Customer service is an important element for any successful small business. It also can be a bit of a struggle at times, especially when hiring new people and expecting them to give the same attention to detail as you do. Further, many companies pride themselves on good customer service, but do little to systematize it and really turn it into something special. Enter Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon, customer service trailblazers and co-authors of the book Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit.
The magic happens when you, your systems, and the employees throughout the ranks of your business anticipate the needs of your customers, learning to recognize and respond to the needs of your customers before they are expressed – sometimes before your customers even realize they have a need. That is the difference between providing ho-hum service by merely reacting to customer requests and building loyalty through true anticipatory service.
This book focuses on one key area of your business, your customer service. No matter how good you think you are doing it right now, you owe it to yourself to read this book. Leonardo and Micah have both separately built amazing businesses based around customer service, Leonardo in the hotel industry and Micah in the music industry. They know what they are talking about when it comes to providing good customer service. Even better, they are really good at showing you how you can improve your own service levels.
When it comes to providing exceptional service, every little thing matters. As overwhelming as this may sound, this book provides some pretty good frameworks for systems you can put in place to make sure each detail is covered. Beyond the systems, you need to focus on hiring the right people and getting employees on the same page when it comes to treating the customer right. Every single employee who might have an interaction with a customer should understand the stakes.
The authors also point out that, while every interaction is important, there are three main areas to focus on if you want to make a big impact. The first area is how you handle an issue, or what they call a service failure. When you have a customer upset because something goes wrong, it is not enough to just restore the situation back to what it should have been in the first place. Fixing an issue is a chance for you to shine, and turn an upset customer into a loyal fan. Putting extraordinary effort into recovering from mistakes will go a long way toward making your customers love you.
The other two areas of high importance are your hello and your goodbye. The first interaction with the customer and the last will often stand out in their mind. A warm and personal hello sets the stage for a great customer experience. A caring good bye seals the deal.
Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit will challenge the norms you have accepted for customer service. You will likely see some ways that you can improve, and this book will both inspire you and show you how to do it. In a business world that is being made more personal by things like social media, and with the internet making it much easier for customers to choose from multiple competitors, you need to make sure the customer is king at your business.
Who This Book is For:
- Any business who deals with customers on any level (in other words, every business, including internet businesses that don’t have a lot of “face-to-face” interaction with customers)
- Business owners who want to hire employees who will care about customers as much as they do
- Customer service managers and employees
- Businesses who pride themselves on customer service
- Businesses looking to create more loyal customers
Chapter Titles:
- The Engineer on the Ladder: Reaching for the Highest Level of Service
- The Four Elements of Customer Satisfaction: Perfect Product, Caring Delivery, Timeliness, and an Effective Problem Resolution Process
- Language Engineering: Every. Word. Counts.
- Recovery! Turning Service Failures Around
- Keeping Track to Bring Them Back: Tracking Customer Roles, Goals, and Preferences
- Building Anticipation Into Your Products and Services: Putting Processes to Work For You
- Your People: Selection, Orientation, Training, and Reinforcement
- Leadership: Guiding the Customer-Centered Organization
- What’s Worth it, and What’s Not? Pointers on Value, Costs, and Pricing
- Building Customer Loyalty Online: Using the Internet’s Power to Serve Your Customers and Your Goals
- Hello/Good-Bye: Two Crucial Moments with a Customer
If you are interested in this book, please consider buying it through our Recommended Reading Book Store.
