Exceptional service, exceptional profit : the secrets of building a five-star customer service organization / Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon.

By:

Inghilleri, Leonardo

Contributor(s):

Solomon, Micah

Material type: Text

TextPublication details: New York : AMACOM ; London : McGraw-Hill [distributor], 2010.Description: 170 p. 24 cmISBN:

9780814415382 (hbk.)
0814415385 (hbk.)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

658.812 ING

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Call number	Copy number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Standard Loan	Thurles Library Main Collection	658.812 ING (Browse shelf(Opens below))	1	Available		39002100654681

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

What if you could protect your business against competitive inroads, once and for all

Customer service experts Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon's anticipatory customer service approach was first developed at The Ritz-Carlton as well as at Solomon's company Oasis, and has since proven itself in countless companies around the globe--from luxury giant BVLGARI to value-sensitive auto parts leader Carquest and everywhere in between.

Their experience shows that the most powerful growth engine in a tight market--and best protection from competitive inroads--is to put everything you can into cultivating true customer loyalty. Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit takes the techniques that minted money for these brands and reveals how you can apply them to your own business to provide the kind of exceptional service that nearly guarantees loyalty.

Soon, you'll be reaping the benefits of loyal customers who are:

less sensitive to price competition, more forgiving of small glitches, and, ultimately, who are "walking billboards" happily promoting your brand.

Filled with detailed, behind-the-scenes examples, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit unlocks a new level of customer relationship that leaves your competitors in the dust, your customers coming back day after day, and your bottom line looking better than it ever has before.

Includes index.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

Special Features (p. xi)
Acknowledgments (p. xiii)
Foreword (p. xv)
Introduction: The Only Shop in the Marketplace (p. 1)
Chapter 1 The Engineer on the Ladder: Reaching for the Highest Level of Service (p. 4)
Function Versus Purpose (p. 5)
First Steps First (p. 6)
Chapter 2 The Four Elements of Customer Satisfaction: Perfect Product, Caring Delivery, Timeliness, and an Effective Problem Resolution Process (p. 7)
A Perfect Product (p. 8)
Delivered by Caring People (p. 9)
In a Timely Fashion (p. 11)
With the Support of an Effective Problem Resolution Process (p. 12)
Chapter 3 Language Engineering: Every. Word. Counts. (p. 14)
Establish a Consistent Style of Speech (p. 15)
Create a Lexicon of Preferred Language and Phrasing (p. 15)
Choose Language to Put Customers at Ease, Not to Dominate Them (p. 17)
Concentrate Your Language Efforts on the Key Customer Moments: Hellos, Good-Byes, and the Times When Things Fall Apart (p. 18)
Shut Up Sometimes: The Artie Bucco Principle (p. 20)
Words Have Their Limits (p. 20)
Show, Don't Tell (And Don't Ever Just Point) (p. 21)
Phone and Internet Language and Communication Pointers (p. 21)
Chapter 4 Recovery! Turning Service Failures Around (p. 26)
The Italian Mama Method (p. 26)
The Four Steps to Great Service Recoveries (p. 27)
The Elements of Follow-Up (p. 32)
Use Your Own Experience to Prepare You (p. 36)
Who Should Handle Customer Complaints? (p. 39)
Subtle is Beautiful: Service Recovery Below the Radar (p. 41)
Write-Offs Lead to Write-Offs (p. 43)
Chapter 5 Keeping Track to Bring Them Back: Tracking Customer Roles, Goals, and Preferences (p. 45)
Principles of Noting and Sharing (p. 46)
Principle 1 Keep Your Systems Simple (p. 46)
Principle 2 If It's Important to Your Customer, It Belongs in Your System (p. 48)
Principle 3 The Information You Gather Needs to be Available in Real Time (p. 51)
Principle 4 Preferences Change; Assumptions are Tricky (p. 52)
Principle 5 Moods Change: Track Them (p. 53)
Principle 6 Don't Blow It with a Wooden Delivery (p. 53)
Principle 7 Using Technology to Ask for Information? It's a Fine Line between Clever and Creepy (p. 54)
Surprises Are Hazardous--Online and Off (p. 56)
Fear Not: Don't Be Deterred from Collecting Information--Thoughtfully (p. 58)
Chapter 6 Building Anticipation into Your Products and Services: Putting Processes to Work for You (p. 59)
Get Your Company to Think Like a Customer (p. 60)
Mr. BIV and the Art of Eliminating Defects (p. 62)
Don't Kill Mr. BIV's Messengers (p. 64)
Systematically Reducing Waste to Add Value--For You and Your Customers (p. 66)
Why Efficient Processes Can Transform Service (p. 68)
Stamping Out Waste? Don't Crush Value by Accident (p. 70)
Process-Based Anticipation on the Internet (p. 73)
Using Tools to Gather Information About Your Customers' Experience (p. 75)
Process-Based Solutions Become People Solutions (p. 79)
Chapter 7 Your People: Selection, Orientation, Training, and Reinforcement (p. 84)
We Are Already Our True Selves: Select for Traits (p. 84)
Keep the Hiring Bar High (p. 88)
Develop Selection Discipline (p. 89)
Create a Powerful Orientation Process (p. 90)
Use Orientation to Instill New Values, Attitudes, and Beliefs (p. 90)
Defining an Employee's Underlying Purpose (p. 91)
The Orientation Process Begins Sooner Than You Think (p. 92)
On Day One, Nothing Is Tangential (p. 92)
Build a Brand Ambassador (p. 93)
Training Employees to Anticipate--Carefully (p. 94)
Reinforcement: The Daily Check-In (p. 98)
Chapter 8 Leadership: Guiding the Customer-Centered Organization (p. 101)
Service Leaders Matter Because People Power Service (p. 101)
Five Characteristics of Great Service Leaders (p. 103)
Moral Leadership (p. 105)
Chapter 9 What's Worth it, and What's Not? Pointers on Value, Costs, and Pricing (p. 108)
What Does Loyalty-Enhancing Service Really Cost? (p. 108)
Gilding the Lily (p. 110)
"Compared to What?": Value Is Relative (p. 111)
Pricing Is Part of Your Value Proposition (p. 112)
Don't Charge a Customer for Performing the Heimlich (p. 113)
Money Isn't Everything, But Money Issues Matter--Especially How You Present Them (p. 114)
Chapter 10 Building Customer Loyalty Online: Using the Internet's Power to Serve Your Customers and Your Goals (p. 115)
The Internet's Double Edge (p. 115)
Opinions: Everybody Has One. Evangelists: Every Company Needs Them (p. 118)
The Internet Can Promote Commoditization. Avoid This Through Individualization (p. 119)
Long Copy/Short Copy (p. 119)
Online, the Window in Which to Show You're Extraordinary Can Be Small (p. 120)
Amazon.com: A Brilliant Company, but Not the Most Realistic Model to Emulate (p. 125)
First Time Online: A Nuts-and-Bolts Case Study (p. 127)
Chapter 11 Hello/Good-Bye: Two Crucial Moments with a Customer (p. 131)
Timelessly Time-Sensitive (p. 132)
Don't Rush Your Hellos and Good-Byes on the Telephone (p. 135)
Serving Disabled Customers Is a Responsibility and an Opportunity, from the Moment You Welcome Them at Your Door (p. 135)
Turn Your Receptionist into a Predator (Who Kills with Kindness) (p. 138)
It's Google--Not You--Who Decides Where Visitors Enter Your Site. Be Sure They're Greeted Properly Anyway (p. 139)
Taking Control of Good-Byes (p. 141)
The Hazards of Subcontracting Your Hellos and Good-Byes (p. 142)
Good-Bye for Now from the Authors--With Resources and Assistance for Your Journey (p. 144)
Appendixes (p. 145)
Appendix A Oasis Disc Manufacturing: Customer and Phone Interaction Guidelines and Lexicon Excerpts (p. 147)
Appendix B CARQUEST Standards of Service Excellence (p. 153)
Appendix C Capella Hotels and Resorts "Canon Card": Service Standards and Operating Philosophy (p. 155)
Notes (p. 159)
Index (p. 163)

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

INTRODUCTION The Only Shop in the Marketplace The best thing you can do for your business right now has nothing to do with new technology, economies of scale, or first-mover advantage. It's something simpler. It's something more dependable. The single best thing you can do for your business is to build true customer loyalty, one customer at a time. Everything changes when a customer becomes a loyalist. To the truly loyal customer, you are the only shop in the marketplace. All the other brands and all the other vendors don't even come into focus. Like someone in love, the loyal customer only has eyes for you. Few businesses realize how valuable customer loyalty is, and even fewer know how to achieve it consistently. But a company of any size can build great wealth and stability through customer loyalty. Businesses with loyal customers grow faster than others when times are good, and they have the most breathing room when times are bad. At its root, creating loyal customers is about taking the time to learn about your customers individually and then using simple systems to turn that knowledge into enduring business relationships. In doing so, you turn your offering into much more than a commodity--you turn it into a personal relationship. The primary threat to a business today is the perception by customers that all you offer is a replaceable, interchangeable commodity. This hazard stalks your every move: No matter how unbreachable your business's advantages may appear right now, whether they are advantages of technology, geography, or branding, eventually your business model is going to be knocked off. And, in this era of accelerating change, it will likely happen sooner than you think. Escape this threat of commoditization by creating enduring, loyal, human relationships with customers. It's the surest way to escape market obsolescence. The payoff is huge. Learning to create loyal customers has made all the difference for the companies where Leonardo has been involved, including The Ritz- Carlton, BVLGARI, The Walt Disney Company, and the new hotel brands--Capella and Solis--that Leonardo heads up with his partners. The principles that lead to loyal customers will work for you, too. They're simple, they're solid, and they're replicable. You needn't work in a luxury industry to apply them. Far from it. As you'll learn, Micah used the principles of loyalty to transform a tiny manufacturing and entertainment services company he started in a single room in his basement, with financing that consisted of only a credit card, into a renowned and high-growth enterprise. His approach built his company, Oasis, into one of the top players in its field, as well as attracting attention in the business literature, including case studies in such places as Success magazine and Seth Godin's bestseller Purple Cow. Oasis catapulted to success because customers respond with loyalty when you treat them according to the principles and methods we will describe. Since then, Leonardo and Micah have been able to lend their loyalty-based methodology to a great diversity of industries: from white shoe law firms to restaurants to banks to organic flower farms; from tour operators to independent music labels to convention centers to hospitals. Loyalty pays off--measurably--for all of them. The reward for using these principles isn't only financial. As you begin building customer loyalty, your pride in your profession, your integrity, and your ability to build positive relationships (at work, and even in your own home) will also bloom. This happens naturally, because the process of earning loyalty involves caring about your customers, respecting them, and thinking constantly about their needs. Spending this time being deeply attentive will tone your personality. Building customer loyalty will require your hard work and thoughtfulness, but it is a refreshingly straightforward process. While so many aspects of business are out of your control--exchange rates, international tension, technological changes--the single most important process, creating loyal customers, obeys predictable, stable rules that can be mastered and then applied successfully for a lifetime. We're pleased to help show the way. Excerpted from Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization by Leonardo Inghilleri, Micah Solomon All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

LEONARDO INGHILLERI (Roswell, GA) is Executive Vice President and Managing Partner of West Paces Consulting. A recognized expert on service, Inghilleri created The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center and Learning Institute and has played an instrumental role at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, BVLGARI, and The Walt Disney Company. MICAH SOLOMON (Philadelphia, PA) is Founder and President of Oasis Disc Manufacturing, a leader in the entertainment and technology industries. A sought-after business advisor and speaker, his techniques and achievements have been featured in Success magazine, Seth Godin's bestseller Purple Cow , and other publications."