Unfortunately, far too few develop the skills and strategies needed to rise to the top in a world where clients have almost unlimited access to information and expertise. Supported by more than one hundred case studies and wisdom gleaned from interviews with dozens of leading CEOs and prominent business advisors, Clients for Life identifies what clients really want and lays out the core qualities that distinguish the client advisor -- an irreplaceable resource -- from the expert for hire -- a tradable commodity. Experts are specialists; advisors become deep generalists who have broad perspective.Experts are for hire; advisors have selfless independence, balancing client devotion with objectivity and detachment.Experts have professional credibility; advisors develop deep personal trust.Experts analyze; advisors synthesize and bring big-picture thinking to the table.Experts supply expertise and information; advisors are educators who provide insight and wisdom. Portraits of history's most famously successful advisors, including Machiavelli, Sir Thomas More, and J. P. Morgan, underscore these timeless qualities that modern professionals need to develop to excel in today's competitive environment.

    At the core of Apple's success and intense customer loyalty, however, aren't just "Insanely Great" products, but great people who are informed, empowered, and motivated to deliver an unbeatable customer experience. In The Apple Experience, internationally bestselling author Carmine Gallo details the principles and practices behind this total commitment to the customer and explains how your brand can achieve outstanding results by delivering this same high standard of service.Carmine Gallo interviewed professionals at all levels who have studied Apple, and he spent hundreds of hours observing the selling floor in Apple's retail space and learning about Apple's vision and philosophy. Using insights and data from these sources, he breaks down Apple's customer centric model to provide an action plan with three distinct areas of focus:* Inspire Your Internal Customer with training, support, and communications that create a "feedback loop" for improving performance at every level* Serve Your External Customer with irresistible brand stories and dedicated salespeople who embody the APPLE five steps of service -- Approach, Probe, Present, Listen, End with a fond farewell* Set the Stage by ensuring that no element is overlooked in creating an immersive retail environment where customers can see, touch, and learn about your productsWith The Apple Experience, you can improve the return on your investment in retail by adding real value to every customer interaction. Better still, any business that deals with people -- employees or customers -- can adopt the techniques to achieve Apple-like market dominance by enriching lives, building loyalty, and reimagining the customer experience.

    These organizations reap the benefits of greater customer loyalty, exponentially expanded referral networks, lower employee turnover, and stronger bottom-line results. By quantifying and examining each phase of the ""Customer Experience Cycle,"" Secret Service reveals clever, practical ideas that can be transformed into repeatable best practices in any organization and at every level. Packed with examples applicable to a wide range of industries, this book provides practical, realistic ways to: * Turn customer complaints into positive experiences * Use marketing to go deeper with existing customers * Increase customer and employee retention, and turn bland customer service into truly memorable customer experiences"

    Dennis Snow's Lessons From the Mouse provides ten no-nonsense, practical principles that anyone, anywhere can apply. He entertains while he educates with chapters like 'What Time is the 3:00 Parade?' Is Not a Stupid Question. The mouse is very candid here - no Disney pixie dust blinds the reader. Backstage snafus, onstage errors, and occasional chaos emerge in all their drama, humor, or irony. At its heart, though, Lessons From the Mouse presents ten lessons that guide readers in applying excellence in their own organizations, careers, and lives. Whether being used as a tool for increased organizational effectiveness or a pocket guide for the college grad or new entrepreneur, Lessons From the Mouse offers timeless, straightforward advice.

    They encourage each other, proactively solve problems, and constantly look for ways to go the extra mile. In short, imagine a workplace culture where employees were absolutely obsessed with customer service. The Service Culture Handbook is a step-by-step guide to help you develop a customer-focused culture in your company, department, or location. Whether you’re just beginning your journey, or have been working on culture for years, this handbook will prepare you to take the next step. You’ll receive actionable advice, straightforward exercises, and proven tools you can utilize immediately. Learn the one thing that forms the foundation of every great culture. Discover what customer-focused companies do differently to engage their employees. And explore ways to strategically align every facet of your organization with outstanding service. Creating and sustaining a customer-focused culture is a never-ending journey that takes hard work, dedication, and commitment. The Service Culture Handbook is an indispensable resource to help you and your employees stay headed in the right direction. Praise for The Service Culture Handbook: "The Service Culture Handbook provides the poignant inspiration and practical instruction for the difficult work of transforming a service culture into one that is distinctive, successful, and permanent." —Chip R. Bell, author of Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles "Though research continues to uncover the astonishing impact of customer-focused cultures on customer loyalty and business results, few organizations know how to get there. Jeff Toister unlocks that mystery through this practical (and fun to read!) guide to developing a culture that really works." —Brad Cleveland, founding partner and former CEO, International Customer Management Institute

    Every human on earth relies on word of mouth to make buying decisions. Yet even today, fewer than 1% of companies have an actual strategy for generating these crucial customer conversations. Talk Triggers provides that strategy in a compelling, relevant, timely book that can be put into practice immediately, by any business.The key to activating customer chatter is the realization that same is lame. Nobody says let me tell you about this perfectly adequate experience I had last night. The strategic, operational differentiator is what gives customers something to tell a story about. Companies (including the 30+ profiled in Talk Triggers) must dare to be different and exceed expectations in one or more palpable ways. That's when word of mouth becomes involuntary: the customers of these businesses simply MUST tell someone else.Talk Triggers contains: - Proprietary research into why and how customers talk - More than 30 detailed case studies of extraordinary results from Doubletree Hotels by Hilton and their warm cookie upon arrival, The Cheesecake Factory and their giant menu, Five Guys Burgers and their extra fries in the bag, Penn & Teller and their nightly meet and greet sessions, and a host of delightful small businesses - The 4-5-6 learning system (the 4 requirements for a differentiator to be a talk trigger; the 5 types of talk triggers; and the 6-step process for creating talk triggers) - Surprises in the text that are (of course) word of mouth propellantsConsumers are wired to discuss what is different, and ignore what is average. Talk Triggers not only dares the reader to differentiate, it includes the precise formula for doing it.Combining compelling stories, inspirational examples, and practical how-to, Talk Triggers is the first indispensable book about word of mouth. It's a book that will create conversation about the power of conversation.

    The author takes readers beyond selling to providing solutions that make a real difference for them and their clients.

    Learning to distinguish and choose the right style of thinking is an art that can enhance success, help achieve goals and influence others.

    Did you know that games can be a terrifically effective way to build team spirit, communication, and trust among people who work together day in and day out? Now you can spark morale in any work group by choosing from 70 stimulating games and activities specifically designed for the manager who's looking to raise sagging morale in a department, liven up boring staff meetings, enable team members to collaborate smoothly and effectively, and much more!

    In fact, many experts believe that you build a business from the customer up. With coauthors Jim Ballard and Fred Finch, Blanchard explains why the customer is the right starting place from which to build a successful business. By drawing on examples from the world's largest restaurant company, Yum! -- owner of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's, and A&W Restaurants -- the authors explain how any company, large or small, can develop a unified, people-first, customer-oriented culture. Packed with practical insights, Customer Mania! emphasizes four critical steps:• Set Your Sights on the Right Target. The bottom line grows from taking care of customers and creating a motivating environment for your people. • Treat Customers the Right Way. Determine the kind of experience you want your customers to have as they interact with every part of the company. • Treat Employees the Right Way. Use strategies ranging from smart hiring to training and development to managing performance and creating a recognition culture. • Build the Right Kind of Leadership. You can't do it all yourself, so let your people put their own brains to work and then support them all the way.By relying on these concepts, businesses everywhere can cultivate passionate and engaged team members who contribute to the company's overall success. From CEO to middle manager to the person facing the consumer, Customer Mania! is a vital tool for enhancing their experience -- and their customer's.

    So why do so many companies act like adrenalin junkies, chasing after new customers at the expense of creating deeper, more profitable relationships with the ones they already have? Evergreen exposes the mad pursuit for what it is: a brief spike in metrics and an ongoing revenue drain, as one-time customers fail to return. A better solution is to shift resources from attracting new customers to engaging the base--the path to stable growth, season after season. The book's entertaining stories and action steps reveal how anyone can: * Cultivate the 3Cs of evergreen companies: character, community, and content * Build loyalty programs that turn satisfied customers into enthusiastic advocates * Nurture profitable customers while pruning those who sap time and money * Inject authenticity into social media communications * Invert the expectations gap that can drive customers away From Internet startups and mom-and-pop businesses to multinational giants, strong companies are rooted in customer retention. Evergreen helps anyone merge high-tech tools with the personal touch to forge lasting bonds and steady profits.

    But the prospect of sharing potentially negative news can be overwhelming. How do you construct your message so that it’s not only well received but also expressed in a way that encourages change?Whether you’re commending exemplary work or addressing problem behavior, the HBR Guide to Delivering Effective Feedback provides you with practical advice and tips to transform any performance discussion—from weekly check-ins to annual reviews—into an opportunity for growth and development. You’ll learn to:• Establish trust with your direct reports• Assess their performance fairly• Emphasize improvement, even in criticism• React calmly to a defensive feedback recipient• Recognize and motivate star performers• Create individualized development plansArm yourself with the advice you need to succeed on the job, from a source you trust. Packed with how-to essentials from leading experts, the HBR Guides provide smart answers to your most pressing work challenges.

    After all, why should you have to tell the world how amazing you are if you can have your existing customers do it for you? Imagine an army of customers who will do your PR, marketing and advertising, without being asked, each and every time they give you their money. These are Zombie Loyalists. They are ready to buy what you sell, respond to your email offers and demand that their friends to do the same.So how do you get this rabid following? There’s been a lot of lip service given to customer loyalty over the past few years, but most companies still don’t realize that a points program or a slew of untargeted emails simply won’t do it. With so many products and platforms to choose from, amazing customer service is the only differentiator that will truly put you ahead of your competition. Looking at exceptional companies like the Ritz Carlton, Amazon, and Starwood Hotels, as well as smaller businesses to turn their customers into Zombie Loyalists, he shows how you can create your own customer army.

    Patterson*, bestselling novelist and former Chairman and Creative Director of J. Walter Thompson, U.S.A., Inc."An invaluable, easy-to-follow blueprint for winning, serving and keeping customers...This book is a must for any business." --Jere W. Thompson, President and CEO, The Southland CorporationMichael LeBoeuf, one of the nation's foremost business consultants, presents a hard-hitting, action-ready rewards-and-incentives program for creating a winning sales team. This classic no-nonsense guide is completely revised and updated for today's computer-driven world. It contains everything you need to know about successful selling and--most important of all--how to win customers for life."I've always believed that it's a mistake to separate selling, managing and service from each other. How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life is an easy-to-follow guide for putting them together with great results." --Ed Flanagan, President, Sales Marketing Executives--Greater New York

    Most salespeople have extensive knowledge of their products, but many fail to ask the questions that will help them uncover the real needs of their customers. Questions That Sell helps readers use advanced questioning techniques to sell their products based on value to the customer, not on price -- and increase their success rate as a result. The book contains powerful examples, exercises, and hundreds of sample questions, including: * Vision Questions: Tap into a customers' needs and desires for the future * Questions to Uncover Problems: Fix something that's not working for the client * Pay-Off Questions: Get customers to articulate for themselves how much the product or service is worth Questions That Sell is an invaluable resource for connecting with customers, understanding what they need, and closing more sales, faster.