25 customer service books, blogs, and influencers you need to know

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Customer service is a widely used concept and we are all very familiar with it. Yet, we have all seen Yelp reviews, YouTube videos and posts on social media lambasting brands, product and services. So maybe everybody thinks they know what it is, but delivering good customer service is actually hard. We have decided to make a list of the customer service books blogs and influencers we should know about if you’re into customer service.

What exactly is customer service?

What exactly is customer service and why is it important?

Great customer service is more than just saying yes to every request

As Shep Hyken states good customer service is more than doing what the customer wants. It’s taking care of the customer with personality.

The customer evolution: the nature of business-consumer relationship today

Here, author John Crossan discusses the rise of the “we want it now” consumer.

Customer Service vs Customer Experience: Is there a difference?

Customer service is considered the service you provide customers before, during and after a purchase. Customer experience is what your customer thinks about your company through any form of interaction.

Customers want better customer service

New research reveals that 98% of U.S. Consumers say Customer Service is important to them when choosing a brand and forming loyalty with it.

How to define your customer service strategy?

3 Ways Millennial-Friendly Customer Service Is Different

The style of customer service varies considerably. It is how you demonstrate that you care. It’s the words and images you use to create that relationship. It’s also the channels you use to communicate with customers.

How to win customers with a search effective knowledge base

Your software may be the best on the planet, but users would never know if they don’t know how to use it. Search effectiveness in knowledge bases is essential for users to be able to navigate your software and troubleshoot any problems they may encounter.

Customer Training is support before you need it

Among all of the ways an organization can provide support, email, phone, and community support, knowledge base, product walk-throughs), only one is designed to be available to people before they need support: Training.

The rise of the customer centric mindset

When a customer-centric organization is taking shape, everyone should formulate a mindset to simply ask themselves – “What is my contribution to my ‘customer’ today?” In a recent survey, Econsultancy found that being customer-centric is the most important characteristic in order to establish a truly “digital-native” culture

How to choose the right metrics for your support funnel

We like to think about the customer’s journey through support as a funnel. Similar to the sales funnel, you want to guide customers through their experience with your company, qualifying them as you go. This ensures that everyone gets what they need, but no additional resources are wasted when not needed.

Customer Service Influencers

Shep Hyken

Customer service expert and keynote speaker, Shep works with companies who want to build loyal relationships with their customers and employees. His focus is on delivering amazing customer service, customer engagement, managing the customer experience and creating customer loyalty

Chip Conley

Chip is the Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy at Airbnb, a keynote speaker and writer. Entrepreneur and worldwide hospitality expert, you can find him at chipconley.com. Needless to say, Chips knows a lot about customer service.

Flavio Martins

Flavio is the VP of Operations and Customer Support at DigiCert and author of Win the Customer. His passion? Architecting customer experiences and innovating customer service delivery.

Colin Shaw

Colin Shaw is the founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy, one of the world’s leading Customer experience consultancy & training organizations. Colin is an international author of five bestselling books and an engaging keynote speaker.

Bill Quiseng

Bill Quiseng, Chief Experience Officer at billquiseng.com, is a professional speaker, award winning writer and blogger in the areas of customer service, associate engagement and leadership.

Roy Atkinson

Roy Atkinson is a Support and Service Industry Analyst, Writer, Speaker. He is a senior writer and analyst at UBM America – HDI and blogs about customer service and customer experience at The Think Zone.

Chase Clemons

Chase is Support Pro at Basecamp and host of the Support Ops podcast.

Dan Gingiss and Dan Moriarty

Dan and Dan are the hosts of Focus on Customer Service podcast.They feature brands who are offering amazing customer service via social media.

Blogs to follow for customer service tips

Zendesk

The team at Zendesk has put together a great customer service blog.

Desk

A great ressource for everyone who wants to learn more about customer service tips.

Help Scout

One of the best blogs out there Help Scout will give you a lot of interesting insights into the customer service and experience. Always a good stop. Led by the talented Gregory Ciotti.

Groove HQ

The Support Blog at Groove HQ is designed to help you learn increase retention, referrals and revenue through awesome customer support.

Kayako

The team at Kayako does not only know and share a lot of great insight on customer satisfaction but also put together a curated list of tools and ressources for customer support pros: Support List. Consider it a bonus!

Customer Service Books

The Customer Support Handbook: How to Create the Ultimate Customer Experience for Your Brand

Written by Sarah Hatter, founder of CoSupport, and many more contributors, this book is a must-read. Enjoy!

The Customer Rules

Written by Lee Cockerell retired Executive VP of Operations at Disney World Ressort. The book presents the 39 essential rules for delivering sensational service.

Peak: How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow

Written by the hospitality expert Chip Conley, this book presents an innovative approach to Maslow’s pyramid of needs, from a business point of view. All chapters are not about customer service but there is a lot of very valuable insight on customer satisfaction, retention and ultimately service.

The Thank You Economy

Written by the “dude who Loves the Hustle” Gary Vaynerchuk The Thank You Economy is about something big, something greater than any single revolutionary platform. The Internet has given consumers back their voice, and the tremendous power of their opinions via social media means that companies and brands have to compete on a whole different level than they used to.

The Effortless Experience

Written by Matthew Dixon the book gives customer service tips to conquer the new battleground for customer loyalty. Enjoy!

Delivering Happiness

Written by the former Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh,the book is Zappos’ story about corporate culture with a commitment to service that aims to improve the lives of its employees, customers, vendors, and backers.

Stand out from the crowd!

Tell us your own customer service tips in the comment section, and learn how you can improve communications with your customers with Aircall.

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Published on May 17, 2016.