Humanizing Customer Support

👥 Are our customers a name and a logo, or a real person trying to help themselves and their companies win each day? Let’s be honest: CS doesn’t always get this right. I don’t always get this right. When things get tough (aka churn risk, low usage, budget pressure) our instinct is to reach for the metrics. What can we quantify? What can we prove? How do we show we’re “doing our job”? We start building dashboards, framing health scores, chasing outcomes. Not wrong But also not enough. Because often, metrics make us feel better internally. But they don't us understand the people we’re here to serve. This is the tension at the heart of CS. We sit between the customer’s lived reality and the company’s operational pressure. And it’s our job to resolve that tension. Not avoid it. Not outsource it. Own it. So here’s what I’m thinking about today: What can we do to drive a deeper understanding across our orgs of client needs and value? And more importantly: How do we humanize the people at those clients? Here are 5 small moves with outsized impact: 1️⃣ Tell customer stories, not just stats. Share a 30-second anecdote at an All Hands Meeting. Real people. Real outcomes. 2️⃣ Bring a voice into the room. Quote an actual user in a roadmap meeting. Let them shape the build. 3️⃣ Translate feedback into intent. Don’t just say what a client asked for. Explain why it matters. 4️⃣ Invite cross-functional teammates to customer calls. Let them hear the tone, nuance, and urgency directly. 5️⃣ Celebrate wins that start with the customer. When a feature lands or a renewal closes, connect it to the human story behind it. CS isn’t just about adoption or retention. It’s about being the customer people engine inside the business. And that starts with us, every day, choosing to fight for understanding, not just validation. #CustomerSuccess #Leadership #VoiceOfCustomer #CustomerCentricity #CreateTheFuture

Leading an offshore support team, I thought things were going well. We were hitting KPIs, closing tickets, keeping SLAs tight. But the customers didn’t agree. They felt... forgotten. Not by the product. Not by the brand. But by the people - the ones they originally bought from, the ones they trusted. One customer said it plainly: “I feel like once we signed the contract, we stopped being seen.” That was hard to hear. But it was true. I had built a technically efficient team - but we were operating at a distance. We were solving issues, but not building relationships. We were communicating, but not connecting. That moment reshaped how I lead support. I stopped focusing only on the metrics and started focusing on the experience behind them: We built context into every handoff. We trained our team to lead with empathy before efficiency. We introduced customer health scores to surface risk early and facilitate intentional check-ins, not just reactive outreach. It helped us move from transactional to relational support. From putting out fires… to showing up before they start. And you know what? It worked. We didn’t just restore trust, we earned it in new ways. 💡 Great support isn’t just about solving problems. It’s about making people feel remembered, consistently, and on purpose. #Leadership #CustomerSupport #CXStrategy #SupportThatConnects #EmpathyInAction #CustomerHealthScore #ProactiveSupport #HumanCenteredLeadership #CustomerExperience

WANT CUSTOMER DELIGHT? GO THE EXTRA INCH, NOT THE EXTRA MILE In a world where companies strive to “go the extra mile” for their customers, I propose a counterintuitive thought: You don’t need to go a mile. You just need to go an inch. The smallest, low-cost gestures can have a massive impact on customers, turning ordinary transactions into memorable experiences. The secret - search for the asymmetry between cost and impact. Going the extra inch requires minimal effort and often costs next to nothing. It could be a handwritten note, a smile, a gesture of personal recognition, a small act of kindness. But the effect on customers is profound. It creates emotional connections, fosters loyalty, and makes customers into advocates. The irony - while everyone is busy trying to “go the extra mile,” it is the extra inch that nets you miles of customer loyalty. THE I.N.C.H. FRAMEWORK To master the art of the extra inch, use this simple yet powerful framework: I – Identify Moments of Truth: Look for touchpoints where expectations are neutral or low. These are prime opportunities to surprise and delight. For instance, when I got my car serviced at the Lexus dealership, they washed and vacuumed the car and left a red carnation flower on the dash. I have told more than 10,000 people about the 50-cent carnation. How’s that for ROI? N – Notice the Little Things: Train employees to observe and remember small details about customers—preferences, moods, or special occasions. At the Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai, I asked for a memory foam pillow. Every time I stay there, they put a memory foam pillow on my bed. C – Customize the Experience: Personalize the interaction or gesture. Even the smallest customization can create a huge emotional impact. At Chewy, when a customer returned dog food after their pet passed away, they received a condolence card and flowers. It wasn’t about making a sale; it was about showing empathy. H – Humanize the Interaction: Move beyond scripted conversations. Authenticity and empathy resonate more than robotic efficiency. At Café Lucci, our favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago, the valet, the server, and the owner Bobby - all know us, know our kids, and always ask about the family. We are customers for life! In the race to “go the extra mile,” it’s easy to overlook the power of the extra inch. The secret to exceptional customer service isn’t grand gestures or expensive perks—it’s the tiny, thoughtful actions that leave a lasting impression. Going the extra inch is about mastering the art of the unexpected. It’s about creating emotional connections through small acts of kindness and thoughtfulness. So, the next time you think about how to delight a customer, remember: You don’t have to go the extra mile. Just go the extra inch. You will get miles of loyalty. #Marketing #CustomerExperience #Loyalty #Advocacy

Years ago, I had a conversation that changed how I see customer experience forever. A customer called in, furious. They were ready to walk away from our client’s service. Every instinct told me to defend the company, explain the policy, or find a quick fix. But instead, I did something simple: 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. And then, something incredible happened. The frustration in their voice softened. They weren’t just upset about the issue—they were upset about being unheard. They wanted to feel valued, respected, and understood. That day, I learned a lesson that no technology, strategy, or metric can replace: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐗 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. AI, automation, and data can optimize processes, but empathy will always be the foundation of great customer experiences. The question isn’t how to serve more customers—it’s how to serve them better. Let’s never forget that behind every support ticket, every complaint, and every call is a real person. And when we make them feel heard, we don’t just retain customers—we build relationships that last. What’s a customer interaction that changed your perspective? . . . #CustomerExperience #Leadership #EmpathyInCX

I don’t know what’s happening anymore… Day by day, second by second, it feels like we’re losing the very thing that makes us human. Empathy. Emotion. Kindness. Lately, I’ve had too many interactions, with businesses, service providers, that didn’t just frustrate me… they made me sad. Not because the issue couldn’t be solved. But because there was no heart in how it was handled. Let me explain: 🔹 I bought a product. It stopped working in 2 weeks. It had a warranty. But instead of help, I got cold, copy-paste replies for ten straight days, until I reached out to someone senior and they stepped in with empathy. The problem got solved in minutes. But why did it take that? 🔹 We received unpleasant news and the message started with “We are pleased to inform you…” as if it were good news. I was holding back tears replying to that email. Eventually, someone senior and human reached out, and it made all the difference. But why did I have to get there first? 🔹 I rescheduled an appointment two weeks in advance. Four days before, I checked in, only to be told, “That change was never made, I don't know who you spoke with but there's nothing on the system.” No apology. No warmth. Just a robotic response. Again I escalated and It eventually got fixed, but the unnecessary stress? Uncalled for. And it’s not just me. I know you’ve felt it too. So here’s what I want to say: Yes, people are busy. Yes, jobs get repetitive. But kindness takes what an 3 extra minutes? You don’t have to do anything dramatic. You just need to bring heart back into how you show up. And think out of the box. Treat people how you want to be treated! As the famous verse goes ""Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" It's just that simple, be more human! And it will build trust. It will resolve conflict faster. It will turn one-time users into lifelong loyal customers. And most importantly, it will remind us we’re HUMAN. So why are we so quick to forget that? If you work in customer service, sales, HR/PD, healthcare, anything that involves interactions with people, remember: You have the power to make someone’s day better. Or worse. Let’s choose better. Let’s be HUMAN. #EmpathyMatters #KindnessAtWork #CustomerExperience #Leadership #HumanFirst #ServiceWithHeart #PeopleNotProcesses #EmotionalIntelligence