Join us on a literary world trip!
Add this book to bookshelf
Grey
Write a new comment Default profile 50px
Grey
Subscribe to read the full book or read the first pages for free!
All characters reduced
Uncommon Service - How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business - cover

We are sorry! The publisher (or author) gave us the instruction to take down this book from our catalog. But please don't worry, you still have more than 500,000 other books you can enjoy!

Uncommon Service - How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business

Anne Morriss, Frances Frei

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

  • 1
  • 4
  • 0

Summary

Most companies treat service as a low-priority business operation, keeping it out of the spotlight until a customer complains. Then service gets to make a brief appearance – for as long as it takes to calm the customer down and fix whatever foul-up jeopardized the relationship.In Uncommon Service, Frances Frei and Anne Morriss show how, in a volatile economy where the old rules of strategic advantage no longer hold true, service must become a competitive weapon, not a damage-control function. That means weaving service tightly into every core decision your company makes.The authors reveal a transformed view of service, presenting an operating model built on tough choices organizations must make:• How do customers define “excellence” in your offering? Is it convenience? Friendliness? Flexible choices? Price?• How will you get paid for that excellence? Will you charge customers more? Get them to handle more service tasks themselves?• How will you empower your employees to deliver excellence? What will your recruiting, selection, training, and job design practices look like? What about your organizational culture?• How will you get your customers to behave? For example, what do you need to do to get them to treat your employees with respect? Do you need to make it easier for them to use new technology?Practical and engaging, Uncommon Service makes a powerful case for a new and systematic approach to service as a means of boosting productivity, profitability, and competitive advantage.
Available since: 01/17/2012.

Other books that might interest you

  • Catherine the Great CEO - 7 Principles to Guide & Inspire Modern Leaders - cover

    Catherine the Great CEO - 7...

    Alan Axelrod

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    A fascinating look at the leadership style of the longest-ruling empress of Russia, from the bestselling author of Elizabeth I, CEO. 
     
    Catherine the Great traveled from Germany to Russia at only fourteen years of age, and rose to become one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating rulers in history. In this book, historian Alan Axelrod profiles this strong and beloved leader, examining her qualities of intellect, heart, and character, and distilling her words and actions into more than 100 practical and modern leadership lessons. 
     
    Praise for Alan Axelrod’s Julius Caesar, CEO 
     
    “Sure to appeal to history aficionados as well as business executives . . . informative and accessible.” —Publishers Weekly
    Show book
  • The Itty Bitty Guide to Tipping - cover

    The Itty Bitty Guide to Tipping

    Stacie Krajchir, Carrie Rosten

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Take the confusion and awkwardness out of tipping with this all-in-one guide—includes insider advice from waiters, hairdressers, and more. 
     
    What’s the appropriate tip for service in a four-star restaurant? And what if the service is less than stellar? Do you tip the maids at a hotel you’ve stayed in for a week? What if the hotel is in Japan?  
     
    The Itty Bitty Guide to Tipping clears up the confusion with straightforward guidance on who, how much, and when (or when not) to tip. From cab to casino, skycap to sommelier, barista to bellhop, all the tipping challenges are covered. The Going Abroad section covers tipping etiquette in foreign countries, and a special chapter even offers insights on tipping at tattoo parlors, strip clubs, and more. Also included is insider advice from waiters, hairdressers, and others—as well as a handy tip conversion table so anyone can tip with confidence and savvy.
    Show book
  • A Nation of Small Shareholders - Marketing Wall Street After World War II - cover

    A Nation of Small Shareholders -...

    Janice M. Traflet

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    The little-known story of Wall Street’s effort to court individual investors during the Cold War in order to build a bulwark against communism. 
     
    Immediately after the frightening Great Crash of 1929, many Americans swore they would never—or never again—become involved in the stock market. Yet hordes of Americans eventually did come to embrace equity investing, to an extent actually far greater than the level of popular involvement in the market during the Roaring Twenties. A Nation of Small Shareholders explores how marketers at the New York Stock Exchange during the mid-twentieth century deliberately cultivated new individual shareholders. 
     
    Janice M. Traflet examines the energy with which NYSE leaders tried to expand the country’s retail investor base, particularly as the Cold War emerged and then intensified. From the early 1950s until the 1970s, Exchange executives engaged in an ambitious and sometimes controversial marketing program known as “Own Your Share of America,” which aimed to broaden the country’s shareholder base. The architects of the marketing program ardently believed that widespread share ownership would strengthen “democratic capitalism”—which, in turn, would serve as an effective barrier to the potential allure of communism here in the United States. 
     
    Based on extensive primary source research, A Nation of Small Shareholders illustrates the missionary zeal with which Big Board leaders during the Cold War endeavored to convince factions within the Exchange, as well as the public, of the practical and ideological importance of building a true shareholder nation.
    Show book
  • The Opening Playbook - A Professional’s Guide to Building Relationships that Grow Revenue - cover

    The Opening Playbook - A...

    Andrew Dietz

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    YOUR GAME PLAN FOR WINNING BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS
    
     
    Just like a football game, client building requires a solid strategy executed by a series of well-designed plays. While the ultimate objective of a sports team is to put points on the board, the plays are designed to systematically get the team into scoring position. The score itself--a touchdown, a goal, a home run--is the closing play. But you can't get there without great opening plays.
    
     
    In the world of business development and sales, getting into scoring position means being in the room with decision makers and influencers--and that's what The Opening Playbook helps you to do.
    
     
    Business development guru Andrew Dietz takes you step-by-step through the process of getting yourself into the ideal position to sell your services, whether you're a one-person operation or work for a major firm.
    
     
    Taking on the role of your coach, Dietz shows you "game footage" of Sam Wentworth, a law firm associate on the cusp of becoming a partner. But first he has to prove himself on the field of play by demonstrating his business development abilities. Meanwhile, the play clock is getting close to zero . . .
    
     
    Throughout The Opening Playbook, Dietz stops the film at critical points, showing you where Sam succeeds and where he trips up. He provides the powerful opening-drive plays (best practices for establishing authentic business relationships), analyzes the defense (obstacles in the way of the success), and suggests audibles (on-the-spot tactical modifications to answer unplanned-for challenges).
    
     
    The team with the best plan usually wins the day. Put yourself several steps ahead of the competition and develop winning business relationships with The Opening Playbook.
    
     
    PRAISE FOR THE OPENING PLAYBOOK:
    
     
     "Dietz outlines both the behavioral pitfalls to avoid and the disciplines to embrace on one's path to truly connecting with clients. Truly honest instruction from the Lombardi of business development coaches." -- James H. Gilmore, coauthor, The Experience Economy and Authenticity
    
     
    "Andrew Dietz inspires you to create great conversations with your prospects so that you become a valuable, trusted advisor. If you want long-term relationships with your clients, this is the book for you." -- Shawn Kent Hayashi, author of Conversations that Get Results and Inspire Collaboration
    
     
    "If you want to have your clients for life, you must read The Opening Playbook! A great storyteller, Andrew Dietz provides invaluable insights on how to become a trusted advisor." -- Jagdish N. Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing, Emory University, and author of Clients For Life
    
     
    "Dietz provides a great blend of strategic and tactical advice, wrapped in great stories and examples. It's an enjoyable and VALUABLE read!" -- Bill Cates, author of Get More Referrals Now and Beyond Referrals
    
     
    "Andrew Dietz is a master at building relationships, and his book is filled with insightful ideas and useful strategies." -- Alan Deutschman, author of Walk the Walk and Change or Die
    Show book
  • Beyond Economics and Ecology - The Radical Thought of Ivan Illich - cover

    Beyond Economics and Ecology -...

    Ivan Illich

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    Each of the four essays reprinted here was written for a specific occasion and together comprise only the smallest selection from a larger corpus questioning commodity and energy-intensive economies. The essays are presented thematically instead of chronologically to offer a better view of the sweep of Illich's argument. In the first two, "War against Subsistence" and "Shadow Work," Illich reveals both the ruins on which the economy is built and the blindness of economics which cannot but fail to see it. The second two essays, "Energy and Equity" and "The Social Construction of Energy," unearth the nineteenth century invention and subsequent consequences of 'energy' thought of as the unseen cause of all 'work' whether done by steam engines, humans, or trees. The science of ecology relies on this assumption and, as Illich explained, unwittingly fuels the addiction to energy. The close dance of energy consumption and economic growth is characteristic of not just industrially geared societies. After all, energy consumption steadily increases even in so-called post-industrial societies, fueling the fortunes of Google and Apple no less than Wal-Mart.
    Show book
  • In Defense of Women - cover

    In Defense of Women

    H. L. Mencken

    • 0
    • 0
    • 0
    In Defense of Women is H. L. Mencken's 1918 book on women and the relationship between the sexes. Some laud the book as progressive while others brand it as reactionary. While Mencken didn't champion women's rights, he described women as wiser in many novel and observable ways, while demeaning average men. According to Mencken's biographer, Fred Hobson: Depending on the position of the reader, he was either a great defender of women's rights or, as a critic labelled him in 1916, 'the greatest misogynist since Schopenhauer','the country's high-priest of woman-haters.' (Summary from wikipedia)
    Show book