Win the Customer: 70 Simple Rules for Sensational Service

CONTENTS

Introduction ix

Rule 1 Be Prepared to Break Traditional Rules 1

Rule 2 Create the Right Culture for Service 5

Rule 3 Learn How to Update Your Customer 9

Rule 4 Serve People, Not Shareholders 12

Rule 5 Put the Right People in the Right Place at the Right Time Doing the Right Thing 15

Rule 6 Learn Something New Every Day 19

Rule 7 Compete Only Against Yourself 22

Rule 8 Stop Overthinking Customer Service 25

Rule 9 Ask Yourself These Two Critical Questions Every Day 28

Rule 10 Find a Way to Say Yes Even When the Answer Is No 30

Rule 11 Love Your Critics 34

Rule 12 Create Your Dos and Don'ts of Service 38

Rule 13 Exploit Your Customer's Pain Points, but Never Exploit Your Customers 41

Rule 14 Don't Be Zappos to Your Jack Welch Customers 47

Rule 15 Make Your Customer Service a Human Interaction 50

Rule 16 Micromanage Every Day 53

Rule 17 Do Customer Service on Day One of the Job 57

Rule 18 Be the Worst on Your Team 61

Rule 19 Forget the Golden Rule 64

Rule 20 Map a Clear Journey to Great Customer Service 66

Rule 21 Do a 60-Second Customer Experience Evaluation 69

Rule 22 Develop 20/20 Vision for Exceptional Customer Service 73

Rule 23 Accept That You Can't Please Everyone 76

Rule 24 See Yourself as a Customer Service Leader 79

Rule 25 Use Positive Words to Win Customers 82

Rule 26 Learn to Deal with Fulfillment Problems 85

Rule 27 Repeat, Repeat, Repeat, and Then Repeat Again, with Purpose 88

Rule 28 Eliminate Three Words from Your Vocabulary 91

Rule 29 Be Lovable to Your Customers 93

Rule 30 Cure Yourself of the "Between 11 and 5" Syndrome 96

Rule 31 Don't Rush Technology to Fix Service Problems 99

Rule 32 Embrace Your Service Imperfections 101

Rule 33 Customers Are Not Always Right, but They Are Always Customers 104

Rule 34 Change How You Think About Customer Service 107

Rule 35 Really Get to Know Your Customers 110

Rule 36 Teach Your People to Engage with Customers 113

Rule 37 Create a Manifesto for Service 116

Rule 38 Take Care of Employees so They'll Take Care of Customers 119

Rule 39 Make Data-Driven Customer Decisions and Take People-Centric Action 122

Rule 40 Customer Experience Is More Important than Advertising 125

Rule 41 Make Consistency a Critical Customer Metric 128

Rule 42 Make Sure Your People Take Care of Themselves 131

Rule 43 Dispel Customers' Fear of Customer Service 135

Rule 44 Learn How to Earn Your Customer's Loyalty 137

Rule 45 Forget Mission Statements; Create Action Statements 140

Rule 46 Get the CEO Interacting with Customers 143

Rule 47 Learn to Obsess over Customers 146

Rule 48 Define Customer Focus for Your Company 149

Rule 49 Let Data Drive More Informed Service 153

Rule 50 Focus on the Value of Great Service Experience 156

Rule 51 Make Customer Service a Daily Priority 160

Rule 52 Shift from Reactive to Proactive Service 163

Rule 53 Get Social and Personal with Customers 166

Rule 54 Stop Creating Conflicts for Customer Service 169

Rule 55 Build a Customer Experience Wonder of the World 171

Rule 56 Train Even When There's No Time to Train 175

Rule 57 Remember the Most Important Team Building Hour of the Day: Lunch Hour 177

Rule 58 Provide a Real Service to Your Customers 179

Rule 59 Don't Just Answer the Phone; Do the Right Thing 184

Rule 60 Take a Break, Wander Around, and Have Some Fun 186

Rule 61 Be a Force for Change 189

Rule 62 Keep Your Customer Relationships Fresh 192

Rule 63 Master the Art and Science of Customer Experience 195

Rule 64 Optimize Your Digital Experience 198

Rule 65 Get to Know a New Customer Every Day 203

Rule 66 Start Every New Employee in Customer Service 205

Rule 67 Allow for Random Acts of Wow 208

Rule 68 Get a Reality Check 210

Rule 69 Create Customer Experience Disruption 213

Rule 70 Stop Making Resolutions; Start Making Service Better Today 216

Notes 219

Index 223