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

How to Make Your Customers Feels Special by Shep Hyken

For every negative customer service story in the news, there’s another one about companies going above and beyond to surprise their customers and surpass their expectations. However, those stories should be the rule, not the exception. Even if providing customer service is part of your job, day in and day out, you should still put in the effort to make each and every customer few valued and cared for. That’s not to say you need to make a big gesture every time, but you should still make sure every customer feels special. In his latest article, customer service expert Shep Hyken details the importance of providing great customer service to every customer, even if it’s started to become too routine.

No matter how long you’ve been doing what you do, no matter how many times you’ve done it, no matter if you are bored by it or still get excited about it, each time you interact with your customer, it’s your opportunity to make them feel special… as if they are your only (and most important) customer.

Every customer is an individual with different wants and needs, and they should be treated as such. If you’re able to make every customer feel special, you’ll keep them coming back for years to come.

Read the full article on hyken.com.

Three Ways You Can Create a Culture of Exceptional Customer Service by Tal Shnall

What’s the best way to improve your customer service? We recently asked 63 pros this question and each of them had great things to say. One of the top answers was to define customer service values within an organization, a sentiment that 11 customer service experts echoed in their responses. Making customer service values known throughout an organization is an important principle for any business to have, starting from the top down. In a recent blog post, leadership hospitality expert Tal Shnall outlines why it’s important for leaders to promote the importance of customer service to the rest of their business.

So as a leader, you have an obligation to set the tone for your organization to develop a culture that’s known for amazing customer service. At the end of the day, your culture must create positive experiences not only for your customers, but also for your employees.

If you’re a business leader, or even if you’re not, it’s necessary to acknowledge the important role customer service plays in an organization. In doing so, you’ll create a culture of service that customers recognize, respect and reward.

Read the full article on leadershiphospitality.com.

16 Ways to Turn Customers Into Brand Advocates by Sujan Patel

Over 80% of businesses want to use customer service to differentiate themselves from their competition, but 37% of customers at big businesses and 6% of customers at small businesses are disappointed by the service they receive. That being said, the companies that are able to master great customer service can win repeat business and gain a customer for life. In a recent article, marketing pro Sujan Patel outlines 16 ways companies can win over customers and turn them into brand advocates. One of the ways to do so is to ask for customer feedback.

Asking customers for feedback shows that you actually give a crap about what they think and intend to take action to improve what you offer them – an important step in creating brand advocates. In fact, research by Dr. Paul Dholakia and Dr. Vicki Morwitz found that simply asking customers for feedback is enough to encourage repeat business.

Asking customers for their opinion is a great way to get a sense of what they think of your business and learn what improvements they think need to be made. And more often than not, they’ll probably be right.

Read the full article on sujanpatel.com.

A Quick Guide on How to Provide Amazing Customer Service by Rob Wormley

The expectations of today’s customers are becoming increasingly technology-oriented. Almost 90% of customers expect a seamless, omnichannel service experience, and 40% of customers would prefer to use self-service to solve their problems. With that being said, how can companies keep up with customer needs while keeping costs in check? In a recent article, content marketing expert Rob Wormley writes that one of the best ways to provide great customer service is to focus on self-service.

Often times, your customers don’t need to talk to you, and would prefer not to. They’d rather find answers themselves on your website or social media pages. If you make customer service issues self-service, then you stand to save time, money, and resources.

Self-service lets companies provide quick, efficient customer service that helps customers solve problems without incurring great costs.

Read the full article on business2community.com.

Gamification: Driving Employee Engagement in Sales and Service Departments by Lucie Mitchell

Having engaged employees is key to any contact center’s success. Employees that feel motivated to do their best end up not only benefitting the company, but customers as well. One of the top ways to drive engagement in a contact center is with gamification—using gaming techniques in non-gaming situations, i.e. having employees earn a digital badge for every five out of five customer rating. In fact, 88% of contact centers are using some form of gamification. In an article for MyCustomer, Lucie Mitchell recommends that any organization interested in adding gamification start simple.

Go slowly to build up confidence and keep players keen – start with simple challenges and rewards that encourage healthy competition between players…Align gaming scenarios with business objectives to keep them real and meaningful – after all, gamification is all about supporting the business!

Gamification helps engage employees and ensures that customers are receiving the best experience possible. Customer service was never so much fun.

Read the full article on mycustomer.com.

Know a great article we missed? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to download our influencer report on the best way to improve customer service!