Customer service

The case for eschewing the traditional approach to customer satisfaction measurement.

Rene Carayol of Cass Business School explains how First Direct's commitment to customer service saved a life on 9/11.

It's all about reducing friction.

How B2B giant Thomson Corporation reinvented itself by embracing a P&G mind-set.

As technology becomes more powerful and affordable, your company is only limited by its imagination.

The past year has seen near-constant revelations of large, well-respected institutions suffering cyber-attacks. The most damaging attacks, however, often never make it into the media. Yes, political hacktivists brag about Web pages defaced and customer information released over the Internet, but companies rarely reveal the attacks that result in the loss of valuable intellectual property […]

While management skills can improve service systems, a manager is better off if he or she first has a clear understanding of the operating characteristics that set one service system apart from another. This author offers one view of services, which, if followed, results in a “rational approach to the rationalization” of services. His view, […]

This post is part of Creating a Customer-Centered Organization. How well do you know your customers? We’re guessing not as well as you would like to … and not as well as you’ll need to in the future. Understanding customers has never been more important as empowered, fickle consumers take less notice of your marketing […]

Google shows extreme disinterest in customer service but that won’t fly with its new acquisition.

The best stay attuned to their customers’ signals in the social graph.

Your strategy should be driven by relationship-building - not shiny new tech.

Patients want to talk about their treatment in different ways.

Researchers found that service agents yield better results when they use warm language to start and end conversations, focusing on problem-solving in...

Most fears about guaranteeing service are groundless. But offering a weak guarantee won't lead to success. The best guarantee is unconditional, meaningful,...

The "broken windows" theory of crime prevention--pay attention to the details--pertains to companies, too.

And why it’s “reprehensible,” for both employees and customers.

I have been a consistent user of social media for many years. I've used Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and now Google+ to conduct research, network, and...

At Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the field managers, not the corporate executives, hold the key to providing quality service.

It's reshaping how we think of service.

Four recommendations to improve the (virtual) doctor-patient relationship.