Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘customer service’

New Business Book Summary Available for Edge Strategy

Posted in Business Strategy, tagged , , on December 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

119613433Companies that spend their entire time focused on their core products or on introducing new products to new markets seem to be the norm. However, a less risky, less volatile way to increase revenues and profits involves edge strategies. In Edge Strategy, strategy experts Alan Lewis and Dan McKone help leaders recognize and capitalize on these opportunities. By exploring the permission they have earned with existing customers, and the latent value of existing assets, businesses can capitalize on new profit centers without investing a lot of capital or changing the visions of their companies.

In business, growth strategies usually include expanding into new core products and services. However, there are strategies many leaders overlook that are easier to implement, less risky, and less costly. These strategies focus on the customers a company has already acquired and assets it has already developed. There are three basic types of these edge strategies:

  1.  Product edge. Giving customers options to add or remove elements of a core offering.
  2.  Journey edge. Adjusting the company’s role to increase its support of the customer’s ultimate objectives.
  3. Enterprise edge. Applying resources that support the core products in a different context for a different offering or set of customers

To learn more, please visit www.bizsum.com

Read Full Post »

What Great Service Leaders Know & Do

Posted in Book Summaries, Customer Focus, Leadership and Management, tagged , , on June 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

What Great Service Leaders Know & DoIn What Great Service Leaders Know & Do, James L. Heskett, W. Earl Sasser Jr., and Leonard A. Schlesinger leverage their extensive research and personal experience at the forefront of the service industry to pinpoint what makes standout service firms like Southwest Airlines and IKEA so successful. The book takes an analytical approach but keeps the human element at its core, recognizing that success in service begins and ends with front-line employees.

According to the authors:

  • The goal of any business is to provide the highest value at the lowest cost. Service companies need to remember to deliver value to not only their customers but also their employees and their investors in order to remain profitable.
  • Companies need to have a clear understanding of their target markets. Just as they must know who they are selling to, service leaders need to understand who they are notselling to. All marketing strategies and subsequent support systems should be developed with the target market in mind.
  • Most businesses rated as the “best places to work” also rate highest in customer satisfaction. Customer engagement is dependent on employee engagement.
  • Employees are more important to service companies than to any other kind of business. Employees must be hired carefully based on their attitudes, trained effectively to become knowledgeable in their roles, and provided with a support system that keeps them engaged.
  • Technology makes up a powerful and effective component of a support system, but care must be given to prevent employees from relying on it to do their jobs for them. Technology should make employees more efficient and effective. The level of appropriate technology is highly dependent on the type of service business in question.
  • Customer ownership is about making customers feel as though they have a stake in the company. Customers feel a sense of pride in participating with companies, and studies have shown that the loyal minority of repeat customers are worth far more than first-time customers.

To learn more, please visit http://www.bizsum.com

Read Full Post »

The New Web-Savvy Consumer

Posted in Book Summaries, Customer Focus, Social Media, Technology, tagged , , , , on February 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

If you take a look through any of the top online review sites, such as Yelp, Google Places, Citysearch, or MerchantCircle, it won’t take long to find consumers voicing their (sometimes harsh) opinions of businesses and retailers. Today, consumers have access to more product and company information than ever before. Not only does this help people make better purchasing decisions, but it also allows those same people to sing a company’s praises or air their personal grievances. On top of consumers’ ability to vocalize their love or hate of a company, the Internet has created a system in which consumers regularly compare services of different companies. If they can get superior service from one company, shouldn’t all companies be able to provide that same top-notch service? How should companies go about competing in such an atmosphere, and how can they balance customer needs with profitability?

In Wired and Dangerous, Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson attempt to answer these questions. They believe customer service is in a transition phase between the age of technology and the age of the customer. They believe today’s customers are different because they get outstanding service from some providers (like Zappos) and use that as a benchmark; they have more undifferentiated choices, so they are turning to the service experience as a differentiator. The old rules of customer service no longer apply. Service providers today need to deliver fast, easy service, while ensuring that customers are treated like respected partners.

To download three free summaries, please visit our site.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service, @Your Service, The Conversation Company

Read Full Post »

New book summary available for Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit

Posted in Book Summaries, Marketing, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The key to a successful business is customer loyalty. Building enduring business relationships is a timeless strategy that transcends factors that are out of a service organization’s control, including technological changes, economies of scale, and exchange rates. Solid customer loyalty serves as insurance against the risks of a commodity being viewed as replaceable or interchangeable. In Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit, Leonardo Inghilleri and Micah Solomon share a variety of strategies to help organizations make the shift from reactive to anticipatory service and build a client base that will keep coming back for more. These positive relationships can then lead to free word-of-mouth advertising and boost employee pride and morale.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Lead with Your Customer, 10 Steps to Successful Customer Service, The Customer Rules

Read Full Post »

New summary available for If You’re Not First, You’re Last

Posted in Adaptability, Book Summaries, Customer Focus, Marketing, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The concept of being first remains vital to all businesses no matter the economic conditions. Indeed, being foremost in value, sales, or market is never more important than when businesses are struggling to get by. When the economy slows, or when a recession hits, businesses must learn not only how to survive, but how to thrive in the new economic environment. With the right actions, businesses can become first in their market and dominate even in an economic contraction. Grant Cardone’s If You’re Not First, You’re Last lays out the sales ground rules to make this happen.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Related book summaries in the BBS library: Accelerating Out of the Great Recession, How to Sell When Nobody’s Buying, The Adversity Paradox

Read Full Post »

New book summary available for The Customer Rules

Posted in Book Summaries, Customer Focus, tagged , , , , on June 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

C. Britt Beemer and Robert L. Shook’s The Customer Rules presents the argument that the world’s most successful companies are those with an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. According to a study conducted by America’s Research Group (ARG), 40 percent of employees feel their job has little or nothing to do with a customer. Successful companies, however, make it clear that customer satisfaction is everyone’s job. One way to do this is to make customer satisfaction part of all employees’ job description. Unless the concept is clearly spelled out, most employees will assume that serving the customer is the job of sales and marketing.

For a free trial of EBSCO Business Book Summaries click here.

Read Full Post »