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Praise for The Hidden Power of Your Customers
"At Zappos, we found that the more we invested in the customer, the more loyal they were, and the more we grew from word of mouth. Today, we take most of the money we would have spent on paid marketing or advertising and invest it into the customer experience instead. The Hidden Power of Your Customers explains why this works and why all companies should think this way."—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com, Inc., New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness
"Your customers do have power, and here's a great primer full of practical advice and how-to tips for unlocking that power and using it to grow your business from Becky Carroll, a practitioner who's always worked on the leading edge of customer service!"—Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, PhD, coauthors of Rules to Break & Laws to Follow
"For anyone who has ever wanted to focus less on sales, get better customers, and make more money in the process, this book gives you a road map to make it all happen." —Rohit Bhargava, EVP at Ogilvy, author of Personality Not Included
"This book is a must-read for every business that wants to unleash the true value of their customers. Becky Carroll is explicit in articulating the business value of customer advocacy and how it will drive business results for every organization regardless of the size, industry, and vertical."—Michael Brito, Vice President, Edelman Digital, author of Smart Business, Social Business
"You'll learn how to refocus your energy toward boosting sales by taking care of the people you need to impress the most—your current customers. The principles found in Becky's blog 'Customers ROCK' are sound, and I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a fresh take on one of the oldest problems around."—John Bernier, Social Media Steward, Best Buy
"After you read this book once, you won't just put it back on your shelf. You'll keep coming back to it for inspiration, explanation, and as a practical guide any time you want to be reminded exactly how to design an amazing customer experience."—Emily Yellin, journalist, and author of Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us: Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives
FOREWORD BY BRIAN SOLIS, AUTHOR OF ENGAGE!
Acknowledgments.
Foreword BRIAN SOLIS.
Introduction A Bird in the Hand Is Worth More Than You Think.
Return to the Customer.
What Is the Hidden Power?
Anatomy of a “Customers Rock!” Company.
Build on the “Rock”: The Four Keys to Growth.
How to Read This Book.
KEY ONE R—RELEVANT MARKETING.
Chapter 1 Listen to Your Customer before Doing Anything.
Customer Listening Posts.
Listen for Customer Feedback.
Listen for Customer Insight.
Foundation for the Four Keys.
Chapter 2 Keep Customer Needs in Mind.
Experience the Life Cycle.
Understand the Customer’s State of Mind.
Meet the Needs of Your Customers.
Just What I Needed.
Case Study: Teradata Builds Close Customer Relationships.
Chapter 3 Communicate with and Become a Fan of Your Customers.
Marketing the Way Your Customers Prefer It.
Social Media for Engagement and Conversation.
Case Study: Sanuk Loves Its Customers in Return.
Start an Ongoing Dialogue.
Case Study: FreshBooks Becomes a Fan of Its Customers.
Chapter 4 Capture, Then Reward, Their Business.
Send More Than Just Bills.
Why Do Only New Customers Get the Best Deals?
Thank You for Being a Customer—I Mean It!
Make Customers Feel Valued.
Case Study: Marriott Rewards Its Customers.
KEY TWO O—ORCHESTRATE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
Chapter 5 Plan the Experience.
The Customer Experience.
The Customer Perspective.
Customer Expectations Drive the Outcome.
Your Customer Experience Competition.
Uncover the Best Experience.
Focus on Your Customers.
Chapter 6 Get the Lay of the Land.
Managing the Customer Experience—Or Not.
Design the Customer Experience End-to-End.
Map the Customer Journey.
Chapter 7 Fine-Tune the Experience.
Take Care of the Beginning.
Make It Personal.
You Are Always Onstage.
Putting It All Together for the Customer.
A Competitive Differentiator.
Case Study: Lexus Treats Customers as Guests in Their Home.
Chapter 8 Align Around the Customer.
No Silos.
Design Processes That Fit.
Do You Want My Business?
Case Study: The Urbane Experience.
KEYTHREE C—CUSTOMER-FOCUSED CULTURE.
Chapter 9 Culture of Customer Service.
Put People First.
What We Value.
Keep It Going.
Chapter 10 Measure What Matters.
Customer-Focused Metrics.
Move from Data to Insight to Action.
Satisfaction: Does It Matter?
Measuring Customer Perception.
New Metrics for Measuring the Customer Service Experience.
Measuring the Success of Customer Strategy.
Case Study: EMC Measures What Matters to Customers.
Chapter 11 The Power behind the Scenes.
Hire for Attitude.
Engaged Employees Equal Engaged Customers.
Case Study: Nicor National Creates “Positivity at Work”.
Employee Empowerment.
Employees Make the Difference.
Case Study: Southwest Airlines Is Passionate about People.
KEYFOUR K—KILLER CUSTOMER SERVICE.
Chapter 12 Ignore Customers at Your Peril.
Customer Service Is the New Marketing.
How Do You View Your Customers?
Where Does Social Media Fit?
Viral Campaigning versus Viral Complaining.
Using Social Media for Customer Service—Yes or No?
The True Meaning of Customer Service.
Chapter 13 Shift Your Thinking from New to Old.
Little Things Make a Difference.
Put Yourself in Their Shoes.
Make Them Want to Shout about It.
Case Study: Five-Star Service Makes a Difference for Salon Radius.
Help Customers Play a Role.
Chapter 14 Care and Feeding of Customers.
Things Will Go Wrong.
The Golden Rule for Customers.
Taking Care of Business.
Focus on the Customer.
Case Study: Mighty Fine Burgers Serves It Up Right.
SUMMARY SURVIVAL TACTICS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.
Chapter 15 Unlocking the Hidden Power of Your Customers.
Your Call to Action.
Use the Four Keys.
How It Could Look.
Now It’s Your Turn.
Notes.
Index.
Overview
Praise for The Hidden Power of Your Customers
"At Zappos, we found that the more we invested in the customer, the more loyal they were, and the more we grew from word of mouth. Today, we take most of the money we would have spent on paid marketing or advertising and invest it into the customer experience instead. The Hidden Power of Your Customers explains why this works and why all companies should think this way."—Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos.com, Inc., New York Times bestselling author of Delivering Happiness
"Your...