The Customer Service Revolution

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” This book is both entertaining and fascinating, with plenty of great stories about how certain companies have profited from treating their customers not just right, but the extra mile. Also included are some who didn’t, with corresponding results. It also explains why that perkiness that sometimes strikes me as fake on the phone or in person is used. I’d imagine there’s a lot of executives who wouldn’t bother to read this--or listen at the author’s seminars--but for those with an open mind and not-giant ego, this can only help.

Listen up CEOs, managers, entrepreneurs. The magic in keeping your business thriving and surviving and putting more money into your pocket is by caring about your customer- pure and simple. John Dijulius is quite clear that if something is wrong in your business and you are doing everything technically right, it could be how you treat your customers. And in his latest book, he has the case studies and facts to back this up.

As a person in customer service/sales industry myself, I can admit customers can be huge babies and want things done yesterday. However, I am also a consumer and there have been times when a sales rep has made my sour day turn worse. For instance, when Netflix decided to up their prices all of sudden, customers sounded off online,

In 2011, Netflix had a severe fallout. And the internet magnified the situation, causing over 80,000 Facebook fans to sound off(16)

Dijulius goes on to list examples of companies who actually put customers first and are still standing strong: Amazon, Zappos, and Starbucks. Just to name a few. If you have purchased anything from these places you know very well how much they value their customers.

He also uses excellent examples of how to turn your customer away and lose your business. I would love to list all of them here, but let's just say that posting something like,

"We are not responsible for your lost or stolen items"
or,
"Your 5:00 is here."(I am not a 5:00, my name is Erica)

Are great ways to depersonalize and not care.

Dijulius mentions other humbling techniques to personalize your experience with customers and I have to admit, it will be difficult for those not trained in really caring how the customer feel. So some of the advice in this book is kin to a giant, jagged pill to swallow.

An awesome book, by a humbling friendly personality.

My review will appear in the May-June issue of Global Business and Organizational Excellence, a Wiley publication.

Do right by your customers and your customers will do right by you, this is essentially the author’s central message. This may lead to you achieving a strong, loyal customer base that does not focus just on price.

Of course it helps to have products and services that your customers need and want, yet if you manage to convince them to be enthusiastic, loyal and devoted to your company, a lot of the battle is already won. You will get so-called sticky customers.

This is a fairly light, accessible, interesting read that draws you in. It underlines time after time how customer service is an investment, a key requirement, an essential part of your company’s DNA and not just a task that must be done to provide a veneer of service.

As the author notes, every one of us is price sensitive to some degree yet typically, with the majority of companies where we do business, we know how much they charge and what it costs to get the same thing from elsewhere. Yet often we are prepared to pay perhaps a little more or become blind to the price difference because of those little extras they provide us, how they make us feel, the support they give and so many other small yet powerful things. Competing on experience can give a surprising boost to many companies. Competing on price is something you do when you have nothing else, the author astutely notes, noting a survey that 85% of U.S. consumers said they would pay 5-25% more to ensure a superior experience. That can be, even after any marginally higher costs due to providing the experience, a lot of profit. If you can provide a great experience with a still competitive price you have the best of both worlds.

In the book the author looks at predominantly U.S. companies such as Google, Zappos and Amazon who have in many ways got the experience side of things sorted. Quite a few companies who are on the author’s naughty list are also examined to show some of the things they do wrong. Some of the stories do beggar belief, even though they have been seen before time after time. The pain doesn’t lessen.

That said, you must wonder about customers too and marvel at the professionalism of some of the customer services workers. They must get some very weird calls at times. As a test, the author Called a customer services line of a shoe retailer and asked what the weather forecast was for a town on the other side of the country: without missing a beat the rep cheerfully looked it up, told the unknown customer a five-day forecast and asked them if she could be of any help!

Even relatively small things such as signage and staff interaction come under the author’s gaze and their possible negative connotations towards customers.

You will look at your business in a different light after reading this book. Either with an eye for change or to pat yourself on the back for a great transformation.

This book gave a lot more than one expected. It surpassed the customer’s expectations in other words – which is exactly the core idea the author is trying to get over. A book like this could be essential reading for your company’s senior staff or possible all employees as they all play a part with the customer experience.

The Customer Service Revolution: Overthrow Conventional Business, Inspire Employees, and Change the World, written by John R. DiJulius and published by Greenleaf Book Group. ISBN 9781626341296, 200 pages. YYYYY