• Blog
• Articles
• Books
• Training
• Consulting

Articles

• Unreasonable Customer Policy Stories from a Real Customer

  Why Justified Indignation Can Lead to Losing Business

  by Irene Kopel

  Have you encountered customer-alienating policies from otherwise respected service providers? Our guest columnist, Irene Kopel, eloquently details her frustrations with ADT Security and PayPal.
  Nov. 19, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Educating a Generation of Change-Makers

  Meet Some Graduates of URDT’s Breakthrough Curriculum

  by Catherine Namwezi, Godliver Businge

  For over 25 years, Uganda Rural Development and Training (URDT) has evolved and refined an educational curriculum that empowers people to become creators, leaders, and entrepreneurs. These young women are changing our world.
  Nov. 14, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• How Good Is Apple Pay’s Ecosystem?

  How Well Does Apple Pay’s Ecosystem Meet Consumers’ and Partners’ Critical Needs?

  by Patricia Seybold

  How viable is the Apple Pay ecosystem? Will all 15 categories of players required to support mobile payments play together nicely? Will all of these partners align to support consumers’ four critical moments of truth for mobile payments?
  Oct. 31, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Framework for Evaluating Customer Service Software

  Delivering Answers and Solutions; Creating and Resolving Cases

  by Mitchell Kramer

  Use this new version of our Framework for Evaluating Customer Service Software Products to produce actionable evaluations, comparisons, and selection. It’s adaptable to every type of customer service application.
  Oct. 15, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• How Apple Pay Stacks Up

  How Well Does Apple Pay Meet Consumers’ Critical Needs?

  by Patricia Seybold

  Our preliminary Customers.com report card on the Apple Pay customer experience focuses on consumers’ four customer-critical moments of truth. Apple Pay Mobile E-Wallet earns grades from B+ in security to D in where you can use it.
  Oct. 11, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Secure for “Your Own Good!”

  Cumbersome Security Measures Create Difficult Customer Experiences

  by Ronni Marshak

  Bank of America doesn’t streamline customers’ address changes across BoA product lines. Comcast sets long, arbitrary router passwords and discourages customers from changing them—using “security” as a flimsy excuse.
  Oct. 1, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Building an Innovation Culture

  Learnings and Take-Aways from Patty’s Pioneers – Fall 2014 Meeting

  by Patricia Seybold

  For over 20 years, Patty Seybold has gathered a group of “Pioneers” with amazing track records in creating new platforms, products, and businesses. Here are practices they have in common that you can adopt to achieve similar success.
  Sep. 25, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Contractor Do’s and Don’ts

  Why Customer Experience Is So Important When Choosing a Contractor

  by Ronni Marshak

  There are a lot of missteps that service providers can make when trying to win someone’s business. Here are tips on what to do and what not to do.
  Sep. 3, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Desk.com from Salesforce.com

  Customer Service for Small and Growing Businesses

  by Mitchell Kramer

  Desk.com, from Salesforce.com, provides case, account, and knowledge management capabilities across assisted-service, self-service, and social customer service channels for very-small, small, and mid-sized businesses. Read our evaluation in this report.
  Aug. 22, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• A Community Fights for Its Right to Healthcare

  Customers Enlist Regulators to Preserve Services In Boothbay, Maine

  by Patricia Seybold

  Elderly healthcare customers on the Boothbay peninsula in Maine are seeking help from Maine’s Health & Human Services’ regulators to keep 24-hour services local. MaineHealth requires seniors to drive dangerous roads at night for help.
  Aug. 22, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• The CaringBridge Customer Ecosystem

  Millions of People and Hundreds of Companies Align around Patients’ Health Journeys

  by Patricia Seybold

  CaringBridge.org’s apps and tools help to provide emotional support during a health crisis. Using an online journal and guest book, each patient can provide updates for friends and family to track.
  Aug. 8, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Are Your Daily Deal Customers Just One-Night Stands?

  How Might You Convert Them to Loyal, Repeat Customers?

  by Ronni Marshak

  Merchants who invest in daily deal discounts to court new customers need to follow up with planned marketing campaigns or the new customers might just be a “one-night stand.”
  Jul. 31, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Apple/IBM Enterprise MobileFirst Partnership

  Will Enterprise IT Execs & Mobile App Developers Embrace IBM’s MobileFirst iOS Offerings?

  by Patricia Seybold

  This partnership to support mobile devices and apps in the enterprise is significant.  IBM will sell, support, and manage iDevices and apps that can integrate into back-end systems.
  Jul. 24, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Ten Steps that May Save (or Improve) Your Life

  Prepare Now to Engage as a Patient and/or Advocate for Someone You Love

  by Patricia Seybold

  Let Patients Help! by Dave deBronkart with Dr. Danny Sands is a valuable patient engagement handbook. This little book should be a key resource for you and your family. You’ll learn about important steps in taking charge of your own health.
  Jul. 10, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• IBM Watson Engagement Advisor

  Addressing Customer Support Using Cognitive Technology

  by Mitchell Kramer

  Through its use of cognitive technology, IBM Watson Engagement Advisor is an innovative and visionary virtual assisted-service offering, an offering that can (almost) think and learn.
  Jul. 10, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• We’ll Get Back to You

  Callback Technology Can Give Customers Back the Time They Spend Waiting to Talk to You

  by Ronni Marshak

  We all hate waiting on hold. With automated callback technology, we may never have to again! But you have to make sure that you manage your implementation well so customers are never stuck waiting for a call that never comes.
  Jul. 3, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• How Amazon’s Fire Phone Enhances Its Customer Ecosystem

  Firefly Lets You Manage the “Internet of Things”

  by Patricia Seybold

  Amazon’s Fire Phone is a significant boost to Amazon’s customer ecosystem. Mayday—24x7 customer service on your phone—sets a new bar. Firefly—identify an object and take actions—puts control of the “Internet of Things” in Fire users’ hands.
  Jun. 27, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Do You See What I See?

  Why Customer Service Reps Need to Be Able to Access What Customers Actually Saw

  by Ronni Marshak

  When customers can see information within their account pages on your website that your support agents can’t see, how can they trust your CSRs to really help when there are problems?
  Jun. 19, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• The Customer Revolution Is Coming Back!

  Customers Are on the Cusp of Retaking Control Over the Big Things that Impact Their Lives

  by Patricia Seybold

  The next customer revolution is upon us. We will regain control of things that matter most in our lives: our government, our financial well-being, our health, our jobs, our privacy, and our access to the Internet.
  Jun. 12, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments

  

• Customer Service Supplier and Product Update 1Q2014

  1Q2014 Quarterly Overview: Renewed Focus on Customer Service Integration

  by Mitchell Kramer

  Our review of customer service suppliers in Q1 2014 pinpointed a renewed focus on customer service integration. Integration of all customer-impacting information expands and streamlines the customer service experience.
  Jun. 5, 2014

  All Members

  0 comments