Book Description

Call Centers in Plain English

Your company needs a call center to be competitive in the 21st century. This book is your guide to the technology, techniques, and trends in today's call centers.

The Call Center Dictionary contains all the information you need to:

Understand: Your boss, your vendors, the technicians from the telecom and IT departments. Here are the meanings of all those technical terms and that alphabet soup of acronyms. When you need to know whether to go with ISDN or the PSTN and whether a T-1 will help, you'll find all the answers here.

Explain: To management, technicians, and new hires. It can be tough to explain terms you use in the call center every day to people with little call center experience. These definitions will let you express yourself clearly - so even executives will understand!

Interpret: Technology sales literature and sales presentations. Find out what the vendor really means by those fancy buzzwords.

Implement and Improve: Getting the most out of CRM tools to maximize customer satisfaction and foster increased sales. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The Call Center Dictionary
El uso del diccionario es con fines de ampliar mis conocimientos de centrales telefonicas para optener un mayor rendimiento academico en el desarrollo de mi ptoyecto de tesis de grado para optar al titulo de Ingenieria de sistemas. ... Read more

Book Description

A No-Nonsense Approach to Customer-Focused Business

In their relentless quest for differentiation, many companies have poured their energies into making their offerings distinctive from competitors'. Yet, according to marketing experts Patrick Barwise and Seán Meehan, in doing so companies have neglected the very basic activities that matter most to customers.

This refreshingly straightforward book argues that it is not the addition of unique gizmos or features that wins and keeps customers, but the steadfast delivery of the fundamentals-products that actually work and reliable services that take place on time.

Barwise and Meehan show that being truly "customer-driven" means consistently fulfilling these types of obvious needs for customers Simply Better than competitors. The authors provide an actionable framework that managers can use to: understand customer needs and priorities; explore why customers do and don't buy a particular brand; decide which "basics" their company should focus on; and overcome the five key challenges to meeting and exceeding their customers' true expectations.

Candid and refreshing, Simply Better refocuses marketers and managers on what really matters to customers-and outlines exactly what companies must do to deliver it.

... Read more

Book Description

The importance of service and service quality has been growing in the world economy since the late 1970s. Establishing new levels of sophistication and rigor, as well as a broad set of approaches, Service Quality presents the latest research and theory in customer satisfaction and services marketing. Designed to advance the practice of delivering superior service, the field's leading scholars and practitioners present a wealth of ideas that include measuring the managerial impact of service quality improvement, new methods of assessing the various elements of service quality, and philosophies about the nature of customer value. Presenting diverse points of view and revealing a variety of emerging ideas, the editors conclude with a look toward the future of service quality. An exhilarating--and sometimes demanding--change of pace, Service Quality is essential for professionals, researchers, scholars, and students in marketing studies. ... Read more

Amazon.com

What do the Honda Supercub, Intel's 8088 processor, and hydraulic excavators have in common? They are all examples of disruptive technologies that helped to redefine the competitive landscape of their respective markets. These products did not come about as the result of successful companies carrying out sound business practices in established markets. In The Innovator's Dilemma, author Clayton M. Christensen shows how these and other products cut into the low end of the marketplace and eventually evolved to displace high-end competitors and their reigning technologies.

At the heart of The Innovator's Dilemma is how a successful company with established products keeps from being pushed aside by newer, cheaper products that will, over time, get better and become a serious threat. Christensen writes that even the best-managed companies, in spite of their attention to customers and continual investment in new technology, are susceptible to failure no matter what the industry, be it hard drives or consumer retailing. Succinct and clearly written, The Innovator's Dilemma is an important book that belongs on every manager's bookshelf. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards ... Read more

Reviews (130)

Entrepreneurs - read this & gain the upper hand
In this revolutionary bestseller, Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership, or worse, disappear completely. And he not only proves what he says; he tells others how to avoid a similar fate.

To be a successful entrepreneur you must be able to capitalize on change. "The Innovator's Dilemma" is all about dealing with change, from the incumbent's point of view. How valuable do you think it would be to understand how your larger competitors think? That's exactly what this book talks about.

Most large, established firms are inherently weak in one area - they cling to the status quo with a vengeance. While talk of innovation is commonplace, it is the attacker (entrepreneurs) who holds a definitive advantage. Without legacy systems and overbearing bureaucracy it is the entrepreneur who has the upper hand.

"The Innovator's Dilemma" consists of two major parts:

Part One: Why Great Companies Fail
Part Two: Managing Disruptive Change

This is one of the most insightful books on business that I have ever read. It explains a very important concept - how radically new (disruptive) technologies can overtake existing well-established (sustaining) technologies and in the process beat market leaders at their own game.

Large companies typically ignore small markets and instead look for growth in established markets. All too often executives of large companies are reluctant to take on challenges in small and unknown terrain since they are always trained to "think big" - which is good news for Aspiring Entrepreneurs.

Take heed, read this book and learn how to fully exploit disruptive technologies and become the next "great company."

-----------------
Michael Davis - Editor, Byvation

Fresh and insightful analysis
A great book with some very insightful ideas. Prior to reading this book, the term "disruptive technology" was foreign to me. I always thought that the large company's misfortunes were largely an indication of how short-sided or greedy their management have become. The more I read, the faster my previous assumptions disappear. We have had many companies come out of no-where and become a technological sensation over night, with products that are destined to become main stream. I never viewed those innovations as disruptive technologies but rather as fresh approaches to the same problems that have existed for sometime, which may seem sound to some, but to others who were focused on that core of business, they will see how some new innovations may spell the death-sentence for some companies as well as retire the current de facto products that are in that void. Christensen also discusses how companies can survive disruptive technology attacks and benefit from them to maintain their active participation as well as leadership in their respective industry. Foresight and the courage to invest in those disruptive technologies is key to keep the core business balanced as well as staying in touch with the new competitors.

Only the Paranoid Survive
In a landmark study, the author argues that the basis of competition among businesses undergoes a paradigm shift everytime a disruptive technology is born. So what is a disruptive technology? Remember what Walmart did to Sears? Of course you do, because disruptive technologies are usually products or services that are faster, cheaper, smaller, and more convinient. Ultimately, good companies must refrain from doing what got them to the top in the first place--listening to their customers and believing everything comes down to superior technology--in order to successfully compete with the onslaught of start-ups redefining both the buying hierarchies and value networks in which they are implicated.

This is without a doubt one of the best business books I have ever read.

Blend decision analysis with decision technology
The Innovator's Dilemma explores how the creation of new technologies can cause companies to lose market share or their markets entirely, even companies that do everything right such as listening to their customers, watching the marketplace, and investing in research and development. The author argues that, while existing thriving companies can be successful with sustaining technologies, these same companies often falter with the advent of disruptive technologies. They either often do not want to put their resources into developing the new technology, because their existing customer do not want it or they attempt to fit the new technology into the existing market instead of looking to create new markets for the new product which generally doesn't work. Both of these decisions cause the company to lag in the development of the disruptive technology and eventually wither away to the competition of smaller companies that focused on developing the eruptive technology.

The dilemma examined is, while it is important for companies to give their customers what they want to be successful in the present, they need to know when to begin to move their resources into technologies or services t hat represent the moneymakers and markets of tomorrow. Though concentrating mainly on the disk drive industry, the author also looks at the retailing industry, pharmaceutical industry, and automobile industry including the development of the electric car, among others. Examples of disruptive technologies include the evolution of disk drives from 14 inch to 8 inch to 5.25 inch to 3.5 inch to 1.8 inch, the introduction of off-road motorcycles to North America. The replacement of transistors by vacuum tubes, and the creation of discount retailers such as K-Mart. Sustaining technologies are those that improve upon existing products or technologies 'along the dimensions of performance that mainstream customers in major markets have historically valued'. Most advances in technology have been sustaining in nature, which may very well be one reason why, when faced with a disruptive technology, ordinarily successful companies fail with regards to those disruptive technologies. Another reason for successful firms failing to capitalize on disruptive technologies, this goes against what is normally considered 'rational financial decision-making'.

Generally, disruptive technologies have low profit margins, are geared to 'emerging or insignificant markets', and a company's best customers usually do not want, need, or cannot use the disruptive technology. The author outlines four basic principles to successfully deal with disruptive innovations which he likened to man first learning how to fly. In the introduction, he wrote that when man first learned to fly, he ignored the basic principle of physics. Once the basics principles of physics were recognized and put to use, man was able to fly. Similarly, he argues that once managers recognize and utilize the principles of disruptive innovation, they will be able to successfully deal with such innovations. These principles are: Companies Depend on Customers and Investors for Resources. Small Markets Don't Solve the Growth Needs of Large Companies. Markets That Don't Exist Can't Be Analyzed. Technology Supply May Not Equal Market Demand. These four principles are discussed in the firs half of the book. The author argues that if managers can understand and use these four principles when faced with disruptive technologies, they then can and will be able to effectively navigate through those unknown waters. One of the reasons put forth for repeated failures is that the then-successful companies focused solely on providing what their customers wanted and neglected to look to or invest in nascent technologies. Their total customer focus caused them to lose sight of new and potentially lucrative markets and products. Also put forth as a reason for these failures is the companies' fears of cannibalization; that us is, the companies feared that the new disruptive technology would be purchase at the expense of their more successful products. However, as he points out, disruptive technology never initially replaces and existing technology, and , as such , the short term fear of cannibalization of existing high profit products is unfounded. When and established company waits to introduce a disruptive technology until the market for that product is already established, then the fear of cannibalization is much more real.

The author looks also to value networks to determine whether or not a company will be successful with regards to disruptive technologies. A value network is essentially the framework that a company uses to solve problems, deal with its customers, and generally do its business. It is from within this network that marketing decisions and 'perceptions of the economic value of a new technology' are formulated. As can be deduced, a large, established firm will have different marketing plans and value perceptions of a new product for a small or unknown market than would startup or smaller company. Often times it is through this value network that the decisions to pas on a new technology are made. Shadow prices are discussed in relation to how different value networks view the varying characteristics of the product. The author outlines six steps in the evolution of a disruptive technology: Disruptive technologies were first developed within established firms. Established firms may have chosen not to market the technology, but they knew how to develop it. Marketing personnel then sought reactions from their lead customers. The most important customers have no use at the moment for the new technology and, therefore, show little interest in it. Established firms step up the pace of sustaining technological development. They do this in order to keep up with the needs of their current customers and thereby 'win the competitive wars against other established firms which were making similar improvements'. By taking this tack, established firms neglect possible competition from entrant companies with disruptive technologies. New companies were formed, and markets for the disruptive technologies were found by trial and error.

Often the people who developed the disruptive technologies at the established firms would leave and form their own companies to market their innovations. In the process, they would develop and new market. The entrants moved up-market. Once these new companies developed their own markets, they were able to make some changes to their products and begin to move in on the established firms. Established firms belatedly jumped on the bandwagon to defend their customer base. By this point, it is generally too late for the established firms. Those that succeed in getting the new technology to market generally don't get any significant market share. They basically just hang on. The author examined companies such as Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Kresge, Woolworth's, and Honda. He concluded that the successful managers took the following steps when faced with disruptive technologies. They embedded projects to develop and commercialize disruptive technologies within an organization whose customers needed them. When managers aligned a disruptive innovation with the 'right' customers, customer demand increased the provability that the innovation would get the resources it needed. They placed projects to develop disruptive technologies in organizations small enough to get excited about small opportunities and small wins. They planned to fail early and inexpensively in the search for the market for a disruptive technology. They found that their markets generally coalesced through an iterative process of trial, learning and trial again. When commercializing disruptive technologies, they found or developed new markets that valued the attributes of the disruptive products, rather than search for a technological breakthrough so that the disruptive product could compete as a sustaining technology in mainstream markets. The decision making process that the MBA students learn at Business Schools, including decisions under risk, the minimization of regret, etc., would be among the proper and useful methods to use when making decisions regarding sustaining innovations according to the book. However, it seems that the author is arguing that it is these exact decision analyses that often cause firms to fail when faced with disruptive technologies.

Disruptive technologies have to be analyzed using different decision models and that is what The Innovator's Dilemma sets out to demonstrate. The Innovator's Dilemma shows that, if addressed properly, disruptive technologies can prove highly successful and profitable. If addressed using the common decision-making approach best geared for everyday issues and sustaining technological improvements. Then disruptive technologies could prove to be a disaster for the existing staid corporation

Good introduction to a nice Theory
Not quite as easy to read as I would have liked. Christensen describes some very interesting & plausible theories, but is somewhat confined into employing the computer disk industry as the rapidly changing example which both demonstrates & proves his theories, and its not necessarily the most exciting case material. Other products only get a minor look-in.

What I did like is how he covers the footnotes at the end of each Chapter - so if they don't interest you, you can skip over them, but if they do interest you, then you don't have to struggle to the back of the book. I wish more authors & publishers would use that technique.

One quibble - given his Economics background - of course there are plenty of graphs, and 99% of them are straight lines - there are no time dependent variances in his world.

Read this before you read the Innovators Solution. ... Read more

Book Description

Improving the quality levels of services and products in today's marketplace is what can make the difference between an adequate company or an exceptional company. But how can companies actually measure their customers' levels of satisfaction in an accurate and reliable way? Unless companies have the tools to accurately measure customer perceptions, their improvement programs may be based on data that is speculative, irrelevant, or downright misleading. In simple, understandable terms, Measuring Customer Satisfaction presents detailed information on how to develop questionnaires using underlying scientific principles. Topics also include: Scale development; The concept of quality; Two methods of determining important service or product characteristics as received by the customer. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Highly readable text, coherent examples and critical ideas
Mr. Hayes presents several good ideas in this very readable text. Although this book is most useful now in Age of the Malcolm Balderidge Award, I offer Kudos to Mr. Hayes on his lack of faddish management lingo.

The author introduces the idea of customer surveys, gives solid ideas on the backbone of a survey, summarizes what actions lead to a survey, discusses the basis of survey design, and touches on the math needed to analyize survey results.

Excellent beginner's guide.

easy to understand general overview
This book provides a general conceptual approach to its topic along with specific examples of how survey techniques are used. It would be useful to executives with a desire to understand a little more about the field. Unfortunately, it is not particularly helpful in terms of actually doing the techniques it presents. Perhaps more importantly, it doesn't cover the particular pitfalls/limitations you need to be aware of when trying to interpret data presentations. ... Read more

Book Description

From junk mail blockers to do-not-call lists, potential buyers today are more interested in "opting out" than listening to marketers' messages. Opt-In Marketing offers a prescriptive plan for reversing this dangerous trend. This hard-hitting book is based on a program that increased sales at IBM by 80 percent in one year and features sidebars from industry luminaries and examples from Fortune 500 firms. It outlines a 10-point blueprint for rethinking customer care and is the perfect guide for marketers looking to once again be seen as partners instead of predators.

Reviews (2)

innovative and psychologically sophisticated marketing
Good to see individuals in the marketing/advertising field who truly understand the complexity of people and organizations. Consistent with the most up-to-date approaches in the field of psychology (specifically psychotherapy research), the authors of this new book are quite persuasive in showing readers the enormous value in tailoring marketing approaches to the individual needs of different organizations. Moreover, they use statistics in a quite user-friendly way and they also offer a great and quite readable variety of case material to support their views. An engaging, persuasive, and innovative look at contemporary marketing. Well worth a look; you'll find yourself hooked.

Here's the future of Direct Marketing!
Ernan Roman and Scott Hornstein have seen the writing on the wall, that customers and prospects are increasingly dodging mass, unasked for commercial messages. They advocate the next important idea, namely opt-in marketing, marketing that receives the permission of the customer or prospect to be in touch. They go beyond permission marketing into consensual marketing and provide cases and evidence of its great effectiveness. They address the major objections that might arise and spell out strategy and tactics that have worked with their major clients. This is the next wave of direct marketing and they are the pioneers. ... Read more

Book Description

In their efforts to become more customer-focused, companies everywhere find themselves entangled in outmoded systems, metrics, and strategies rooted in their product-centered view of the world. Now, to ease this shift to a customer focus, marketing strategy experts Roland T. Rust, Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Katherine N. Lemon have created a dynamic new model they call "Customer Equity," a strategic framework designed to maximize every firm's most important asset, the total lifetime value of its customer base.

The authors' Customer Equity Framework yields powerful insights that will help any business increase the value of its customer base. Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon introduce the three drivers of customer equity -- Value Equity, Brand Equity, and Retention Equity -- and explain in clear, nontechnical language how managers can base their strategies on one or a combination of these drivers. The authors demonstrate in this breakthrough book how managers can build and employ competitive metrics that reveal their company's Customer Equity relative to their competitors. Based on these metrics, they show how managers can determine which drivers are most important in their industry, how they can make efficient strategic trade-offs between expenditures on these drivers, and how to project a financial return from these expenditures. The final section devotes two chapters to the Customer Pyramid, an approach that segments customers based on their long-term profitability, and an especially important chapter examines the Internet as the ultimate Customer Equity tool. Here the authors show how companies such as Intuit.com, Schwab.com, and Priceline.com have used more than one or all three drivers to increase Customer Equity.

In this age of one-to-one marketing, understanding how to drive Customer Equity is central to the success of any firm. In particular, Driving Customer Equity will be essential reading for any marketing manager and, for that matter, any manager concerned with growing the value of the firm's customer base. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A Useful Tool for Marketing and Communications Managers
Many marketing executives are challenged to evaluate the impact of their marketing communications and customer relationship strategies, but too often get bogged down in short-term measures like click-throughs and direct response. Driving Customer Equity is a valuable tool for quantifying the long-term impact of investments in building a brand and improving customer satisfaction. It is based on a logical framework that recognizes the financial returns from building brand equity, improving perceived value and increasing customer satisfaction. The book does more than provide a useful framework and report real research. It also includes hands-on tools that can be used by managers, consultants and researchers. I am recommending this book to all of my clients in the hope that it encourages a long-range focus that recognizes building customer equity is more important than short-term sales.

Waves the flag, but doesn't offer much leadership
The book is fundamentally right on a key principle -- companies need to focus on customers, not products or even markets. They argue that long-term growth is based on creating customer equity, which is based, depending on varying circumstances, on value, brand and retention equity.

However, the book is a confusing mishmash that reads like it was written by committee. Points are redundant. There are three identical charts, for example, of the "profitability death spiral." The links between a theory we can all agree on -- customers are important -- and strategy that can impact operations and marketing are weak. And the calculations for tactics -- determining the right mix of value, brand and retention equity -- are incomprehensible, and I've got a background in accounting. They read like they were lifted from an academic article by one of the authors. The stories they tell to illustrate their points -- Priceline, Amazon -- are rehashes of the same story we've all heard so many times before. Bottom line: Good concept, some intriguing thoughts (re: a customer equity officer) but no roadmap on how to get from a good idea to actual results. A worthwhile scan, but not much more.

The next edition should be much shorter
This book has a few great points, however it continues to assert them page after page after page. The writing reflects a group effort, as you will find yourself reading a definition that was already articulated in the immediately preceding section. Each small passage or section within the chapters reads like it's own 500 word essay, meant to read independent from writing around it.

Little clear quanatative methods are expressed, rather we are forced to endure a hodgepodge of graphs that belong in a high school classroom.

Like the graphs, this book was poorly written. The sections are confusing and painful to endure. All of the concepts could be presented in a more condensed fashion, and quantative methods addressed. Better works are out there, so save your money on this one.

Good book
This book shows you the importance of been a client focus organisation through ''value, brand and retention equity''. Also good for strategy.

Useful guidebook for emerging businesses
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, companies have built an organization around their products. In the traditional corporate model, finance, marketing, information systems, and operations focus on the profitability of products rather than customers. In recent years, companies have attempted to become more customer focused but often lack the organizational structure and corporate strategy to succeed in this transformation. In Driving Customer Equity, Roland Rust, Valarie Zeithaml, and Katherine Lemon develop a conceptual framework to help companies reshape their corporate strategy to grow the lifetime value of their customer base, or "customer equity". Although the concepts and strategies in this book could, theoretically, grow customer equity, the lack of real world implementations offered in this book leave the reader unsure of the feasibility to existing firms.

Rust, et al., break down the customer equity strategy into four parts: examining the problems with traditional product-oriented strategies, defining the customer equity framework, developing a customer-centered strategy, and managing the customer equity strategy. Each concept within the customer equity strategy is clearly organized and explained. At the end of each chapter the authors provide a table of "key insights" matched to "action steps" for each insight. Throughout the book, these tables provide a high-level roadmap to implementing the customer equity framework.

Beginning with two important concepts, the "profitable product death spiral" and the "lifetime value of the customer", the authors build a good case for changing a company's focus from products to customers. The theory's foundation is that companies who remove unprofitable products from the marketplace may lose customers who purchase bundled products and therefore lose long-term profit potential. Rust, et al., argue that companies who focus on the value of the customer over their lifetime may choose to keep unprofitable products to maintain or grow their customer base and increase long-term customer equity.

The authors build on this basis by breaking down customer equity into three unique but interdependent areas - value equity, brand equity, and retention equity. Value equity of a company is "when what it offers matches what the customer expects and perceives value to be." The concept of value equity is used as the foundation of the customer's relationship with the firm. Brand equity is defined as the "customer's subjective and intangible assessment of the brand, above and beyond its objectively perceived value." Retention equity is defined as the "customer's tendency to stick with the brand, above and beyond objective and subjective assessments of the brand."

While none of these three concepts are new, Rust, et al., redefine these areas in terms of the impact, needs, and perceptions of the individual customer. The action steps at the end of these chapters, such as "Engage in marketing research to understand which definitions of value are relevant to your customers. Tailor offers to focus on different value perception," are mostly common sense. There are no novel gems of wisdom, but instead a woven fabric of simultaneous actions necessary for the customer equity strategy to work.

In subsequent chapters, the authors go on to develop a customer-centered strategy that tries to measure customer equity, evaluate the financial impact of different customer equity strategic decisions, and convince upper management that customer-centered strategy will be more profitable to the company. Each section is well written and again provides action steps. However, these steps, such as "Develop a uniform evaluation procedure for all improvement programs for increasing Customer Equity," are often very high-level or require very large investments in time or money.

The last few chapters investigate ways to manage customer equity through redefining market segmentation based on the profitability of each customer rather than demographic, geographic, or psychographic approaches. As a result of this new segmentation, the authors show that some customers who are actually a drain on the company's resources should be proactively removed from the customer pool, thus lowering costs. It may seem counter-intuitive to decrease customers, but the authors make a good argument and provide ways to remove the customers gracefully.

While the book is well written and clearly explained, there are a few problems with the implementation logistics for existing firms. Examples of successful shifts to customer equity strategy are scare and repetitious. Fed Ex, IBM, and banks are some of few real-world companies that are shown to have implemented parts of the customer equity framework. There is no example of a company who has adopted the entire customer equity strategy. Without at least one leader in this revolution, managers may hesitate to pick up the banner of customer equity.

Another complicating issue is the customer equity strategy must be implemented at all levels of the company simultaneously to be effective. Many of the action steps require a significant amount of time, money, and buy-in from upper management, as well as fundamental shifts in organization and company values. For a start-up company, this strategy could be incrementally implemented as the company grows, but for established organizations it is a daunting and most likely impossible task.

Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon have described a very thorough strategy that will most likely become the standard of operation for new companies. The ideas expressed in Driving Customer Equity, taken as a whole, could grow value equity, brand equity, and retention equity. However, without a success story to rally interest, successful implementation for existing firms is out of reach unless the fundamental values of and dedication to the customer equity strategy are embraced by senior management, employees, and shareholders. ... Read more

Book Description

The ability to connect with clients-not just the ability to manage a portfolio-is essential for financial advisors who want to succeed in today's competitive financial services industry.

One of the best ways to attract clients in today's marketplace is for financial advisors to connect with clients on a personal level.In Making the Client Connection, Mitch Anthony and Gary DeMoss helpfinancial advisors use interpersonal and relational skills to identify and meet clients' needs to increase their book of business.Anthony and DeMoss reveal how to:
* Resolve the conflicts and move from agreement toaction.
* Avoid the most common mistakes advisors make.
* Be an emotionally intelligent advisor.
* Read one's clients before trying to lead them.

In Making the Client Connection, Anthony and DeMoss illustrate the radically altered dynamic in the financial services industry and the level of trust that must be built between financial services professionals and their clients.They also highlight research findingsfrom communications experts in recent studies from Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and others about making emotional and relational connections and the importance of such connections for success in the modern workplace. ... Read more

Book Description

Survey of more than 100,000 consumers reveals how they want to be treated, and the way they want to buy.

What do customers really want?Not all retailers are in the habit of listening when customers talk.They can do better, according to master customer service speaker, author, and consultant T. Scott Gross.In fact, research shows that unhappy customers talk about negative experiences for an average of 18 months.Once they have a bad experience, it will take 12 positive experiences to make up for it.However, if a complaint is resolved, count on an intensely loyal customer.

In When Customers Talk, the third volume in his customer service series, Gross partners with consumer researcher Joe Pilotta from BIGresearch to draw conclusions for frontline retailers and managers based on the insights of 100,000 retail customers.This approachable, must-have guide offers detailed insights to help retailers learn how to anticipate customer needs and take advantage of emerging trends.

Written in an engaging style, and backed by statistical research, When Customers Talk helps retailers:
* Bridge the disconnect between retailers' andcustomers' attitudes.
* Ask the right questions to get answers that willmake a difference.
* Turn the knowledge of customers' habits into sales.
* Leverage customers' loyalty for a lifetime relationship: heart, mind, and wallet.
* Understand pricing and discounting to maximizeprofits.
* Tap into technology to avoid being blindsided bychanges.

With customer insight "straight from the horse's mouth," retail managers disregard this information at their peril! ... Read more

Book Description

KET BENEFIT: This book ties together the best information from trade books and textbooks, and then adds a clear and usable process for developing the kinds of skills, attitudes, and thinking patterns needed to win customer loyalty.The coverage includes positive attitude, customer turnoffs, dissatisfied customers, customer expectations, customer loyalty, winning telephone techniques, and more.This book is for employees and managers of customer service departments and human resource training departments. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Useful concepts... some relevance to the UK market
I really liked this book. Whilst it was slightly out of date, some of the concepts were highly relevant for today. In the UK, relationship marketing hasn't taken off as well as it has in the States, we are slightly behind in applying these great concepts.

A UK or European reader would benefit from reading this book in conjunction with a UK-oriented publication, for example Residual Dream. www.residual-dream.com

Book takes "positioning" to a new level
This is a must read for anyone in technology related marketing. McKenna brings about the concept of relationship/industry "infrastructure" marketing. He clearly outlines the steps in taking techonogy products to market. It turns a little "salesy" near the end (i.e. this is how Regis McKenna, Inc. consults with its customers), but the gems you will find on nearly every page justify the book ... Read more

Book Description

Prospecting, the process of contacting the right people with the idea of converting them to customers, is a critically important activity in the sales process.Since the stock market decline in 2000, financial professionals-many for the first time-are finding they need to prospect for customers.

Author and financial services professional Scott Kimball advocates that reps cut their book, or client base, dramatically and follow his proprietary prospecting process.Called the "Top Gun" method after the renowned U.S. Navy flight school, this process provides individuals with the strategies and tactics they need to perform at levels usually never reached by the average financial salesperson.

Kimball's Top Gun Prospecting for Financial Professionals is the only book to focus on prospecting for the financial services professional.It covers all aspects of the process, including contact management systems, lists, advertising, cold calling, direct mail,networking, seminars, referrals, the Internet, attitude, and time management.

Readers will learn how to:
*Execute and track the success of the four majorprospecting process components.
*Identify new, rich sources for clients.
*Maximize the efficiency of the filtering/qualifying process, ensuring that salespeople meet only withhighly qualified, "ripe" prospects.
*Approach prospects so they agree to a meeting to discuss their financial situations. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A few years ago, everybody with a product to sell got a dose of the same religion. In marketing circles, it's called customer relationship management, or CRM. In your house, it's probably called "How the hell did I end up with all these plastic cards in my wallet?"Your grocery store offers you special discounts if you bring one of those cards to wave over the scanner. If you travel, you probably have "loyalty cards" from airlines, hotel chains, and car-rental companies. All these discount and loyalty programs allow the companies to built substantial databases about you--your preferences and patterns--but they also depend on you to do the work, to lug those plastic cards around, keep track of your points and miles, and so on.

There are better ways to build customer relationships, argues Newell. He caused a stir in 1997 with The New Rules of Marketing, and now with Loyalty.com, he wants to cause another one by declaring that most companies attempting to create customer loyalty are going about it all wrong. In fact, he shows that areas with the most aggressive loyalty programs tend to have the least loyal customers--and vice versa. Today, writes Newell, the Internet has made market research cheaper and faster than ever. Software can be designed to predict what a customer will want before she knows she wants it, and the company can go straight to that particular customer to suggest she buy that particular product, rather than showering millions of potential customers with hundreds of product solicitations. It's not easy, and pitfalls abound, as Loyalty.com shows (the issue of customer privacy alone will be the subject of endless legislation in coming years). But the company that masters customer relations will be rewarded with both loyalty and profits. --Lou Schuler ... Read more

Reviews (15)

More about loyalty than .com
I had not read any marketing books for a while and I was curious to discover loyalty.com. A study of the impact of the Internet on Customer Relationship Management looked promising. All in all, this book is quite interesting but I expected more. The focus is more on the benefits of CRM than on the impact of the Internet on the field. If you are already convinced that successful companies treat their clients personally and adapt their marketing campaigns to their profiles, you already know the main message of the book. The numerous examples mentioned in the book will confirm what you thought and believed in. What about the Internet? Well, it appears that CRM still relies on old recipes like loyalty cards, call centers and personalized mail. Of course, gathering information about customers visiting a web-site helps and e-mails are a new and cheap way of communication. Finally, CRM seems more appropriate to B2C than B2B. Most examples in the book are companies selling to individuals. The only chapter dealing with B2B is not very detailed. I cannot say that I did not enjoy reading this book even though I did not learn much. Marketing books are often refreshing readings for people not actively involved in sales and marketing. loyalty.com is well written and properly documented. It is a good introduction to CRM.

Highly Recommended!
This book is a delightful result of Frederick Newell's recent indoctrination in marketing through the World Wide Web. Newell is an internationally acclaimed professional and part-time academic who specializes in database marketing. He admits in his preface that he's a bit of a "geezer" - because his 1997 book, The New Rules of Marketing, lacked a Web component, which undermined its newness. In an effort to rectify that, he reconciles the impressive database-mining and customer relationship concepts from his earlier book with today's rapidly changing cyber-marketing theories and practices. Newell clearly is excited by what he has belatedly learned about the Web's potential, and provides on-target case studies to support his points. We [...] recommend this book to all marketers - especially to those in retail. Those who are new to Web business will find it particularly useful.

Good but can improve...
Excellent to understand insides on internet crm and loyalty. The message is: understand your customer by it self, dont give them disccounts.. give them good service, give them what they want. Lots of examples will help you reconfirm your pre-done thoughts.

Liked the valuation chapter.. not to deep (lack of examples) but perfect for a good start.

The case studies are very interesting but they do not give you the final flavor : "What happened? does this CRM initiative was really successful??"

I think you have to buy this book: it really can help you find a path.

Loyalty.com
This book is a must have for all business professionals. Newell brightly explains the fundamentals of CRM in an eye opening way, giving the reader lots of valuable points to use in your own business/career.

Loyalty and Profits
Loyalty.com explains how customer loyalty can increase the company profits. Companies must focus on building relationships with their customers. Loyalty is the last level of a customer relationship. The importance of this relationship is finely presented by the author. ... Read more

Book Description

Every customer-facing corporation has at least one call center. In the United States, call centers handle a billion calls per year. Call Center Operation gives you complete coverage of the critical issues involved in the design, implementation, organization, and management of a customer call center. Sharp provides information on advanced technology tools for workforce management, workshop examples for training call center staff, and an analysis of the significance of the call center to overall corporate customer relationship strategies.
A special feature of the book is its focus on call center case studies, describing a number of successful call center strategies and best practices, selected from various business sectors - financial, retail, healthcare, travel, technology, and others. These case studies provide useful guidelines based on successful corporate call centers that will guide you in establishing and maintaining the most effective call center operation for your enterprise.

· Presents key concepts and techniques, including a formal development process, in a real-world context
· Provides extensive management guidelines
· Stresses the importance of staff selection and training ... Read more

Amazon.com

As the thinkers have said, you should strive in all situations to know yourself and know your enemy. Most of history's great thinkers, however, were not in business. In business, you have to know your customer and understand how your company interacts with him or her. The current term for this is customer relationship management (CRM), and The CRM Handbook is the best textbook for managers on the mechanics of CRM. It's a standout in a field that's filled with squishy books that go on at length about how important CRM is, but which lack details. Jill Dyché provides lots of factual information, real case studies, carefully considered commentary, and reasoned criteria with which to evaluate CRM products and strategies. Though you'll certainly want to supplement Dyché's work with vendors' product literature and implementation proposals, you'll get a lot from her carefully researched book.

Dyché devotes some of her (fairly slender) volume to CRM background information but quickly gets to the issues that managers confronted with CRM decisions need to consider. She makes great use of bulleted lists, scorable quizzes, and checklists (sections about what questions to ask vendors, and why, are particularly good) that you can use right now to gauge any organization's suitability to CRM and determine how they need to change in order to get the most out of their systems. --David Wall

Topics covered: Customer relationship management (CRM)--as a business practice and as a set of technologies--explained for managers and corporate planners. CRM fundamentals, CRM product selection, and internal promotion of CRM are all covered well. ... Read more

Reviews (26)

Great read before starting CRM and for reference both
This books covers all the different flavors and dimensions of CRM and its entire lifecycle. I have been involved on all phases of a CRM lifecycle as a data architect, and I find it broad enough to help me understand the context for the entire CRM and my own piece in it. Understanding the overall CRM strategy as well as each component is important because of the dependencies between the different functional areas and between business and technology. This book is really good on explaining WHY - and therefore it helps you make decisions, plan your approach, and design your solution, whatever your role might be in a CRM project. As someone who has faced many of the issues presented in the book, I found the tips very actionable and the case studies insightful (and I just wished I had this book earlier in my career). I also found it useful to re-read the portions of the book as they relate to the phase I am working on and to help me analyze and resolve a design issue. My only caution is that you should be willing to understand business and technology and all the different business functions, and not just your own - but if you are serious about CRM, you will have to anyway.

Bridges business and technical - best book on the subject
This book is thorough, clear and filled with useful information. It's organized in two parts. Part 1 defines CRM in chapter 1 and in the next six chapters covers the reasons and issues for implementing CRM from five perspectives: (1) Marketing, (2) Customer Service/Call Centers, (3) Sales Force Automation, (4) E-business and (5) Data Analysis. The case studies, all based on real clients and situations, add life to the well written chapters on marketing, customer service and sales force automation. In addition each chapter contains nuggets of insight, clear discussion of the topic and numerous checklists and tables that you can use for your own projects.

Part 2 covers delivering CRM and is structured in the logical sequence of planning, tool selection and CRM project management. Like the first part of the book the four chapters in Part 2 contain case studies, checklists and excellent advice. It is in this part of the book where you'll benefit from Jill's experience because she reveals common traps and pitfalls, and gives advice on how to deal with them or bypass them altogether.

What I like about this book is that it covers the business and technical parameters, requirements and issues. Jill's writing style makes it not only readable, but engrossing as well. She goes into considerable detail about how and why CRM is important to meeting business requirements and gives business metrics, explains differences between CRM and business intelligence, and the pro's and con's of all issues and factors. Because she covers the subject from the five perspectives I listed above this book is valuable to all possible stakeholders in a CRM project. I especially liked her use of the Porter value chain and how she leads you through the development of a business case for CRM.

If you're involved in CRM, or are in a company that is implementing ISO9001:2000 (which requires that organizations have an effective method of measuring customer satisfaction to achieve ISO certification), then this book will be your most valuable source of information. If you want to see the dark side of CRM I recomment that you also read World Without Secrets by Richard Hunter, and for more information about CRM's underlying data I strongly recommend reading Jill's first book, e-Data: Turning Data into Information with Data Warehousing.

A rare piece of valuable knowledge, insightful and fun
Ms Dyché dedicates the book to her mother, June Dyche, "who set the book-writing precedent early, and well". I would add, extremely well, and, with the book in my hands, have to also thank her for the excellent upbringing job.

She introduces not only the how's of CRM but also, when appropriate, the why's, that is, not only the engineering but also the wisdom behind the subject.

If a prerequisite to take part in a CRM project is to know what CRM is about and all critical issues in a successful CRM project, this book fulfills it.

I highly recommend this useful and valuable book
To flourish in today's competitive market an organization must have all its employees understand why the organization thrives... The simple answer is because they give their customers what they need. After working for more than 20 years in IT organizations I found this to be true at every level. You will have greater success in any endeavor by listening to, understanding, and giving your customer what they need. Learn this important lesson and practice CRM with each and every client. This book gives you everything you need to know about CRM. The role of CRM in business, definitions and examples of key terms and related applications, case studies of what has worked and what hasn't, and dozens of lists and guidelines. Jill Dyche has a knack of giving you just the right information to keep you interested without all the boring details. I recommend this book to both young and seasoned professionals alike.

Enjoyable Read on CRM
Jill's book provides a comprehensive and in-depth view on CRM. As MBA/MS in Technology Management student, our learning team used it as a guidebook throughout the semester to explore CRM and related concepts. We felt fortunate that we picked this book, as it provided for us with a very solid business and technology understanding and enriched classroom discussions. Several of us who are particularly interested in CRM/Data warehousing-related applications found the second part of the book on "CRM Programs" very practical.

It is also a very entertaining read. Jill is an author who can convey the complicated, dry ideas in an interesting and lively way. It is easy to follow Jill's thoughts - her very frank style will certainly invites you to further explore the field of CRM along with her.

You will also enjoy the vivid illustrations. ... Read more

Book Description

In today's global economy the customer has more and better choices than ever before, bringing on one of the biggest challenges the business community faces today - customer loyalty and retention.

To thrive in today's customer-driven economy a company needs to give customers what they really want. They don't just want the best prices, selection, and service; they want a relationship. CRM (customer relationship management) technology is designed to collect, store, and analyze data about customers, optimizing marketing, sales, customer service, back-office operations, and new product development. Yet, technology can't do it alone. In practice, CRM is a business strategy that evokes a corporate culture in which the customer is the center of the corporate universe and CRM technology is what enables that business strategy.

While CRM may start out as a means of linking different customer-facing functions, it must end up changing the way the entire company thinks about customers: who they are, what they want, and how they can be better served.

This book explores how to:
* Develop and use a CRM strategy to integrate all channels and media of customer contact from the Internet through field sales into one system.
* Know the customers and focus on their needs to better deploy resources and achieve lower costs, higher revenue, and increased customer loyalty.
* Use CRM tools to increase profitability.
* Link CRM tools with sales partners both up and down the value chain.
* Choose the right customer-focused strategies and the right CRM systems.
* Implement and deploy CRM for the best results. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A hearty Recommendation
The author has clearly explained CRM, its premise, it application within the workplace, and its components, processes and technical underpinnings. The book provides the reader with a coherent definition and then backs it up with a CRM action plan that provides a distinct link to business essentials within the scope of a concise understanding of the broad range of processes that it takes to implement CRM. The author does a great job of explaining the necessity of bringing together the business, its processes and technology and does so in a very down to earth manner (no technospeak). The book then provides the reader with a very clear diagram of what is needed to bring a specific CRM application to fruition.

This book provides a very balanced picture of CRM. So if you need to understand CRM, its value, how it relates to business processes and what it takes to implement it, this book is for you. The checklists are invaluable and it gives you basically everything needed for a successful CRM implementation.

There are Many Reasons to Buy this Book
The book should be on the reference shelf of any manager or executive contemplating, implementing or working with CRM since it does a wonderful job of covering the business issues and technical parameters and requirements of CRM. For example, the author goes into considerable detail about how and why CRM is important to meeting business requirements and devotes many pages to the vendor and partner selection process. Furthermore, the book covers CRM from not only the IT viewpoint, but also from the departmental manager and executive office's perspective. I think it would be hard to find a book with a more comprehensive road map to CRM. Yet, the book is an easy read.

Should be on every Business Executive's Reading List
If you're involved in CRM, or are in a company that is considering CRM then this book should be your CRM Bible. It provides a thorough, well-organized treatise on all aspects of CRM. The author not only provides a full explanation of what CRM is and what CRM IS NOT, she also walks the reader through planning a business case, dealing with the human element, planning stages, project management and finally implementation. Every section is thoroughly covered, from RFP to vendor selection to outsourcing. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer service woes that'll make you laugh out loud —and cringe in fear

Let's face it. Getting good customer service these days is about as easy as winning the lottery. In this enlightening collection of true stories, Hal Becker takes a look at how bad customer service has gotten and what can be done to improve it. On the up side—the book features companies which are the best at meeting customers' needs and giving hassle-free help (rather than a lot of lip).

"Hal Becker has done it again. . . . a light-hearted approach to a serious issue facing all businesses today . . . how to serve and keep customers."—Ray Gross, Senior Vice President, ADT Security Services

"Hal Becker's new book is a classic about customer service. It has given me a lot to think about and a new motivation to always satisfy the customer."—Pat Williams, General Manager, Orlando Magic

"This is a great book for anyone whose livelihood depends on serving consumers or customers. Those who manage service environments would do well to require their employees to read these instructive stories. It's a fun way to do important training."—Joel Hyatt, Founder, Hyatt Legal Services

"Hal Becker's creative 'what should be done' approach makes the anecdotal stories a unique training book on customer service, one that is entertaining and educational."—Peter T. Gaugn, President & CEO, PIP Printing

HAL BECKER is a nationally known public speaker who is an expert in the field of sales and customer service. He is the author of Can I Have Five Minutes of Your Time? ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Wonderful Read
I work in Customer Service and have been reading alot of Cusstomer Service related books. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is insightful and funny at the same time. And as many times as the author mentioned his first book, that makes me want to go out and buy it also. I would recommend this book to anyone working with the public.

Now this is great service!
Hal Becker has done it again!At Your Service is a great book describing the ups and downs of customer service.Even though every one talks a good game, Hal shows that only some are able to deliver.The book is funny,interesting, and thought provoking.I recommend it to any student ofmarketing, business, or human nature.It's sure to become a classic.Wayto go Hal. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Recommended Read
I thought "Show Biz" was thoroughly entertaining--and highly pertinent given today's media circus around everything from the California gubernatorial election to today's leading companies. I read Bernd Schmitt's previous books in my MBA marketing classes and find still his approach useful in aligning my marketing team around the customer experience. This book clearly showed me how entertainment is becoming part of the marketing mix, and energized me to use show business to increase my reach and relevancy with customers. I highly recommend it.

The Show and The Business
This book is clever and entertaining. It's anecdotal and moves quickly, but packs a lot of punch. It covers a broad span of businesses and illustrates just how this new type of "Show" business is fundamentally changing marketing all over the world. The authors make a strong case for this type of marketing with their commentary on today's consumer/business culture. I think this book would be edifying for industry insiders and anyone at all interested in today's marketing world.

The book itself has a "show biz" appeal to it, but it backs up the "show" by getting down to business. I recommend There's No Business That's Not Show Business for anyone concerned with cutting edge marketing or branding issues today.

This book is a joke!
I have read all books from this author. What can I say? His first and second were good. I don't know what happened, but the quality of his books have been falling since then. The book is full of examples of what can you do to bring a little "show" into your "business", too bad it's written for those few people who get to manage a huge brand, or have something of an unlimited budget to play with! Of course I'd like to have live shows for my customers! Of course launching a watch at a fancy New York dance club sounds cool! Of course I'd love a theme park or a museum of my own! After reading some pages you start wondering if Schmitt is writing for someone to read this book or he's just trying to sell his consulting business. After reading pearls like:"if you're starting a $150 million promotional campaign...", I just had to close this book and look for something more interesting to do. (There's a long time I leave a book unfinished, but this one is entitled to this honor). Get real... ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Practical way to Building great Customer Experience
The only book I have come across which tell you not only the "what" but "how" of buiding great Customer Experience.The concept of having a Customer Experience statement is so basic , yet so powerful in getting the whole organization to be aligned towards delivering great Customer experience.The authors take you through step by step process to implement the Customer experience statement. A must read for any organization serious about building great Customer Experience.