Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of the Customer Service Carnivale. I'm very thankful for all of you who continue to participate and read this bi-weekly carnivale. I was sick with the flu this past week, so I've had time to really reflect on everything - like how blessed I am to have the opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences with all of you readers. I thank all of you for supporting me and sharing your customer service stories and tips! You keep me inspired ;)

I write this post on the biggest shopping day of the year in America: Black Friday. Hopefully customer service will be much better this holiday season and our economy can recover from all the drama we've been through the past few years. I encourage you to shop with those companies that truly believe in servicing their customers...and if you're looking for ways to improve your company's service, well, you've come to the right place!

Below are submissions that made it into this Thanksgiving edition of the carnivale....

Customer Service Tips

Are you ready for the economic recovery?  In Facilities Maintenance and Customer Service programs…Revisited we're reminded to establish or re-institute our facilities customer service and facilities maintenance programs.

Here's a perspective of what Exceptional Customer Experience is all about.  What do you think?

Nick Thacker shares his thoughts about selling to customers in The Real Truth About Benefits vs. Features.

Find out an interesting way to get feedback from customers in Burger King Marketing: How To Make The Customer Realize They Love Your Product.

Case Ernsting shares Get Optimum Output from Your Customers Input, and says, "Working with your customers is a great way to both continue sales and grow your business. Customers often have the best insights as to how well your business is doing and where they can improve. Use their input through surveys with these great tips."  

How did Zappos get to be so successful?  Find out by reading Zappos Customer Service Strategy.

Customer Service Tools

GP reminds us that listening is an art and a science in What's that You Say.

Have you ever wondered what the ROI of using Twitter to market your business?  Check out Twitter For Business Case Study: The Coffee Groundz.

Are you using email the right way?  Find out how not to communicate with customers in You're Closer to Reward Travel Than You Think?

Customer Service Stories

GeekMBA360 is pleasantly surprised that New Balance store associate recommends me to buy shoes at Zappos.com.

Kellen Von Houser shares her thoughts on customer service in Customer "Care" and Other Exercises in Futility.

Want a great example of excellent customer service?  Read A Golden Moment in Action. 

Morry Wickersham presents Lenovo Outlet Store - 4 Tips For A Better Experience, saying, "Customer service is a vital part of any business, particularly if you want to keep your customers. The Lenovo's outlet store is a perfect example of customer service gone wrong. They have some really great products which people are very interested in buying, but the customer service issues are turning a lot of those "would be" customers away."  

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.