Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization

Table of contents

1. Cover Page
2. Title Page
3. Copyright Page
4. Contents
5. Special Features
6. Acknowledgments
7. Foreword
8. Introduction: The Only Shop in the Marketplace
9. Chapter One: The Engineer on the Ladder: Reaching for the Highest Level of Service
   1. Function Versus Purpose
   2. First Steps First
10. Chapter Two: The Four Elements of Customer Satisfaction: Perfect Product, Caring Delivery, Timeliness, and an Effective Problem Resolution Process
    1. A Perfect Product
    2. Delivered by Caring People
    3. In a Timely Fashion
    4. With the Support of an Effective Problem Resolution Process
11. Chapter Three: Language Engineering: Every. Word. Counts.
    1. Establish a Consistent Style of Speech
    2. Create a Lexicon of Preferred Language and Phrasing
    3. Choose Language to Put Customers at Ease, Not to Dominate Them
    4. Concentrate Your Language Efforts on the Key Customer Moments: Hellos, Good-Byes, and the Times When Things Fall Apart
    5. Shut Up Sometimes: The Artie Bucco Principle
    6. Words Have Their Limits
    7. Show, Don’t Tell (And Don’t Ever Just Point)
    8. Phone and Internet Language and Communication Pointers
12. Chapter Four: Recovery! Turning Service Failures Around
    1. The Italian Mama Method
    2. The Four Steps to Great Service Recoveries
    3. The Elements of Follow-Up
    4. Use Your Own Experience to Prepare You
    5. Who Should Handle Customer Complaints?
    6. Subtle is Beautiful: Service Recovery Below the Radar
    7. Write-Offs Lead to Write-Offs
13. Chapter Five: Keeping Track to Bring Them Back: Tracking Customer Roles, Goals, and Preferences
    1. Principles of Noting and Sharing
    2. Principle 1: Keep Your Systems Simple
    3. Principle 2: If It’s Important to Your Customer, It Belongs in Your System
    4. Principle 3: The Information You Gather Needs to be Available in Real Time
    5. Principle 4: Preferences Change; Assumptions are Tricky
    6. Principle 5: Moods Change: Track Them
    7. Principle 6: Don’t Blow It with a Wooden Delivery
    8. Principle 7: Using Technology to Ask for Information? It’s a Fine Line between Clever and Creepy
    9. Surprises Are Hazardous—Online and Off
    10. Fear Not: Don’t Be Deterred from Collecting Information—Thoughtfully
14. Chapter Six: Building Anticipation Into Your Products and Services: Putting Processes to Work for You
    1. Get Your Company to Think Like a Customer
    2. Mr. BIV and the Art of Eliminating Defects
    3. Don’t Kill Mr. BIV’s Messengers
    4. Systematically Reducing Waste to Add Value—For You and Your Customers
    5. Why Efficient Processes Can Transform Service
    6. Stamping Out Waste? Don’t Crush Value by Accident
    7. Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet
    8. Using Tools to Gather Information About Your Customers’ Experience
    9. Process-Based Solutions Become People Solutions
15. Chapter Seven: Your People: Selection, Orientation, Training, and Reinforcement
    1. We Are Already Our True Selves: Select for Traits
    2. Keep the Hiring Bar High
    3. Develop Selection Discipline
    4. Create a Powerful Orientation Process
    5. Use Orientation to Instill New Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs
    6. Defining an Employee’s Underlying Purpose
    7. The Orientation Process Begins Sooner Than You Think
    8. On Day One, Nothing Is Tangential
    9. Build a Brand Ambassador
    10. Training Employees to Anticipate—Carefully
    11. Reinforcement: The Daily Check-In
16. Chapter Eight: Leadership: Guiding the Customer-Centered Organization
    1. Service Leaders Matter Because People Power Service
    2. Five Characteristics of Great Service Leaders
    3. Moral Leadership
17. Chapter Nine: What’s Worth it, and What’s Not? Pointers on Value, Costs, and Pricing
    1. What Does Loyalty-Enhancing Service Really Cost?
    2. Gilding the Lily
    3. “Compared to What?”: Value Is Relative
    4. Pricing Is Part of Your Value Proposition
    5. Don’t Charge a Customer for Performing the Heimlich
    6. Money Isn’t Everything, But Money Issues Matter—Especially How You Present Them
18. Chapter Ten: Building Customer Loyalty Online: Using the Internet’s Power to Serve Your Customers and Your Goals
    1. The Internet’s Double Edge
    2. Opinions: Everybody Has One. Evangelists: Every Company Needs Them.
    3. The Internet Can Promote Commoditization. Avoid This Through Individualization.
    4. Long Copy/Short Copy
    5. Online, the Window in Which to Show You’re Extraordinary Can Be Small
    6. Amazon.com: A Brilliant Company, but Not the Most Realistic Model to Emulate
    7. First Time Online: A Nuts-and-Bolts Case Study
19. Chapter Eleven: Hello/Good-Bye: Two Crucial Moments with a Customer
    1. Timelessly Time-Sensitive
    2. Don’t Rush Your Hellos and Good-Byes on the Telephone
    3. Serving Disabled Customers Is a Responsibility and an Opportunity, from the Moment You Welcome Them at Your Door
    4. Turn Your Receptionist into a Predator (Who Kills with Kindness)
    5. It’s Google—Not You—Who Decides Where Visitors Enter Your Site. Be Sure They’re Greeted Properly Anyway
    6. Taking Control of Good-Byes
    7. The Hazards of Subcontracting Hellos and Good-Byes
    8. Good-Bye for Now from the Authors—With Resources and Assistance for Your Journey
20. Appendixes
21. Appendix A: Oasis Disc Manufacturing: Customer and Phone Interaction Guidelines and Lexicon Excerpts
22. Appendix B: CARQUEST Standards of Service Excellence
23. Appendix C: Capella Hotels and Resorts “Canon Card”: Service Standards and Operating Philosophy
24. Notes
25. Index