customer experience
AI May Make Mistakes, But It Won’t Shoot a Customer
Shep Hyken | July 25, 2024
Customers are not yet 100% comfortable with AI technology. It still makes mistakes, which is frustrating. Consider these findings from our annual customer service and CX research (sponsored by RingCentral): 70% of customers said they would rather use the phone than self-service solutions including AI-fueled technologies like ChatGPT or voice recognition software. 63% of customers are frustrated when using AI or ChatGPT technologies. 56% of customers admit to being scared of AI and ChatGPT. Even with customers’ concerns and trepidation about interacting with an AI-fueled chatbot or voice recognition technol...
Don’t Throw Fellow Employees Under the Bus
Shep Hyken | July 18, 2024
By Shep Hyken I couldn’t hold back. I told an employee to stop complaining about her fellow employees in front of us, her customers. Here’s the story. My wife and I were at a restaurant. The server seemed pleasant and professional, but as our food was delivered, we saw a different side of her. There was a mistake in the order. The side dishes we received were not the ones we chose. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. She could either take our meals back to the kitchen or let us keep our meals and bring out the side dishes we ordered. But to the server, it was a big deal. She started to complain about how this happens “...
The Heart of a Leader
Dr. Bryan K. Williams | July 11, 2024
Why should anyone follow you? Anywhere? Seriously, that is the question that leaders must ask themselves. John Maxwell wrote, "If you think you are leading, and no one's following, then you’re just taking a walk. A cynic might ask, "who do you think you are to believe that YOU are worthy to be followed?" And if you're not careful, you might believe that only those who have been anointed with special degrees and certifications are "worthy" to lead. You might think that you're too young to lead. You might accept that you're too inexperienced to lead. You might even think that you're not competent enough to lead. All of those thing...
Dr. Bryan K. Williams Inspires HITEC Charlotte Attendees With Engaging Keynote
Dr. Bryan K. Williams | July 10, 2024
Washington DC (July 10, 2024): HITEC North America recently held its conference and exposition on June 24-27 at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte. It attracted over 5,900 industry professionals, making it the largest event of its kind in the world. Dr. Bryan K. Williams was the opening Headliner speaker and challenged all attendees to always set high standards, and create an engaging service culture on their teams. The topic was "Be a Mountain Climber: Tips to Overcome Any Barrier." The keynote focused on leaders who want to refocus themselves and their teams to provide a consistently engaging customer experience. Williams’ bi...
Some Customers Aren’t Worth Doing Business With
Shep Hyken | June 28, 2024
In some of my customer service speeches, I joke that some customers aren’t worth doing business with. The way I position it in the speech is funny, but in reality, it’s pretty serious. Sometimes, a customer isn’t worth doing business with because they are truly a bad customer. The result could be choosing to say, “Goodbye,” and sending them to the competition. While there are many reasons you might end your relationship with a customer, I came up with six obvious ones to get you thinking: Customers who repeatedly return products. This is often the result of a liberal return policy that some customers abuse. Repeat...
Change Requires Choice (and Work)
Shep Hyken | June 27, 2024
At the end of the CEO’s speech to his employees, he said, “And one other thing, we want to deliver better customer service.” Then he walked off stage. Delivering better customer service is a good idea, but just saying you want to do so will not make it happen. Most likely, it will remain just a good idea, because, without the right implementation, the idea will never come to anything. Nothing will change. A big part of my business is serving as a keynote speaker on customer service and CX for all kinds of companies and organizations. I always ask, “Why is this topic important to you and this audience?” Most of the time, ...
Start With YES … Even If It Doesn’t End That Way
Shep Hyken | June 13, 2024
By Shep Hyken It’s time to revisit the idea of avoiding the word “no,” but this time, I want to approach it from a different angle. First, let me tell you about my friend Dr. Nido Qubein, a devoted husband and father, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, president of High Point University, and mentor to many, who came to this country when he was 17 with little more than $50 to his name. Almost 50 years ago, he attended High Point University, never dreaming that one day he would be president of the institution, a position he accepted in 2005. Since that time, there has been incredible growth at HPU. In his first year, the universi...
Aligning Culture With the Bottom Line: How to Create a Commercial Mindset That Will Drive Revenue and Service
Andrew Rubinacci | June 11, 2024
By Andrew Rubinacci “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. Almost every person in your hotel should be aware of how sales truly impact your property. Whether at reception, working in payroll, or drawing up employee onboarding SOPs, they need to know that every day is a sales day. Selling can be a human trait, and great things start to happen when your hotel company is tuned into the commerce side of your business. It makes me think of a famous quote that...