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9 Best Customer Service Books to Check Out

By Bon Miller

1. Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers

Source: Amazon

Hug Your Haters provides an overview on how to deal with negative criticism effectively. The book discusses the many types of complaints and complaints-makers, why customers lash out, and proper solutions to concerns. Criticizing businesses is frequently a public act in the internet era. The book teaches readers how to respond authentically but professionally to public criticism, such as social media callouts, by following up with the offended party and assuring the audience of your quality and devotion. Hug Your Haters serves as a modern-day customer service first aid kit. It is a must-read for firms concerned with reputation management.

2. The Thank You Economy

Source: Amazon

Gary Vaynerchuk, a renowned entrepreneur and marketing guru, explains in The Thank You Economy how social media sparked a renaissance for personalized customer attention. The internet enables customers to express their ideas instantaneously, and astute marketers and executives should not disregard this information. Rather than that, the most successful businesses communicate in ways that make customers feel acknowledged and appreciated. The Thank You Economy outlines strategies for leveraging online platforms to express gratitude to customers and capitalizing on the power of authentic interactions to increase your fan base. Vaynerchuk draws on his own experience as an early adopter of social media customer service and case studies of businesses that embody this client-centric culture.

3. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence: Creating a Values-Driven Service Culture

Nordstrom is a corporation that values excellent service. And this devotion to customers has fueled the company’s success for more than a century. By interviewing company officials and articulating the ideas that guide the company’s business decisions, this book delves into Nordstrom’s customer-centric culture. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence describes the company’s fundamental values and provides examples of how they can be applied to other industries. The book is packed with examples that highlight a customer-first approach. It also establishes a clear benchmark for leaders seeking to replicate the company’s success with customers and employees. The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence serves as the greatest business culture role model.

4. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Source: Amazon

Zappos’ customer service philosophy has helped the company grow into an ecommerce behemoth. In Delivering Happiness, founder Tony Hsieh discusses his customer service and company philosophy. His pearls of wisdom include: “make customer service a company-wide obligation, not just a departmental responsibility”. Zappos’ success was partly due to leadership that sought to appease customers. It also aims to create an engaging, enjoyable work environment for employees. Frequently, managers instruct staff on how to treat clients properly without ensuring team members are likewise satisfied and supported. This book demonstrates that employee satisfaction is a critical customer service component since well-cared-for team members take greater care of consumers.

5. Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service

Source: Goodreads

Be Our Guest is a brilliant book about customer service. This article dissects the Disney enchantment that contributes to the company’s theme parks being dubbed as “the happiest place on Earth.” The book argues for the need of structuring business procedures with guests in mind, citing examples from Disney parks. For example, Disney utilizes a parking system that categorizes guests according to their arrival time, allowing tram drivers to easily deliver guests to the correct location at the end of the day and removing the frustration associated with remembering the lot and locating the car for tired parents or travellers. By anticipating guests’ sentiments and requirements, Disney transcends the typical standards to customer service and leaves a substantial impact on visitors. Be Our Guest offers a model for businesses looking to raise the bar and not just please but impress their customers.

6. Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away): The Simple Playbook for Delivering the Ultimate Customer Service Experience

Source: Good reads

Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away) is one of the best new customer service books available today. Micah Solomon is an internationally recognized customer service consultant with decades of experience. Solomon studies organizations such as Amazon, Zappos, and the Ritz-Carlton that have exceptional customer service reputations and track records throughout this study. The book underlines the critical nature of consistency and the reality that supporting clients is a continuous process. As businesses increase in size and clients, the quality of support frequently deteriorates. However, this book emphasizes how critical it is to maintain a friendly and helpful attitude at the enterprise level as well. Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away) provides a realistic toolset for increasing customer service with growth and implementing more sustainable client care methods.

7. The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty 

Source: Amazon

The Effortless Experience is a how-to guide for creating convenient and frictionless consumer interactions. The authors challenge the concept that the key to acquiring and retaining clients is a “wow” element, arguing that consumers prioritize convenience and reliability. The book demonstrates what customers expect and desire from a transaction. It then delves into the four fundamental foundations of client loyalty that assure repeat business. While many customer service books claim to use a consumer’s perspective, this material demonstrates genuine empathy and concern for the patron’s experience. Thus, revealing the industry’s most fundamental truth: clients want services that make life easier.

8. What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint

Source: Amazon

In this book, Nicholas Webb shares his thoughts about the present condition of customer experience.

According to Webb, only organizations that provide “perfect” customer service will survive. And the majority of businesses are a long way from doing so. Webb thinks that the primary reason is that technological advancements over the past several decades have made it simpler for corporations to analyze and evaluate customers as data points rather than genuine individuals.

Webb recommends examining each touchpoint a consumer has with your organization and determining what you can do to improve each step of the experience. Rather than making broad strokes improvements, optimising each stage of the customer experience will satisfy individualistic clients who will not be satisfied with the bare minimum.

9. Chief Customer Officer 2.0: How to Build Your Customer-Driven Growth Engine 

Source: Wiley

Chief Customer Officer 2.0 takes a top-down approach to foster an environment of exceptional customer service. The book begins by defining the Chief Customer Officer’s, or CCO’s, function. It then provides leadership guidance on developing, administering, and nurturing the company’s service initiatives and culture. The chapters outline the fundamental competencies that CCOs should possess, such as client loyalty and asset management. While many customer service publications focus on employees or middle management, this book examines customer service from an organisational perspective. It also recommends strategies to blend empathy and servitude with business acumen, big-picture thinking, and an eye on the bottom line.

Conclusion

While many people regard customer service as a matter of common sense, it is essentially a learned talent. Even the most naturally calm, compassionate, and competent people can improve their ways of delivering customer service. Customer service books educate professionals on how to relieve customer dissatisfaction, foresee customer needs, solve problems, and understand the client’s perspective.

If you need some help with customer service and community management, don’t hesitate to reach out.