Think for Your Customer

by Linda Sally Stanley and John Barry Stanley

In a series of nine chapters, the Stanley's build a framework to a successful retail operation by explaining the importance of creating a successful relationship with customers. At the end of each... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975011812
• ISBN13: 9780975011812
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Lizardpublishing.Biz
• Length: 127 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.3" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A tool to empower your team

There are many, many books on customer service and this certainly isn't the best. But it is topical and it is one of the few I have come across that you can give to your staff with some confidence that they will read it. And that's usually the challenge for most managers, finding information in an easily digestible form that is interesting, entertaining and applicable for your team. As the author says early in the book, "Before you start thinking for your customers you have to get your team to think for your customers. The answer is not for you to do the thinking, but for the team to do the thinking." He goes on to say that as a manager you need to empower your team members so that they have the confidence to think for your customers and to act on those thoughts. This book will certainly help you do that. There are short chapters with lots of sub-headings, so it can be read in small bite sized chunks (which is why I said earlier that it is easily digestible - boom, boom!). It is written in a friendly, conversational style and every three or four pages there are boxes with interesting snippets to keep the focus of people more used to glancing through magazines than reading books. I'd recommend you get enough copies of this book for your frontline team members, supply them with a highlighter pen each and tell them to `abuse their books!' What I mean by this is, they are to read a chapter and highlight any points worth debating or considering for their roles and for your organisation. Then hold a meeting to discuss this. At the conclusion of each chapter there is a section for them to write in 3 action steps. This prompts the reader to use it as a tool for customer service improvement in your organisation. A word of warning. The book uses a lot of retail examples and terminology so if you aren't in retail or a related service industry it may not go down well with your staff. This is particularly the case with people who have no selling function related to their customer service role. In fact, I'm surprised that two of the nine chapters are allocated to selling as I feel these are the weakest chapters in the book. In summary, it's a good little book that is easy to read with plenty of points that can be raised and debated with your frontline team, making it a useful tool to raise awareness and service levels in your organisation.