It may be true that there’s nothing new under the sun (except that the fed’l govt. is about to acquire California). So when it comes to issues of customer service/customer loyalty, we already have some incredible resources. Here are a few of my favorites:
THE BOOKS:
It’s Not My Department – Peter Glen (It doesn’t get better than this – and the photo is of the late Peter Glen performing/speaking)
Why Service Stinks – T. Scott Gross (he’s as good as there is)
Discovering the Soul of Service - Leonard L. Berry (academic – but good)
The Spirit to Serve – Marriott’s Way: J.W. Marriott, Jr.
Secret Service – John DiJulius III (getting retail service right)
It’s Not About The Coffee – Howard Behar (the “people” part of Starbucks)
THE PEOPLE & THEIR WEBSITES:
T. Scott Gross: www.tscottgross.com
John Dijulius: www.robertsspa.com
Kate Nasser: http://katenasser.com
Peter Glen (see the late Peter Glen’s material in his 3 books – all superb)
I could make a much longer list….but these people and material cover the essentials for anybody who is serious about providing “WOW” customer service. Customer Service seems to be making a comeback these days, as businesses realize that, all things being equal, people want to deal with the place that provides the better service. And beefing up the service level can be an alternative to some of the drastic price-cutting taking place. But I keep reminding people that “customer service” is just a means to an end – the “end” being customer loyalty/customer retention. This is why customer service training can’t be too rigid, teaching us all to act like trained parrots. Different people will use different words and methods to get to the end goal- and that’s OK – as long as we get there, right?
