Happy Friday! Here’s our picks for the best customer service, customer experience and mobile articles of the week, in no particular order.

A 9-Point Checklist to Make Every Customer Support Interaction Awesome by Len Markidan

A lot of customer support interactions these days are anything but awesome. Agents call customers disparaging names or don’t let customers cancel their service. Customers get fed up trying to get help with an issue and defect to another company. Things can be pretty bleak, but not to worry! Len Markidan of help desk platform Groove has your back with a 9-point checklist to make every interaction awesome. One of his suggestions is using the ELI5 Technique, where you explain an issue to someone like they’re five years old. This way, the customer has a clear understanding of what’s going on, however technical it may be, and said customer comes away happy.

Ten Concrete Ways to Improve Customer Experience by Reliance Star

According to research from Forrester, 80% of companies want to use customer service/experience as a way to differentiate themselves from their competition. Unfortunately, some companies don’t deliver great customer experiences and need some help making things right. Luckily, there are some things they can do. As payment services provider Reliance Star explains, one of the best ways to improve customer experience is to add a personal touch. If you have a customer’s name in your database, use it in your communications. Taking the extra step to personalize those interactions leads to a better customer experience.

How to Use CRM to Improve the Customer Experience by Zarema Plaksij

Almost every company today uses some form of CRM, or customer relationship management system. The big one that comes to mind is Salesforce, but there are lots of different options available. Regardless of which one you choose, all have the same goal—to help you create a connection with customers. In a recent blog post for SuperOffice, Zarema Plaksij explains that you can create a connection with your customers by listening to their needs. Monitor customer feedback across social channels or email, then use that information to help make their experience better.

What Customer Service Can Learn From Millennials and Pop Culture by Kristen Stippich

Millennials don’t spring to mind as a fount of customer service knowledge, but consider this—millennials make up 25% of America’s total population, with $200 billion in annual buying power. They’re a demographic that shouldn’t be overlooked, something that Airfoil Group’s Kristen Stippich explains in her Business2Community post. One of her suggestions is to understand the audience makeup and connect to them with pop culture references. (As a millennial, I can 100% say that this is the way to go).

To learn more about providing customers with a great omnichannel experience, download the whitepaper here.