Book Description

'Bottom-Line Call Center Management breaks new ground by addressing key skills and techniques in assessing and implementing effective management practices to maximize the human and capital resources at the call center manager's disposal.Drawing on the author's unique data sets and years of research experience in the industry, 'Bottom-Line Call Center Management' helps call center managers evaluate their current status, implement cost-effective changes, and measure results of their changes to ensure a culture of accountability within the call center at all levels increasing the bottom line.

The processes include an evaluation of current customer service representatives, defining, delimiting and assessing the labor shed of the center, and exploring the customer service representative's unique skills and leveraging those skills into a unique and dynamic work environment. Likewise, the process also determines the learning skills and competencies necessary to meet and exceed the basic requirements for all call centers.Furthermore, each step has a pre, in-process, and post evaluation to ensure projects are progressing according to plan.Lastly, all evaluations are measured against the bottom line through a return on investment (ROI) model.

The framework for this book uses the culture of call centers, defined and lived through the customer service representatives, as the lens to view all processes, measurements, accountability and return on investment.This framework is critical since there has been much emphasis on technology-as-a-solution which treats the employees as a hindrance instead of the enablers of positive change.Likewise, customer service representatives eventually act as strong determinants of success with the call center and thus the bottom line.

*The only book to focus on accountability in call center management within a framework of progressive management and HR practices
*Draws on the author's unique data sets about best practices in call center management
*Step-by-step processes to assess, implement, and measure the ROI of effective management practices, with pre-, in-process, and post-evaluation built in ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A hands-on guide to customer running customer call centers
Until recently, customer call centers were very much back-end operations, out of site and out of the minds of corporate chiefs. That was before several recent high-profile fiascos in the US, UK and Australia, where badly-run call centers destroyed in a few months the customer goodwill that had been expensively built up over years.

It doesn't have to be that way. David Butler shows how call centers can be a bottom-line asset to companies, not just a money sink. It cites, for example, the case of a highly cost-effective center in the south-west United States with an annual employee turnover of under 3% and (if I guess the real identity of the company correctly) many happy repeat customers, including myself.

David Butler owns a call center management company and is a recognized expert on the subject. "Bottom-Line Call Center Management" contains detailed information on where best to locate new call centers, how to evaluate and implement new call center technology, how to calculate the value of a call center in dollar terms, and how to create an environment that will attract and retain a loyal and productive staff.

For those of us on the customer side of the business, Dr Butler stresses the need to ensure that representatives are familiar with the products they support or sell. Call center representatives, just like all customer-facing staff, need to understand how customers use the company products and services. If representatives can't articulate product knowledge and understand customer concerns, they really are just a "cost center" and, as the author repeatedly warns, are in danger of having their jobs eliminated or sent abroad. That represents a disaster to their communities and a financial loss to the companies that employed them. ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Inspires powerful customer service skills in staff.
Not just another customer service how-to, "A Complaint is a Gift" is an extremely practical, intelligent and inspired approach to customer retention. Rather than a top-down technique that sounds great on paper, the ideas outlined in the book are tools that front-line staff can understand and apply. My organization hired Janelle Barlow to teach these principles to our clinical staff, who thought they had nothing new to learn but unanimously said these lessons revolutionized their relationships with patients. (We now joke about how we received a "gift" today.) We highly recommend the book as well as the training.

Excellent focus on the behaviors for customer handling
Unlike many books on the subject, this publication is very quick to deal with the practical behaviors and steps for dealing with customers. Although the writers at times may feel there is never a bad customer, they still provide very realistic and helpful models for dealing in the customer service business. The book is also written broadly enough to be usefull to practitioners outside of the typical customer call center environment. I am an H.R. Director in a Middle East service related company. I found many of the issues, ideas and concepts very applicable to staff organizations as well.

Yes, a Gift!
"A Complaint is a Gift" *is* a gift -- the gift being increased success by companies who acknowledge and adopt its principles of customer service. And increased effectiveness by individuals who apply them even to their personal lives.

The book's 14 chapters explore the psychology of complaining (and not complaining); the benefits to companies who choose to hear and resolve those complaints (vs think that customers are nasty annoyances, or naively believe that no news is good news); and strategies to develop a business culture that solicits and resolves complaints.

Published in 1996, there are only two aspects not still current: 1) the chapter on how to encourage customers to report complaints lacks mention of Internet web sites -- a revision could explore these excellent, convenient complaint conduits; and 2) though the customer service examples used remain valid, the businesses mentioned tend to be dated ... not today's "hot" companies. And in the end, I still see the front-line customer service rep as having a most difficult job; I would like to see more strategies that address those difficulties.

I must strongly disagree with David Arelette's review here -- as alluded to above, the authors gave dozens of examples of good and poor customer service, from all sorts of named and un-named companies. They INfrequently mentioned their own consulting firm.

Viendo las quejas como un favor
Este es un libro que al leerlo Usted entenderá cómo manejar las quejas que se presentan desde diferentes puntos de contacto: escritas, personales, por teléfono, etc., podrá clasificar a los clientes según su nivel de disgusto y su forma de reacción, y uno de los temas más importantes fue cómo describen los autores las diferentes etapas por las que atraviesa un cliente antes de quejarse. Al conocer este proceso Usted podrá manejar situaciones espinosas con un conocimiento científico y psicológico de lo que está pasando por la mente del cliente disgustado.

Es un libro dinámico, divertido y no provoca cansancio en ninguno de sus capítulos, ya que presenta situaciones reales que toda persona que trabaje con clientes ha experimentado en algún momento.

Para mí, ha sido un verdadero regalo!

Insightful!
At a time where companies spend millions to attract new customers, this book offers low-cost methods for keeping the customers you already have. Authors Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller advocate using customer complaints to help your business grow. This highly readable book achieves a perfect balance of general information backed up by hard, statistical data. While this book is written for "anyone who deals with customers and who would like to benefit from customer feedback," the end of the book focuses more on steps top-level managers can take to implement a "complaint-friendly organization." We at getAbstract.com recommend this book to managers and to people in front-line, customer service positions. Giving a copy of this book to your front-line personnel would be an excellent first step toward making your organization complaint friendly. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

No nonsense! To the point!
It's the appealing front cover that made me buy the book. It's the no nonsense, to the point content that drove me to recommend it to anybody who would like to know more about how to improve a company's bottomline through differentiation in service. Charts, graphs, adages, examples (of Disney, SKF bearing, McDonlad, UPS....) are abundant, telling how a company, particulary the top management whose involvement is necessary to make a real difference, should plan and execute a strategy in service. The seven chapters are well written with excellent elaboration, and I like the summary, and the do's and don'ts much in the end of each chapter very much. In a word, a good read! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Customer service rescue me book
This book was absolutely what I have been looking for. It has assisted not only me, but the customers that I work with on a daily basis. Thanks for such great information and Rescue. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Want to success in the business? Be customer driven
After reading this book, your should know the importance of treating your customers well:external customers and internal customers. This book is easy to follow with clear structure and concise wording. This book also teach you how to be the customer driven company. Moreover, with the tool kits, you can really move from talk to action. "if you treat your customer good, they will come back, if your treat your products good, they never come back", which mean that to run a success business, you are not only have to produce high quaility products but also treat your Customers well. Check out from this book now to know how to be the customer driven company.

Very practical, worthwhile to read
This book is very worthwhile to read. It tells us
how important customer is. If a business only concerns
about its own product quality without placing a high
emphasis on their services to customers, that business
will not be able to success.

The book is especially useful for businessmen. It provides
7 imperatives for being a customer driven company. There
are also toolkits provided which help guiding businessmen
how to do in reality.

A readable book on how to become a customer-driven company.
The last quote in this book says it best, so let's start with that. According to retailing legend Stanley Marcus of Neiman-Marcus: "There are only two things of importance. One is the customer, and the other is the product. If you take care of customers, they come back. If you take care of your product, it doesn't come back. It's just that simple. And it's just that difficult." Richard C. Whiteley, co-founder of The Forum Corporation, a leading consulting group that works with companies on customer-focussed quality issues, has written a readable, relatively basic (that doesn't necessarily translate to simple) book on how to become a customer-driven company. Based on five years of research conducted by his company, the book reviews such maxims as "Saturate your company with the voice of the customer," and "communicate your vision constantly." While there is nothing particularly new about what Whiteley reports, he carefully catalogs the process of determining what customers want and how to give it to them. In so doing, he leads the reader along the customer's path, and provides insightful points to ponder. What's interesting about this book is the duality of the material presented. Of the roughly 300 pages in this book, one-third is an extensive appendix filled with various customer surveys, and explanations of other research tools. Need to create a histogram? No problem, it's in this book, as are explanations on force field analyses, process mapping and tracking and more. While informative as a reference tool, this last third is starkly different from the main text, which covers the message in a basic, quick-read way. In any case, reading both parts will give you a full sense of the customer-driven movement and some how-to's to begin the journey.

Should be required reading for any business manager.
Simple, interesting, focused. Whiteley hits at some of the 'sacred cows' of business and challenges managers/leaders to change all that is not in the customers' best interest. Could start a revolution in 'cost-centered', narrow-minded corporations. ... Read more

Book Description

Magic tricks that keep customers coming back for more!

According to a recent study, one of the top five challenges facing CEOs today is improving customer service.Service Magic presents inventive, fun, and unexpected ways to surprise and delight your customers and maintain their loyalty. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Good Read!
Despite the rather strained analogy and the authors' laborious attempts to make it amusing for 248 pages, this book does offer some genuine magical flashes of customer service insight. You will learn a great deal that is worth knowing. Many of these insights are the kind of pointers on customer service that bear repeating, rereading and remembering. The magic metaphor is a worthy attempt to make them fresh again, and to examine the elements of place, performance and process, step by step. We recommend this book for new magicians, and even for magicians with experience who need to renew their customer service razzle-dazzle. Now, show 'em how you pull that rabbit out of your hat! ... Read more

Book Description

Why are a select few service firms better at what they do -- year in and year out -- than their competitors? For most senior managers, the profusion of anecdotal "service excellence" books fails to address this key question. In this pathbreaking book, world-renowned Harvard Business School service firm experts James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser, Jr. and Leonard A. Schlesinger reveal that leading companies stay on top by managing the service profit chain.Based on five years of painstaking research, the authors show how managers at American Express, Southwest Airlines, Banc One, Waste Management, USAA, MBNA, Intuit, British Airways, Taco Bell, Fairfield Inns, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and the Merry Maids subsidiary of ServiceMaster employ a quantifiable set of relationships that directly links profit and growth to not only customer loyalty and satisfaction, but to employee loyalty, satisfaction, and productivity. The strongest relationships the authors discovered are those between (1) profit and customer loyalty; (2) employee loyalty and customer loyalty; and (3) employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Moreover, these relationships are mutually reinforcing; that is, satisfied customers contribute to employee satisfaction and vice versa.

Here, finally, is the foundation for a powerful strategic service vision, a model on which any manager can build more focused operations and marketing capabilities. For example, the authors demonstrate how, in Banc One's operating divisions, a direct relationship between customer loyalty measured by the "depth" of a relationship, the number of banking services a customer utilizes, and profitability led the bank to encourage existing customers to further extend the bank services they use. Taco Bell has found that their stores in the top quadrant of customer satisfaction ratings outperform their other stores on all measures. At American Express Travel Services, offices that ticket quickly and accurately are more profitable than those which don't. With hundreds of examples like these, the authors show how to manage the customer-employee "satisfaction mirror" and the customer value equation to achieve a "customer's eye view" of goods and services. They describe how companies in any service industry can (1) measure service profit chain relationships across operating units; (2) communicate the resulting self-appraisal; (3) develop a "balanced scorecard" of performance; (4) develop a recognitions and rewards system tied to established measures; (5) communicate results company-wide; (6) develop an internal "best practice" information exchange; and (7) improve overall service profit chain performance.

What difference can service profit chain management make? A lot. Between 1986 and 1995, the common stock prices of the companies studied by the authors increased 147%, nearly twice as fast as the price of the stocks of their closest competitors. The proven success and high-yielding results from these high-achieving companies will make The Service Profit Chainrequired reading for senior, division, and business unit managers in all service companies, as well as for students of service management. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A Mandatory Reading for All Service Industry Executives
In "The Service Profit Chain," the author uses extensive case studies and empirical data to demonstrate how successful companies can achieve customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and at the same time, profit and customer growth. Too many companies are focused on the next quarterly earnings release that they don't ever see the lifetime value of their customers. Finally, managers at service industries won't have to keep trading off employee satisfaction in order to achieve customer sastisfaction, and customer satisfaction won't be viewed as a cost factor and a drag on profit growth. Service companies that just don't understand these concepts won't be around for long! As we embark into the e-commerce age, service and technology companies that can quickly apply these concepts within their business models (where there is no direct, face-to-face, contact with the customers) will build a truely competitive advantage. Let's review the successful ecommerce companies in 5 years, and see how many have adopted the principles in "The Service Profit Chain."

An excellent approach to designing a company
I think the authors provide a powerful and empirical approach to designing and analyzing a service organization for success. The recommendations are not always intuitive nor easy to implement, but, based on my experience in several industries, I think they are nearly always correct. With a partner, I am starting a own company and have read this book twice very carefully, with lots of notes in the margins, to make sure we do the important things well.

A Benchmark in Customer Value Management
This is the type of book that can change an entire corporate vision. The authors are meticulous in presenting their philosophy, and back every word with carefully researched examples from best practice companies. Unlike many of the "quick read" publications that present a superficial view of service (particularly from a marketing perspective), this book is clearly the result of several years work in the field. Every corporate manager who is serious about customer value management needs to take some time out to study the Service Profit Chain.

the magnum opus for the service management field

As a former student of Heskett's and Sasser's in the early '70's, I have followed their research in the field of service management. As a student and consulting practioner of "high performance service management" for 18 years, I have over 50 books in my library on "service management" with publication dates going back to 1976. This book provides not only a refined summary of all of the best service management theories, but it breaks new ground as far as making a new service order happen within a business.

If you want to truly achieve - distinctive and sustained levels of service, lower total costs, higher everyday margins, and happier, more loyal employees and customers, then this book is for you. It is well written and organized, but it is a process book instead of one with a lot of quick-fix, anecdotal stories that have been unproductively popular for too long. You will have to work intellectually to get through this book, but you will be conceptually re-oriented down the right path towards true competitive advantage.

The book does update and improve on the authors' own research and publishing - notably Heskett's book entitled "Service Breakthroughs" (Free Press, 1990). In the "what's new" department, what I liked best was the third part of the book sub-titled "Putting It All Together". To go from a top-down, financial management company to a bottom-up, service excellence performer takes a total transformation starting with the dated, unspoken core assumptions or beliefs of the CEO. The authors illustrate with case studies that big change is necessary for big gain, but it most often will involve some big pain. They do an excellent job, however, of preparing the would be change artist for the transformational bumps ahead.

D. Bruce Merrifield, Jr bruce@merrifield.com http://www.merrifield.com ... Read more

Book Description

ROI selling works within a company's existing sales methods to increase the effectiveness and production of their sales force.

Current economic conditions are forcing everyone from large corporations to smaller privately held companies to maximize their revenue streams from new and existing customers.To be successful, firms today must outsell their competition and exceed customer expectations-thus creating long-term satisfaction and loyalty.

While basic sales methodologies instruct salespeople on the nuts and bolts of the sales process-who to approach in an organization, when to ask questions, and what to ask-ROI Selling takes them to a new level.Using a unique "360 Degree Measurement" technique, this guide provides practical tools for turning valuable customer feedback into a compelling case for their products and services.

Sales professionals will be able to demonstrate to the customer how their products and services will produce a more successful and tangibleoutcome than the competition. Techniques from ROI Selling are currently being used to effectively increase the productivity of sales forces in a variety of industries, and they have been licensed bythe authors of Solution Selling as part of their training programs that reach thousands of sales professionals each year.

Through the use of actual case studies, ROI Selling provides stories, success criteria, and actual statistics on value estimation to aid readers in building compelling ROI models for their own products and services. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

LAMP - An Usefull guide to Account Planning
LAMP is the best book I have read about Key/Large Account Planning. Most salesreps and hates the planning process and struggle with their plans. This down to earth approach helps a salesrep to organize his work in developing his account plans in a straightforward and pragmatic way. Instead of focusing on history, LAMP is targeting the future and helps you to align your resources through action plans.

This is a must have!! EXCELLENT BOOK!
The first chapter of this book was like reading an unauthorized biography of all my short comings in managing my largest accounts. Even as a top five performer, I still felt like I was flying by the seat of my pants. This book set out a course for improvement that has changed my professional career forever. If you manage large global accounts this book should be your bible. Mine is still drying out from massive highlighter use!

Building Strategic Relationships
In this age of consolidation, big companies keep getting bigger. For suppliers, losing any large account can be at least dramatic or at worst devastating. Large Account Management Process (LAMP) from Miller Heiman presents a logical, team friendly method of knowing how your company is positiioned in your large accounts, and what needs to be done to maintain or improve that position. Highly recommended.

Proven to be effective in real businesses
Answers the question "how should I be working with field sales."   Contains tables, worksheets, lists, and step-by-step approaches with examples.   The problem will be getting an entire sales and marketing team to adopt it. Even if they don't, after reading this book, you may find you relate to your sales force in a different, more productive manner. The only reservation I have about this book is that for the concept to be truly effective, an entire work team must complete the training described in the book. I know from personal experience that, when a work team completes the training, it works, and works well. The book, as well as it may be written, cannot substitute for the group training. If it did, I would rate it a 10+.

An eye-opener!!! It's an action-oriented book.
LAMP helped me see how critical it is to take care of our large accounts. I realized that our survival as a company depends on them. Right now, we are taking the necessary action to apply the concepts that we have learned from the book. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Since originating the popular Knock Your Socks Off Service books several years ago, consultant and trainer Ron Zemke has justifiably been regarded as an expert on the whys and hows of delivering top-drawer customer service. Now, teamed with quality-management specialist John A. Woods, he has combined 35 reflective yet pragmatic articles that clarify the connection between great customer service and superior organizational performance. Zemke first explains why such efforts are vital and then provides an assortment of cost-effective ways to implement a variety of service plans. He receives help from contributors such as Chip R. Bell on nurturing loyalty, Janelle M. Barlow and Dianna Maul on maintaining high standards during peak-demand periods, and Gary Connor on developing company-wide campaigns. This is a terrific resource for better understanding what consumers really want and how to create systems that will meet their demands. --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (1)

customer first
Treat colleagues as customers ,then smile and be helpful and supportive ,caring,innovator, sociable good listener, creative patient . ... Read more

Book Description

How service industries can become more competitive by employing the principles of product development

As the lines between products and services become less and less distinct, managers in service industries-such as banking, insurance, financial services, utilities, and retailing-can benefit enormously by learning from product leaders, employing a rigorous product development model to create and test new offerings, develop the most promising ones, and see them to market successfully. Product development experts Scott Edgett and Robert Cooper draw from their extensive research, teaching, and consulting experience to offer service sector executives and managers a comprehensive overview of the principles of product development and how they can be applied profitably. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Repetitive but worthwhile
Cooper is the guy if you are into development - from idea to delivery of the goods - be it a product (widget), software or services. He is a portfolio management guy that will help you wrap your thinking around making investments into ideas that are yearning to make a debut in reality.

Good, Practical Book But Repetitive
This is a very good book for managers of new service development processes. It offers a framework for designing and implementing a new service development process and there are many good advice and techniques in the book that I believe will prove invaluable to these managers. I expect this is the result of the 1,500 case studies that the authors have conducted.

I especially liked the sections that the authors have entitled "Points for Management to Ponder". These short bits, interspersed throughout the book, forces a reader to link the theories to actual situations in a company. I found such exercises beneficial to the learning process.

However, I found that the authors tend to repeat themselves throughout the book. For example, Chapter 4 and 5 are essentially the same. Chapter 4 walks through the framework fairly quickly with a real case example while Chapter 5 examines the general framework in detail. I believe the 2 chapters could have been combined without much loss to content.

I recommend this book to practitioners, as this is a very practical book. For readers who just want to know more about service development but are currently not involved in any development work, this book is not for you. Like me, you may find some of the framework difficult to understand without a real case to relate to.

Lessons from the master
Well written and full of understandings... Bob, as with all his books, has made many key points. An excellent read for anyone who's business is dependent on new services and believes that luck is not a sustainable advantage. If you believe that the event or experience marketing is the key to most sales, then becoming excellent in launching new services is a must. ... Read more

Book Description

A fresh and original look at the phenomenon of "cult branding" -- how companies cultivate fanatical customer loyalty.

At first glance, companies like Apple and Nike have little in common with organizationslike the Hell’s Angels and the Unification Church. But in reality, they all fulfill the maindefinition of a cult: They attract people who see themselves as different from the massesin some fundamental way. Contrary to stereotypes, most cult members aren’t emotionallyunstable—they’re just normal folks searching for a sense of belonging.

Marketing expert Douglas Atkin has spent years researching both full-blown cults andcompanies that use cult-branding techniques. He interviewed countless cult members tofind out what makes them tick. And he explains exactly how brands like Harley- Davidson, Saturn, JetBlue, and Ben & Jerry’s make their customers feel unique,important, and part of an exclusive group—and how that leads to solid, long-termrelationships between a company and its customers.

In addition to describing a fascinating phenomenom, The Culting of Brands willbe of enormous value to business leaders. It will teach marketers how to align themselveswith a specific segment of the population, how to attract and keep new "members," howto establish a mythology about the company, and how to manage a workforce filled withtrue believers.

Once a brand achieves cult status, it becomes almost impossible for a competitor todethrone it. The Culting of Brands will reveal the secrets of fierce customeridentification and, most important, unbreakable loyalty. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A deep dive into seduction
a disclaimer up front: I know Douglas personally, which may make me biased...

But the simple fact is, this book had to be written. Let's face it, the "innocent" activities that take place in the world of branding are not so different from those of religious sects.
Just like cults, brand tribes offer their members a greater sense of purpose. They both have initiation processes, rites of passage and devotion to a single ideal (or brand). Individuals can earn higher status in these groups by investing their time and energy in learning the customs, codes and rituals. They're rewarded for their efforts by attaining increasing levels of insider status. Eventually, both cult and brand tribe fanatics become apostles, spreading the message to others.

And in contrast to other, more superficial authors (e.g. Ragas' and Bueno's light-weight 'Power of Cult Branding'), Doug Atkin takes us into a deep, well researched, and culturally aware analogy between religious sects and powerful brands.

Douglas has quite some brain, and he takes us on a roller-coaster ride of mass-seduction. The Culting of Brands is an important book, one I will surely reference over and over. ... Read more

Book Description

Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value extends the analysis of the change in the marketing rationale from a crude concern for increased market share to a strategy aimed at creating long-term profitable relationships with targeted customers.

Offering a cutting edge vision of relationship marketing, Relationship Marketing: Creating Stakeholder Value is a seminal text for all students and managers in the field. With new up-to-date case materials and examples of best practice, the book covers all the stakeholder markets - employees, suppliers, influencers, customers and consumers - for which the relationship approach is critical. It also provides crucial advice on how to develop, integrate and implement the various strands of a successful relationship strategy.

Based on the best-selling first edition of Relationship MarketingComprehensive account of how to develop and implement a winning relationship strategy
Includes frequent vignettes to show how the theory works in practice ... Read more

Book Description

Branded Customer Service breaks new ground with an assertion that brand equity is built not just through advertising and public relations, but also through the human exchange of customer service. Customer relations experts Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart have a passion for branding and explain in practical terms how to take a defined, recognizable brand position and then make it live through delivery of service. Challenges to consistency are discussed, as well as the internal promotion of brands, the reinforcement of brands through staff and customer interactions, and how to link brands to selling styles and messages. ... Read more

Book Description

The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.

This collection of cutting-edge articles will help organizations understand how to build customer loyalty through unique relationship-building strategies such as partnerships, branding, and superlative customer service. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Customer service, not CRM
This Harvard Business Review title is not about Customer Relationship Management, but about customer service. If you are interested in Customer Service I must say there are at leat 3 articles very useful and interesting. If you are searching for CRM, this is not going to fulfill your expetations

Brilliant and Eloquent Delineation of Basics
This is one in a series of several dozen volumes which comprise the "Harvard Business Review Paperback Series." Each offers direct, convenient, and inexpensive access to the best thinking on the given subject in articles originally published by the Harvard Business School Review. I strongly recommend all of the volumes in the series. The individual titles are listed at this Web site: www.hbsp.harvard.edu. The authors of various articles are among the world's most highly regarded experts on the given subject. Each volume has been carefully edited. An Executive Summary introduces each selection. Supplementary commentaries are also provided in most of the volumes, as is an "About the Contributors" section which usually includes suggestions of other sources which some readers may wish to explore.

Some of the most valuable benefits in this volume are provided by comprehensive charts which, all by themselves, are worth far more than the cost of the book. Here are a few examples.

• The Evolution and Transformation of Customers (page 4) and The Shifting Locus of Core Competencies (page 7): both are provided by C.K. Prahalad and Venkatram Ramaswamy.

• Are Your Retail Pillars Solid -- or Crumbling? (page 52): Leonard L. Berry identifies the major differences between inferior retailers from superior retailers.

• The Three Dimensions of Synchronization (page 90): Mohanbir Sawhney explains how any organization can present a single, unified face to the customer -- one that can change as market conditions warrant -- without imposing homogeneity on its people.

• One Destination, Five Roads (page 111) and Teams and Work Groups: It Pays to Know the Difference (page 123): Jon R. Katzenbach and Jason A. Santamaria explain how five practices followed by the U.S. Marine Corps enable it to outperform all other organizations in terms of "engaging the hearts and minds of the front line."

These and other charts are especially helpful whenever a reader wishes to review the key points in any of the eight essays, each of which provides cutting edge thinking and eminently practical advice. Although no bibliography is provided, those who wish to consult other sources need only read the About the Contributors section which will direct them to those sources.

CRM or customer service?
I bought this book willing to find essentials about CRM as a Philosophy as a System not by pieces. I cannot qualify this as a coherent book about CRM but as a compilation of eight articles of eight valuable authors writing about Relations with Customers not CRM as an integrated system of Human Resources, Technology and Philosophy into an organization's life. If you see this book as a group of articles gathered to give you different points of view about customers and service (not CRM) this is a good book, if you buy it considering the title "Customer Relationship Management" and "Harvard Business Review" it will not full your expectations.

Nevertheless I have to recommend the article written by Fournier, Dobscha and Mick about preventing the premature death of Relationship Marketing. Very interesting point of view. ... Read more

Book Description

Managing and Motivating Contact Center Employees reveals how to boost morale, streamline business processes, and inspire outstanding performance from frontline sales and service staff.

This creative and practical book gives instant help to anyone who knows the difficulties of managing in the diverse and dynamic contact center environment.

Reviews (1)

A must have for your contact center library
Impact Learning International has done it again! There is no contact center topic more important than that of focusing on the biggest expense and the greatest asset...your people. Impact Learning provides excellent advice and practical help in a fun and understandable way. It is based on their many years of experience coaching and training in the contact center industry. I refer to my copy all of the time and have given away several copies to contact center managers. You MUST have a copy of this book in your business library! ... Read more

Book Description

What if you could double your eBay sales with one mouse click? Sound impossible? Welcome to the next big development in the world of online auctions: datafeeds.Using a datafeed to export your eBay auction listings, your items will now surface in shopping-focused searches performed by engines like Yahoo! Shopping, Amazon, and Google's new Froogle service. Instead of a general search, which finds thousands of Web pages that merely mention an item, sites like Froogle and Yahoo! Shopping return a list of online retailers who actually sell the product. Would you like to be on those lists?Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way gives you dozens of new strategies for reaching people whose only goal is to buy. With auction management software or a service, your eBay business information is kept in a database that can feed information to other e-commerce systems -- like Froogle, Yahoo! Shopping, Amazon, and other product search engines. Which means that your product is now available not only to eBay buyers but also to a whole new universe of online shoppers!Building Your eBay Traffic the Smart Way also unlocks the incredible power of cross-selling (linking from one auction to another), targeted advertising, pro-quality photography, eBay stores, online malls, and much more! ... Read more

Amazon.com

Tom Peters thinks that you can turn you "dept."--be it the HR "dept." or the payroll "dept."--into a professional service firm with the same level of creativity and commitment of the firms we always seem to hear about--McKinsey & Co., Chiat/Day, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In The Professional Service Firm50, Peters spells out 50 ways to transform your "dept." into a client-centered, passionate organization. His advice ranges from "Bring in wild and woolly outsiders. E-x-p-a-n-d the box" (no. 27) and "A rabid scheduler is a must!" (no. 32) to "Become a Research & Development evangelist" (no. 35) and "Provide 'project management-leadership' opportunities" (no. 45).

The Professional Service Firm50 joins Peters's Reinventing Work series, which also includesThe Projects50 and The Brand You50. Like that of all the titles in this series, this book's presentation--especially its bouncing typography--is distinctive and at times overwhelming. Nevertheless, managers looking to inject new ideas and life into their departments will find lots of high-energy advice here. --Harry C. Edwards ... Read more

Reviews (17)

You Are The Only Constraint Keeping Yourself From WOW!
I've completed the first three books in the "reengineering work" 50List Series--and think Tom Peters did an outstanding job. For those who read a great deal and believe in these principles to begin with--you may only rate it a "4-Star"--but is still great book--just did not get the "aha's" that someone who has not read as much may receive. His points are right on, and I totally agree with his point that "Knowledge Capital" is key for the PSF--but is especially important to each individual. I love the point he makes that in a PSF--"the people are the only asset"--not only to the company--but, you the employee. You have total control over your own knowledge capital, and if your capital is strong enough--you can select the employer with which to share your knowledge. Dennis Waitley in "Empires of the Mind", comes to the conclusion, that in the future, it will be the employee selecting the employer in which he/she will share part of his working life. This a great read.

Tom Peters at his best!
Since I had totally loved the "Circle of innovation", I was anxious for Tom Peters to release his series of "50" books. I wasn't dissapointed! This is Tom Peters at his best. Not only does he again throw business dogma out the window, he goes so far as to re-invent the style of a business book. It makes for a great read and the many tips he gives are really useful. I am looking forward to his next one!

Good suggestions for invigorating your department
Tom Peters sees himself as the antidote to the Dilbert mentality -- the relentless negativism caused by workplace bureaucracy that stifles creativity, stamps out individuality, and does its best to turn people into uninspired, clock-watching drones.

Peters seems to understand that many workplaces ARE uninspiring, but he urges you to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. And those of you who run departments are in a great position to turn your department or company into a nimble, energetic Professional Service Firm that empowers employees and sees clients as equal partners in a creative, exciting task. Whether you work in a law firm, an accounting office, or a purchasing department, Peters thinks you can make your work dynamic, inspiring, and challenging -- and treat your employees like valuable individuals.

This book is divided into fifty chapters, each of which offers a suggestion for ramping up into the dynamic world of the Professional Service Firm. The book reads like a management consultant who has been reading too much beat poetry (lots of ellipses, exclamation points, and all caps) but it works -- the book reads like an energetic screed that packs a punch.

If you're interested in books that empower and inspire, please read my book "The Rules of Ruthlessness," which offers a message somewhat similar to Tom Peters' books. You can buy "The Rules of Ruthlessness" on Amazon, and you can learn more about the book at ruthlessness.com.

good information but hard to dig out
Unfortunately one of the worst books I have ever read (certainly the worst layout).

Whilst there is some valuable information contained in the text, the bizarre writing style (changing font / colur / caps / exclamations marks / cliches etc.) makes for hard work digging the nuggets of gold out.

Personally I'd recommend spending your valuable time reading a text that's easier than this one with its appaling use of language(cool! phat! wow!) and oh-so obvious observations.

Highly Recommended!
Tom Peters takes this book's role in the "Reinventing Work Series" seriously. He urges corporate departments, such as human resources and accounting, to reinvent themselves as professional service firms, thinking of their work as projects and of their companies as clients. He believes this will result in a more energized workforce and higher-quality work. His approach is marked by his now signature "gee whiz" writing style, which is punctuated by large typefaces, exclamation points and remarks like "Amen!" and "WOW!" We [...] recommend this book for its innovative points and no "b.s." attitude, but Peters-bashers will groan at the repetition of ideas and cheerleading expressions. This is a useful, inspiring pep talk, and if it is not exactly In Search of Excellence - which seemed to be written for adults who didn't need quite so much hip-hip hoopla - that was then and this is now.
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Book Description

Designed for thePrinciples of Marketing course, this book communicates precisely whattodayÕs outstanding marketers do—CONNECT.It examinesfive supporting themes that will shape the field of marketing well into the21st century: Connecting through technology, Connecting throughrelationships, Connecting with diversity, Connecting ... Read more

Reviews (39)

Very easy to use and helpful.
This book, Marketing: Connecting With Customers, is the required text for my Marketing class. I have found it to be very helpful and easy to understand. The reading is not very confusing and they explain things very well. I also like the way they use a lot of present day examples that help you to apply what you are learning. The definitions in the margins are also very helpful when studying. The figures and illustrations are easier to use and understand than some of my other books. One of the best features in this book, in my opinion, is the "Connected: Surfing the Net" sections. This is a very good idea since more and more of our lives are spent on the internet. As I said before, this helps to apply what we have learned to the real world. The Career Tips and Summaries at the end of the chapter are also very helpful. Overall, I would have to say that this book is very good and easy to understand.

A study of the four P's
I am a student at Hannibal-LaGrange College and our required text for my Marketing class was Marketing Connecting with Customers. This text was very easy to understand and comprehend. I was able to read the chapters in one sitting, and understand what i read. The useful features are the many graphs and charts in the text, they parallel to what the readings for the chapter are. As to will I keep this text after the course MKT 313 is over, probably not, why? Well, since my major is Accounting and General Business Administration, the concepts are ones I will not need as a reference. The topics that were covered in class and learned for the tests will always be with me. I will not need this text as a reference. Sometimes the material in the chapters was a little too much drawn out in length. This text was fairly interesting in comparison to texts that I have used in the past and in other current courses.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME
By far, this is one of the worst "academic" books I have read in my four years as a college student. Harrell and Frazier's use of misappropriate and ethnocentric examples detract from their attempt to teach.

Principles of Marketing, Dr. John Schafer.
The name of the course I used this text book for was Principles of Marketing. I thought the book was very up to date with the advancing technology of computers and the internet. Some features that I liked about this book was the vocabulary terms located on the side of each page and a summary of vocabulary terms at the end of each chapter. I thought the layout of the material in each chapter was terrific and I thought the examples used in critical areas were helpful. I liked this book very much and would recommend it to any student wanting to acquire more knowledge in marketing.

Marketing Connecting With Customers
I found this book to be very informative and easy to understand. The information really gets the reader involved by discussing topics that relate to what is going on in the real world. The advertisments that are used also add to the book. The ads are easily recognizable from what is out there right now, such as the "Got Milk?" ads. One of the chapters that I particularly liked was Connecting With Customers: Understanding Customer Behavior. This chapter discusses why consumers behave differently in different situations. ... Read more

Book Description

The ideal customer defends, champions, forgives, and commits to a company or brand for the long term — but how can a business create such long-lasting loyalty? Chip and Bilijack Bell explain how in Magnetic Service, based on examples of real companies who have done just that. Written in a lively, accessible style, the book shows that loyalty comes not from allegiance to a product but from compelling experiences. Using case studies, the authors explain the concept of "magnetic service" that turns casual customers into loyal and enduring fans. The book unlocks the seven secrets of this phenomenon, from "Focus on Customer Hopes, Not Just Needs" to "Add ‘Charisma’ to the Mix" to "Empower Customers Through Comfort." ... Read more