Book Recommendation From Dan Beaulieu
Be Your Customer’s Hero: Real World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines
By Adam Toporek
Copyright 2015Amacom
Price $17.95
Pages: 244 and Index
A much needed new book on customer service
Even though there are plenty of books on customer service these days I find this one to be particularly ground breaking and that is because the author Adam Toporek gets right to the heart of the problem. And yes he does it openly and honestly.
No the customer is not always right he admits while teaching us how to get our point across while making the customer feel that he is right.
In fact the chapter ten called all customers are irrational he points out that most of the time customer don’t really know what they want. He notes that even though yes, customers are irrational, they are predictably irrational. It is up to us those who sell to them to figure out their individual needs and meet them.
Another chapter I found helpful was chapter 39 when he talks about being your customers’ detective. Whatever a customer wants find it for her, not matter what it is whether you sell it or not, find it for her. Remember that your job is to provide your customers with what they need at all times. Remember that story about Nordstrom’s taking back a set of snow tires even though of course they did not sell tires? Man I hope that story is true. But the point is that we are still telling that story, I have read that story in many books and articles and it makes the point doesn’t it.
And finally one great example from the book and probably the most important is in chapter 40 when Mr. Toporek advises us to never talk badly about customers…to customers. I say a bog giant Amen to that. Actually I’ll add that you should never ever talk bad about your customers period never mind just to customers, which leads me to the very most important advice in the entire book and that is that customer service starts at the top. It starts with the owner and goes all the way through the organization. The last thing you want to do if you are a company leader is talk bad about a customer. Because you are the leader of the company everything you say is multiplied by ten and if you start knocking you customers you are giving all of your associates tacit approval to follow your lead and join in the “we hate the customers” dance. That last thing you want. Customer service is not just the responsibility of your customer service people but rather it belongs to all of us in the company…all of us.
Great subject, great book read it and learn.
