One question I’m often asked, particularly when doing media interviews, is how customer service has changed in recent years.

Obviously, the changes have been immense, particularly if you go back 20 or 30 years. Many of the biggest changes in both customer service and customer experience have been around technology.

Technology has increased our ability to speedily communicate with our customers and to provide goods and services in ways that we never could as recently as 10 years ago.

However, technology has also changed consumer expectations. Consumers want things faster and more immediately. They need immediate gratification and are often disappointed when they don’t receive it.

Finally, much of customer service is now done in public, from social media complaints to viral videos of service interactions, customer service is no longer private; it’s often done on a jumbotron.

Customer service has changed and is changing, but one thing remains fundamental. Customers are humans, and how we treat and interact with humans is still at the hear of Hero-Class service.