up and top-down approaches. Many get the bottom-up right, but they struggle with the top-down. Bottom-up strategies focus on improving customer-centric employee behaviors at scale. These approaches include #CX or empathy training for front-line workers, using Voice of Customer feedback to set touchpoint expectations based on customer feedback, and building customer-centric KPIs into individual performance appraisals. But where many CX leaders struggle is often with engaging senior leaders to influence their customer-centric behaviors. It's difficult to influence C-suite behavior, but if you're expected to improve customer-centric culture in the organization, then you cannot avoid this. Top-down strategies start with showing senior leaders how customer satisfaction impacts growth, retention, margin, and lifetime value. It also includes improving CX and VoC reporting to provide more recommendations and actions, not just findings and data. Having discussions with leaders about the importance of financial and non-financial rewards for customer-centric behaviors is another tool in the top-down toolkit. And using personas and journey maps is a vital way to convert customer and touchpoint data into a compelling story of necessary change. Don't rely on dashboards and reports to do the job of top-down CX engagement. Don't count on a couple of positive customer-centric comments from leaders as a sign of meaningful, irreversible support. And do not assume that the fact your CX job exists is evidence of senior leaders' commitment to customer experience. Part of the job for a successful CX leader is to constantly prove the value of customer-centric strategies, influence senior leader priorities, and arm decision-makers with the insight they need to make customer-centric decisions. Don't just empower your frontline workers and assume the job is done. If you aren't building a consistent dialog with executives, you're not only missing an opportunity to make the most significant customer impact but also seeding future problems that can lead to declining support, budget, and resources for customer experience initiatives. Take a comment today to identify or define your top-down and bottom-up CX strategies for 2024. If there's an imbalance, solving that now can lead to better outcomes by the end of this year.

You probably have more customer info than ever.⁣ So why can’t your team answer basic questions or make confident decisions?⁣ It’s because data lives in separate systems. Align your tools, insights & the people serving customers.⁣ ⁣ Here’s what that disconnect looks like every day:⁣ ✓ The agent answering the call can’t see the customer’s last chat.⁣ ✓ The supervisor reviewing performance can’t trace a customer issue from beginning to end.⁣ ✓ And service teams are expected to deliver great experiences without knowing what’s already been said or promised.⁣ ⁣ The path forward isn’t more tools.⁣ It’s fewer, smarter ones that are connected and accessible.⁣ ⁣ ❶ Start by mapping one customer journey with your cross-functional teams at the same table (in person if possible).⁣ ⁣ ❷ Identify where handoffs happen, where data gets lost, and where communication breaks — both internally and with the customer.⁣ ⁣ ❸ Then rebuild your systems so the right people have the right context at the right moment — without logging into five platforms or asking the customer to explain again.⁣ ⁣ That’s how you create Emotional Highs™:⁣ Not surface-level satisfaction, but a meaningful emotional lift that makes people stay, return, promote, and forgive when mistakes happen.⁣ ⁣ Loyalty isn’t driven by your tech stack.⁣ It comes from how people FEEL when every interaction is easy, efficient, and clearly built around their needs.⁣ Yes — feel. As in emotions. The thing that’s always driven buying decisions, even if companies pretend otherwise.⁣ ⁣ This isn’t a tech upgrade.⁣ It’s experience transformation.⁣ And it’s how you compete and win in today’s market.⁣ ⁣ Are YOU #DoingCXRight®?⁣ Need help with ❶ ❷❸ above? Message me. ⁣ 👉 Share + comment if you found this helpful so others can benefit.⁣ ⁣ #CX #TheFormula #Nextiva #CustomerExperience #CustomerService⁣

One thing I've noticed when working with clients and doing discovery calls is that a lot of companies are not using customer signals to be proactive instead of reactive. Being proactive rather than reactive is the key to ensuring customer satisfaction and retention. One effective strategy to stay ahead of potential issues is by documenting and understanding "customer signals" – subtle behaviors and indicators that can serve as red flags. Recognizing these signals across the organization allows businesses to engage with customers at the right moment, preventing issues from escalating and ultimately fostering a more positive customer experience. Teams should not just try to save the account once there is a request to cancel or an escalation. You need to pay attention to the signs before you hit this point. Ensuring the entire team knows what to look for means that everyone is empowered to care and improve the customer experience. Here's a list of customer behaviors that could be potential red flags, gradually increasing as they check out or consider leaving: 🔷 Reduced Engagement: Decreased interactions with your product or service. Limited participation in surveys, webinars, or other engagement opportunities. 🔷 Decreased Usage Patterns: A decline in frequency or duration of product usage. Reduced utilization of features or services. 🔷 Unresolved Support Tickets: Multiple open support tickets that remain unresolved. Frequent escalations or dissatisfaction with support responses. 🔷 Negative Feedback or Reviews: Public expression of dissatisfaction on review platforms or social media. Consistently low scores in customer feedback surveys. 🔷 Inactive Account Behavior: Extended periods of inactivity in their account. No logins or interactions over an extended timeframe. 🔷 Communication Breakdown: Ignoring or not responding to communication attempts. Lack of response to personalized outreach or engagement efforts. 🔷 Changes in Buying Patterns: Drastic reduction in purchase frequency or order size. Shifting to lower-tier plans or downgrading services. 🔷 Exploration of Alternatives: Visiting competitor websites or exploring alternative solutions. Engaging in product comparisons and evaluations. 🔷 Billing and Payment Issues: Frequent delays or issues with payments. Unusual changes in billing patterns.

The Case for Boring Excellence in Customer Success "Delight your customers" has dominated CS strategy for years. But that often gets us in trouble by trying to be a superhero to the customer. What if the conventional wisdom is wrong? Matt Dixon's research in "The Effortless Experience" revealed something counterintuitive: 96% of customers who experienced high-effort interactions became disloyal, compared to only 9% of those who had low-effort experiences. The data is clear: customers aren't leaving because you didn't delight them. They're leaving because you made their lives difficult. The effort they put forth isn’t matching the outcome. What does "effort" really mean? It's more than just UI/UX: 1️⃣ Cognitive Effort: How much mental energy customers expend understanding your product, knowing who to contact, and learning your jargon 2️⃣ Time Effort: How much customer time you consume with complex onboarding, multiple touchpoints, and manual processes 3️⃣ Emotional Effort: The stress created through uncertainty, anxiety over whether things are working, and the feeling that customers need to "stay on top of" your team Want to reduce effort? Here’s four strategies you could look into: ➡️Address the next issue preemptively • ➡️Engineer better customer language (use their words, not yours) • ➡️Create contextual self-service that appears when needed • ➡️Enable front-line judgment instead of rigid policies • The truth is that reducing customer effort is rarely exciting work. It's about fixing broken processes, streamlining communications, and removing unnecessary steps—not launching flashy new programs. It's the customer success equivalent of paying down technical debt: unglamorous but immensely valuable. In a world where everyone is busy and attention is scarce, the most valuable thing you can offer isn't another wow moment. It's giving them time back in their day.

Stop measuring your success as a CSM by your response time. Sometimes, the best strategic move is not moving at all. The bad way: ─ Jump on every request immediately ─ Treat all issues as urgent ─ Pride yourself on "instant" responses ─ Rush to product with feature requests Why? Quick responses often: ↳ Mask root causes ↳ Enable dependency ↳ Block better solutions ↳ Position you as an order-taker, not a strategist The better way: ─ Create a response framework ─ Differentiate between urgent vs. important ─ Build in strategic thinking time ─ Let customers develop problem-solving muscles Real scenario: Customer: "We need this feature ASAP!" 👎 Reactive response (immediately): "I'll escalate this to product right away!" 👍 Strategic response (after proper review): "I've reviewed your request and found three similar cases. Let me share how other teams handle this, and then we can discuss if a feature is still needed." The outcome? "Urgent" feature requests get resolved without product changes. What this leads to: ↳ Fewer repeat issues ↳ Higher customer confidence ↳ Better long-term solutions ↳ Increased self-service adoption The best part? Customers actually trust you more when they see thoughtful timing instead of reactive responses. Stop racing to be the fastest CSM. Start being the most strategic one.

Not a lot of businesses are recognizing the power of Change Management as a vehicle for enhancing customer experience efforts. Here's how to unlock the power of change management principles in the context of CX. 🎯 Understanding Customer Needs Before initiating any change, you must have a deep understanding of what your customers really want. Utilize data analytics, behavioral data, operational and financial data, customer interviews, surveys, market dynamics, competitive information, and other signals to assess and understand needs. 🤝 Aligning Objectives Leadership Alignment: Ensure that your leadership is onboard and committed to customer experience improvement. Stakeholder Involvement: Involve the frontline employees who interact with customers daily to contribute to the decision-making process. 🗓️ Planning Identify Key Changes: Prioritize which areas require change based on customer feedback and business metrics. Set Targets: Establish measurable KPIs to gauge the success of the changes you plan to implement. These should be business- and customer-driven metrics. Don't make this a metric like "increase OSAT from X to Y." 📣 Communication Internal Communication: Clearly communicate the why and the how to all internal stakeholders. This should include executives, directly impacted employees, and the broader line of business. Tailor it to the stakeholder. Customer Communication: Be transparent with customers about what changes to expect and how they will benefit. Keep them up to date on progress. 🛠️ Implementation Pilot Testing: Conduct a small-scale test of the changes to assess their effectiveness. Feedback Loop: Gather continuous feedback from customers and employees throughout the implementation process. 📊 Evaluation and Adaptation Assess Impact: Examine metrics regularly to determine whether the changes are having the intended impact. Iterate: Use data-driven insights to make necessary adjustments. 🚀 Sustaining Changes Training: Continuously train your team to adapt to new changes. Feedback Mechanisms: Keep the dialogue open with customers and employees for sustainable improvements. 👩💻 Leveraging Technology 👨💻 Data Analytics: Use analytics to pinpoint improvement areas. Communication Platforms: Use tools like Slack or Teams for internal communication. Automation: Implement bots for routine tasks. CRM Systems: Manage customer relationships digitally to gain insights. 💡 Involve Employees Effectively Employees are the face of your customer service. Include them in planning, provide training opportunities, establish regular feedback forums, and reward those who contribute to customer experience improvements. Have you applied change management principles to enhance the customer experience in your organization? What worked for you? What didn't work for you? #ChangeManagement #CustomerExperience #Leadership #DataAnalytics #EmployeeEngagement #Technology

Great customer experiences don’t happen by accident. The top CX teams are doing a few things differently. 👇 The strongest teams I’ve seen are staying close to what their customers need and keeping a close eye on what their systems might be missing. They’re making smart, focused changes that support both the customer and the agent experience. Here are 3 things I’m seeing top CX teams lean into right now: ✅ Tapping into voice data: Customer conversations are full of insight. Leading teams are using voice data to spot patterns, flag common issues, and make meaningful improvements. It’s also helping them coach more effectively and tighten up workflows. ✅ Using AI to stay consistent and responsive: AI is helping teams manage FAQs, handle routine requests, and keep up with demand, without losing that personal touch. It also frees agents up to focus on the conversations that need more attention. ✅ Coaching for confidence: The best coaching is tailored. High-performing teams are using real examples from calls and real-time insights to help agents grow, improve, and stay in sync. If you’re looking to evolve your CX strategy, these are 3 great places to start. #CustomerExperience #AI #ContactCenter

Think about the best customer service experience you’ve ever had. The issue was resolved quickly, your input mattered, and you left with more trust in the organization. Now, imagine if government services worked the same way… This doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intention. That’s what Closed-Loop Feedback (CLF) brings— it is an intentional operational customer experience framework based on industry best practice that ensures real-time responsiveness and long-term accountability to the people the organization serves. This has been the journey of customer experience team efforts that started under the first Trump administration— and there are great examples of agencies putting these practices in place and improving service delivery efficiency, billions in cost avoidance, reducing cost to serve, and greater impact to the public as a result. But so much more can be done, we have only scratched the surface… so much more can be done building on the foundations of goodness with this intentional approach… The Closed-Loop Feedback Model is an operational accountability framework that creates a continuous cycle of improvement, where real-time data drives decisions, inefficiencies are identified and addressed, and trust is rebuilt through transparency. 🔄 Micro Loop – Addresses feedback in real-time, ensuring that individual concerns are heard and resolved quickly. This prevents small issues from becoming systemic failures. 🚀 Macro Loop – Uses insights from frontline interactions to drive broader policy improvements, operational efficiencies, and service innovations. This ensures agencies evolve based on actual citizen needs, not just assumptions. By implementing Closed-Loop Feedback as part of its service delivery, government will: - Improve efficiency and effectiveness by streamlining services based on real user input. - Increase productivity by focusing resources on what matters most. - Enhance service quality through continuous iteration and innovation. - Strengthen public trust by demonstrating transparency and responsiveness. This approach modernizes government service delivery, ensuring agencies act on citizen needs. It is how we move from a reactive system to one that is responsive and proactively delivers better experiences, stronger infrastructure, and real impact for the people we serve. The future of government is citizen driven. Closing the loop builds trust and ensures the efficient and effective service delivery that citizens deserve. Thank you to all the dedicated government employees that have been part of this movement. #Leadership #Management #CustomerExperience #CX #ServiceDelivery #Accountability #Efficiency #Innovation #Modernization #Government

I used to think having world-class Customer Service while scaling was impossible. Steal these 10 customer service strategies after 20 years of iterations: 1. Customer Obsession > Competitor Obsession Stop stalking your competitors. Start OBSESSING over your customers. They're the ones paying your bills, not your rivals. 2. Let Sh*t Break At some point, you can’t be answering tickets. You’re the founder (it’s your baby, I know)… But if you’re afraid to let things break, you’ll never scale out of the weeds. You can’t protect your team. If you want to scale — let them learn to patch leaks. 3. Hire for Customer Obsession Skills can be taught. Customer obsession is in their DNA. Hire people who LIVE to serve. And train them to be f*cking rockstars. 4. Automate Mind-Numbing Tasks Human reasoning is precious. Don't waste it on repetitive, mind-numbing decisions and pushing papers. Automate everything that doesn’t need the human touch. When you free your team to focus on needle movers, things CLICK. 5. Measure EVERYTHING If you're not measuring, you're guessing. Key metrics to track: • Time from ticket open to first answer. • Overall resolution time. • Interactions until resolution. • NPS from customer service specifically. Data drives improvement. Period. 6. Go Above and Beyond (Always) Good service = the bare minimum. GREAT service = where you win loyalty. Surprise customers with solutions they didn't even know they needed. 7. Empower Your Team Critical cases need FAST action. Give your team the power to make decisions. Speed of resolution > Perfect protocol 8. Live Between 4 and 5 Stars Anything below 4 is CRITICAL. A 4.5? That's just average (5/10 internally). Strive for excellence, always. 9. Communicate Expectations CLEARLY Tell customers EXACTLY what to expect. Response times, resolution times, everything. No (unwanted) surprises = Happy (retained) customers. 10. Tier Your Customers (By Revenues) Not all customers are created equal. Segment them: • VIP heavy users. • Medium tier. • Low tier. Assign different seniorities to each. Give your best to those who give you the most. Which of these are you missing in your customer service strategy? Be honest — your growth depends on it. —— Are you done building like a lonely wolf and ready to scale faster with the right mentorship to get faster results and absolute clarity? Send me a DM and let’s scale together, faster.