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Each month, our print publication Customer Service Newsletter provides in-depth information and ideas to help readers better manage their service operations.

But we often have valuable background material, additional information, or related resources that we just can’t fit in the newsletter. Listed below are a wide range of documents that add further insight and understanding to the articles in Customer Service Newsletter.

Click here to learn more about Customer Service Newsletter.

February 2012

Top books of 2011 address vital customer service issues — The February issue of Customer Service Newsletter identifies its choices for the best customer service books of the past year. Click below to read excerpts.

Please Every Customer

The Ultimate Online Customer Service Guide

The Amazement Revolution

Customer Service Management Training 101

January 2012

2012 offers new trends and challenges — plus more of the same — The lead article in the January issue of Customer Service Newsletter surveys a number of customer service experts on the issues and challenges that service managers are likely to face in 2012. In the linked article, our experts offer steps that managers can take to effectively meet those challenges.

Safelite builds a customer-centric culture — The January issue of Customer Service Newsletter also examines steps that Safelite AutoGlass has taken to create a more customer-centric organization. This link is to a white paper the company prepared to describe some of the thinking behind that cultural shift.

December 2011

Revise and enhance your management skills — The December issue of Customer Service Newsletter features a discussion with Renée Evenson, author of Customer Service Management Training 101, on how customer service managers can review and improve their management skills. The following excerpt from Evenson’s book looks at how to identify your personal management style.

November 2011

Exit interviews can help reduce turnover and improve operations — In the November issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Beth Carvin of Nobscot Corp. looks at how conducting regular exit interviews can help you to identify the causes of turnover and other issues affecting productivity. In the linked article, Carvin looks at the types of questions you can ask obtain more accurate and valuable data.

October 2011

Are you getting the most from your coaching efforts? — This month, Customer Service Newsletter offers some practical advice on preparing for and conducting one-on-one coaching sessions with customer service reps. Here Charlotte Purvis of Purvis Communications Inc., offers a quick reminder sheet to help coaches get ready for their next session.

September 2011

Is it time to rethink your company’s service metrics? — In the September issue of Customer Service Newsletter, author and consultant Becky Carroll takes a critical look at traditional customer service metrics. In the material here, Carroll looks at some of the new social media metrics that companies should be thinking about.

August 2011

IVR surveys, training, motivation and awards lead to excellent end-user experience — The August issue of Customer Service Newsletter includes highlights from an interview with Kevin Nolan of outsourcing provider Aegis Limited focusing on contact center management. This additional material from the interview looks at how Aegis works with clients.

July 2011

IBBS shortens its average handle time by looking at “moments of truth” — The July issue of Customer Service Newsletter looks at how Integrated Broadband Services (IBBS) took a full two minutes out of its average handle time for one particular type of service call. Here’s an illustrated look at the approach it took to examining the details of the customer experience.

June 2011

Amazing service is within reach of every organization — The lead story in the June issue of Customer Service Newsletter examines “seven ways to build amazement” in your customer service operations. For more advice on creating a “cult of amazement” in your service center, here is an excerpt from Shep Hyken’s new book The Amazement Revolution.

May 2011

To improve rep engagement, measure carefully and make managers accountable — This month Customer Service Newsletter looks at how employee satisfaction and engagement surveys can be used to boost staff engagement and morale. But how do you know if you need to take action on engagement? Here, HR Solutions Inc. offers some help in recognizing if your employees and supervisors are engaged in their work.

April 2011

Survey: Reps are handling more calls in less time on average — The April issue of Customer Service Newsletter reports on commonly used customer service metrics and measures. Here are some of the survey participants’ thoughts on which metrics are “most important.”

March 2011

2011 Survey: Phones bring in more inquiries than orders — The lead story of the March 2011 issue of Customer Service Newsletter looks at some of the results of this year’s Standards and Benchmarking Survey, focusing on service channels and types of service available to customers. Here is additional data on hours of service provided by geographic region.

February 2011

Best books of 2010 highlight strategic issues and frontline tactics — In the February issue, Customer Service Newsletter has once again made its selection of the year’s best books for customer service managers and staff. Click below to read the excerpts:

Keeping Up in a Down Economy: What the Best Companies Do to Get Results in Down Times

Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer-Service Organization

10 Steps to Successful Customer Service

Customer Service Training 101

January 2011

2011 forecast: Still some bumps in the road ahead for customer service — The lead article in this issue of Customer Service Newsletter takes a look ahead at what challenges customer service managers are likely to face in 2011. Following are steps managers can take to deal with those challenges.

December 2010

Customer silence can be more dangerous than customer complaints — In the December issue of Customer Service Newsletter, John Goodman of TARP Worldwide warns that failing to heed customer complaints can lead to “trained hopelessness” on the part of customers. In the linked article from the CSN archives, Goodman offers directions on how to create a more attentive customer complaint process.

November 2010

Make sure recognition is aligned with organizational goals — In an interview in the November issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Derek Irvine of Globoforce Ltd. talks about recognition and how it can be used to support organizational goals. In the following excerpt from his book, Winning with a Culture of Recognition, Irvine explains how recognition works.

October 2010

Should IQ tests be used to screen for customer service positions? —
This article in the October issue of Customer Service Newsletter looks at why IQ tests probably aren’t practical for most customer service positions. For those interested in more information, this “Web Extra” offers an article by Dr. Dennis Garlick on how IQ tests work, and an article from the CSN archives that offers advice on creating a three-stage hiring process that can help customer service managers ensure that they get the right people.

September 2010

Customer service compensation is still being impacted by economic conditions — The September issue of Customer Service Newsletter reports on the results of CSN’s 2010 Salary and Incentives Survey. Follow this link to additional tables on regional pay differences for customer service positions and survey participants’ ratings of “most useful” performance motivation tools.

SafeLite aims to turn problem customers into promoters — The current issue of CSN takes a close look at the Executive Services team that SafeLite AutoGlass put in place to turn customers with problems into SafeLite advocates. Here’s a look at the service principles that the Executive Services team lives by.

August 2010

Boost loyalty by becoming more proactive — This month’s issue of Customer Service Newsletter offers suggestions from Holly Zoba of Signature Worldwide on how to make your service efforts more proactive. For more ideas, here is an article from the CSN archives on how two U.S. companies use proactive service to set themselves apart from competitors.

July 2010

Performance appraisals should be an ongoing, two-way process — In the July issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Sharon Armstrong talks about how customer service managers can make their performance appraisals less threatening and more effective. In the following excerpt from her book, The Essential Performance Review Handbook, Armstrong discusses how supervisors and employees can prepare themselves for upcoming performance appraisals.

June 2010

What should you look at when measuring service performance? — In an interview reported in the June issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Richard D. Hanks, author of Delivering and Measuring Customer Service, talked about what to measure when measuring customer service performance. This excerpt from his book talks about the importance of “sticking to the basics.”

May 1, 2010

Are you modeling good communication practices for your reps? — In the May issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Stacey Hanke offers a range of strategies to help managers communicate better with their frontline staff. Here she provides some additional tips.

April 1, 2010

Reps are spending less time on the phone with customers — Here is a sampling from Customer Service Newsletter’s most recent Service Standards and Benchmarking Survey of what some companies see as their most important or unique customer service metrics.

March 1, 2010

Steady progress for email, self-service options — The lead story of this month’s issue of Customer Service Newsletter offers a first look at some of the results of this year’s Standards and Benchmarking Survey, focusing on types of service and service channels. Here is additional data from the survey on hours of service by geographic region.

Should you be thinking about using at-home service agents and supervisors? — In this issue, Matt McConnell, CEO of Knowlagent, which provides online talent management tools for call centers, answered questions that CSN readers have about the use of at-home agents. Here’s a Knowlagent white paper, which answers a number of additional questions.

February 1, 2010

CSN selects the year’s best customer service books — The lead story in the February 2010 issue of Customer Service Newsletter (CSN) offers the editor’s selection of the top customer service books of 2009 — and the first couple of months of 2010. To provide readers with an additional sampling of some of these titles, here are some brief excerpts from several of those titles.

January 1, 2010

2010: More of the same, or a glimmer of hope for customer service? — The lead article in the January issue of Customer Service Newsletter offers a range of ideas from a variety of experts on what customer service managers can expect to encounter in the year ahead. Here are some additional comments from two of those experts.

December 1, 2009

How do I convince reps that complaints are opportunities? — In the December issue of Customer Service Newsletter, the “Ask the Panel” column offered a number of strategies for helping reps understand that complaints are opportunities for positive change. In addition, panelist Jeanne O’Brien of Mile-Hi Foods Company notes that it is equally important that reps handle those complaints professionally. Here is the eight-point process for complaint handling that her frontline reps use.

November 1, 2009

Will your service operations be affected by the Swine Flu? — The lead article in the November issue of Customer Service Newsletter looked at the timely preparations Language Services Associates (LSA) has made to ensure continued service to customers should its business — and in particular, its call center — be affected by the Swine Flu. Here’s a detailed outline of the steps LSA has taken, including preparation and preventive measures, business continuity plan triggers, and Phase I and Phase II steps of LSA’s business continuity plan.

October 1, 2009

What can my reps do during downtime? — What can you do to keep reps productive when the phones stop ringing? Here are additional suggestions from one of Customer Service Newsletter’s panelists.

How to retain experienced workers — Customer Service Newsletter’s “Service News and Notes” page reported on a study for the health care industry by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on employee retention best practices.

September 1, 2009

Recession puts serious pressure on customer service salaries — The September issue of Customer Service Newsletter reports the results of CSN’s 2009 Salary & Incentives Survey. These additional tables offer data on regional pay differences for customer service positions and survey participants’ ratings of “most useful” performance motivation tools.

August 1, 2009

How to attract and retain Millennials as service reps — In the August issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Joanne Sujansky and Jan Ferri-Reed, authors of Keeping the Millennials, offer advice on attracting and hiring Millennial employees to customer service jobs as well as managing with Millennials in mind. Following is some additional material from our conversation with Joanne Sujansky about how to manage performance metrics with Millennials, as well as some specific advice on how to provide performance feedback to Millennial employees.

July 1, 2009

Are you customer-focused or operations focused? — This article in the July issue of Customer Service Newsletter offers insights from Shep Hyken, author of The Cult of the Customer, on how to create and maintain a customer focus in your organization. The following transcript of CSN’s entire conversation with Hyken provides a wealth of additional service-related information and advice.

June 1, 2009

Should you be looking at reps’ engagement levels? — An article in the June issue of Customer Service Newsletter discusses the characteristic behaviors of “engaged” and “disengaged” employees and how they can affect organizational productivity. The following self-assessment tool from Rivetmaker Consulting will help managers determine if “disengagement” is an issue for their work force.

May 1, 2009

Getting started in customer service benchmarking — In the May issue of Customer Service Newsletter, Alton Martin of COPC Inc. talked about the benefits and pitfalls of contact center benchmarking. In a recent Webinar, he took participants through some of the process. Here’s a look.

April 1, 2009

“Is the economy affecting your service center performance?” — What are the most important or unique customer service standards reported by companies participating in Customer Service Newsletter’s most recent Service Standards & Benchmarking Survey? We’ve assembled a sampling.

March 1, 2009

Creating an all-inclusive service culture — Customer service is part of the mission and training of every employee at Whelan Security. And the company’s core values were created to support that service-oriented culture. Here’s a look.

The phone is still the channel of choice for most customers — This issue of Customer Service Newsletter looks at data from the latest Benchmarking Survey on service channels, degree of rep specialization, types of service provided, and hours of service. Here is some additional data from the survey on hours of service by geographic region.

February 1, 2009

Can we improve AHT without diminishing service levels? — The “Ask the Panel” column in the February issue of Customer Service Newsletter looks at strategies for managing CSRs’ average talk time. Panelist Jeanne O’Brien of Mile Hi Foods recommends creating a call evaluation form that can be incorporated into a broader training and evaluation program.

January 1, 2009

With the economy stalled, what can service managers expect in 2009? — The January 2009 issue of Customer Service Newsletter offers perspective and advice from a number of service experts on what to expect in 2009. Here’s some additional advice from two of them.

New Year’s resolutions for customer service reps — This month’s issue of SkillSharpener included 12 New Year’s resolutions for customer service reps. The resolutions are reproduced here as a mini-poster, which you may print and distribute.