Contents
Foreword by Horst Schulze
Introduction:
The Only Shop in the Marketplace
Chapter One:
The Engineer on the Ladder: Reaching for the Highest Level of Service
With the Support of an Effective Problem Resolution Process
Chapter Three:
Language Engineering: Every. Word. Counts.
Establish a Consistent Style of Speech
Create a Lexicon of Preferred Language and Phrasing
Choose Language to Put Customers at Ease, Not to Dominate Them
Shut Up Sometimes: The Artie Bucco Principle
Show, Don’t Tell (And Don’t Ever Just Point)
Phone and Internet Language and Communication Pointers
Chapter Four:
Recovery! Turning Service Failures Around
The Four Steps to Great Service Recoveries
Use Your Own Experience to Prepare You
Who Should Handle Customer Complaints?
Subtle is Beautiful: Service Recovery Below the Radar
Chapter Five:
Keeping Track to Bring Them Back: Tracking Customer Roles, Goals, and Preferences
Principles of Noting and Sharing
Principle 1: Keep Your Systems Simple
Principle 2: If It’s Important to Your Customer, It Belongs in Your System
Principle 3: The Information You Gather Needs to be Available in Real Time
Principle 4: Preferences Change; Assumptions are Tricky
Principle 5: Moods Change: Track Them
Principle 6: Don’t Blow It with a Wooden Delivery
Principle 7: Using Technology to Ask for Information? It’s a Fine Line between Clever and Creepy
Surprises Are Hazardous—Online and Off
Fear Not: Don’t Be Deterred from Collecting Information—Thoughtfully
Chapter Six:
Building Anticipation Into Your Products and Services: Putting Processes to Work for You
Get Your Company to Think Like a Customer
Mr. BIV and the Art of Eliminating Defects
Don’t Kill Mr. BIV’s Messengers
Systematically Reducing Waste to Add Value—For You and Your Customers
Why Efficient Processes Can Transform Service
Stamping Out Waste? Don’t Crush Value by Accident
Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet
Using Tools to Gather Information About Your Customers’ Experience
Process-Based Solutions Become People Solutions
Chapter Seven:
Your People: Selection, Orientation, Training, and Reinforcement
We Are Already Our True Selves: Select for Traits
Create a Powerful Orientation Process
Use Orientation to Instill New Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs
Defining an Employee’s Underlying Purpose
The Orientation Process Begins Sooner Than You Think
On Day One, Nothing Is Tangential
Training Employees to Anticipate—Carefully
Reinforcement: The Daily Check-In
Chapter Eight:
Leadership: Guiding the Customer-Centered Organization
Service Leaders Matter Because People Power Service
Five Characteristics of Great Service Leaders
Chapter Nine:
What’s Worth it, and What’s Not? Pointers on Value, Costs, and Pricing
What Does Loyalty-Enhancing Service Really Cost?
“Compared to What?”: Value Is Relative
Pricing Is Part of Your Value Proposition
Don’t Charge a Customer for Performing the Heimlich
Money Isn’t Everything, But Money Issues Matter—Especially How You Present Them
Opinions: Everybody Has One. Evangelists: Every Company Needs Them.
The Internet Can Promote Commoditization. Avoid This Through Individualization.
Online, the Window in Which to Show You’re Extraordinary Can Be Small
Amazon.com: A Brilliant Company, but Not the Most Realistic Model to Emulate
First Time Online: A Nuts-and-Bolts Case Study
Chapter Eleven:
Hello/Good-Bye: Two Crucial Moments with a Customer
Don’t Rush Your Hellos and Good-Byes on the Telephone
Turn Your Receptionist into a Predator (Who Kills with Kindness)
The Hazards of Subcontracting Hellos and Good-Byes
Good-Bye for Now from the Authors—With Resources and Assistance for Your Journey
Appendix A:
Oasis Disc Manufacturing: Customer and Phone Interaction Guidelines and Lexicon Excerpts
Appendix B:
CARQUEST Standards of Service Excellence
Appendix C:
Capella Hotels and Resorts “Canon Card”: Service Standards and Operating Philosophy