Synopses & Reviews
“Micah Solomon conveys an up-to-the minute and deeply practical take on customer service, business success, and the twin importance of people and technology.”
— Steve Wozniak, co-founder, Apple
Are you finding customers more and more fickle, less and less loyal, and ever ready to jump off the handle and on to Twitter? Are you starting to sense that the way you’ve always done customer service simply isn’t working anymore? You’re right to be alarmed. Terrified, even. Social media, self-service technologies, and smart phones have created a disorienting new landscape for businesses that were chugging along just fine as recently as last month.
You now hold the solution to those concerns in your hands. High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service is the guide that teaches you to harness the power of technology to build emotional connections with your customers—and generate fierce loyalty as a result.
You’ll learn how to bulletproof your business against the increasingly challenging world of customer interactions, both online and off. This book is the tool you need to regain your balance in a world where socially empowered customers pound companies with ever-escalating expectations and where complaints can quickly go viral, with devastating results.
However, this isn’t a book that throws the baby out with the digital bathwater. Everything in these pages is grounded in decades of experience and proven methodology. High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service gives you a clearheaded analysis of what’s new in our digitally connected world and what remains unchanged, along with strategies for capturing a customer’s business again and again. Packed with brilliant examples of anticipatory customer service, as well as some hilariously cautionary examples of customer service done disastrously wrong, this essential book explains how to:
• Implement the eight unbreakable rules of social media customer service
• Effectively address online customer complaints on Yelp, Twitter, TripAdvisor, and other forums
• Build a powerful culture that’s nearly immune to competitive copycats
• Design compelling self-service options for today’s customers
• Bind your customers to you closely through technologically informed anticipatory customer service
• Deliver best-of-class customer service in person, on the Web, via social media, and by use of the old-fashioned (but very effective) telephone call
This is the book you’ve been waiting for: eye-opening insights, real-life disaster stories, and a sweeping perspective to help you make sense of the seismic changes in customer service delivery. It will help you fully grasp the crucial new rules that dictate who will survive and thrive in the years ahead.
Micah Solomon is the customer service and marketing strategist termed by the Financial Post “a new guru of customer service excellence”. He is a top keynote speaker, strategist, and consultant on customer service issues, the customer experience, and company culture. An entrepreneur and business leader, he coauthored the bestselling Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit. His expertise has been featured in Fast Company, Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNBC, Forbes.com, and elsewhere, and he created and helms the “College of the Customer” website.
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“…cogent and clear primer for business owners leery of social media, featuring clear, organized takeaways and a firm, encouraging tone." --Publishers Weekly
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“This book is IDEAL for business owners who sell to consumers…you will find examples and lessons galore.” --Small Business Trends
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“Solomon has written a book that touches on all of the major issues surrounding customer service.” --Suite101.com
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“…the seminal work about how to handle your customers in this social media marketing high-tech, high-touch world.” --IConnect007
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"...reminds us that genuine customer service isn’t an afterthought… It is a continuing approach to meeting customers’ changing needs on an ongoing basis." --Inland Business Journal
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“…easy-to-read format that blends clear and practical solutions, written intelligently in a style that is relaxed and personal (and often quite funny)." --FastForward Income
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“Micah offers us a view into the client’s paradigm TODAY, and reveals how to deliver world class customer service.” --PM Knowledge Transfer
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"The book is a must-read for any business leader. And, fortunately, the content is grounded in decades of experience and proven methodology.” --Eric Jacobson on Management and Leadership
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“…great read for anyone looking to design and deliver better customer experiences with the help of technology." --ReviewPro
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“This 5-star book is eye-opening, entertaining, and above all, emphatically practical…for anyone in business striving…to keep up with technology and to keep their customers.” --Clark’s Eye-on-Books
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“…should be read by all business executives…an important book about the negative impact social media has had on the business world.” --Blogcritics
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“..extremely valuable to all entrepreneurs, information marketers and business owners to think about, today more than ever.” --Greg Rollett, Rockstar Lifestyle Design
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“…will transform your thinking, your goals and vision, your approach to customer service, and your entire company culture into one that builds and sustains high-touch customer service…” --BlogBusinessWorld.com
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“Sharp, witty and full of practical tools and examples, his text is a fine blend of entertaining read and things I can start doing Monday morning…” --Independent Agent
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“Micah's new book is right up my alley! …This book was fantastic…” --It is Alive in the Lab
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“…presents all sorts of practical advice (and real world examples) to organizations on how to adapt to the new balance of power that social media presents.” --CIO Digest
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Selected by Small Business Trends as one of the 10 Best Strategy Books to Beat the Competition
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"I hope companies pick up this book and implement its ideas right away! If done right, companies can easily have customers for life." --Portland Book Review
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Small Business Trends 10 Best Strategy Books 2013
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"...for anyone in business seeking to provide great customer service. The lessons can be applied to the business practices of a mom-and-pop shop or a billion dollar corporation.” --StellaService
Synopsis
Small Business Trends 10 Best Strategy Books 2013 Synopsis
In an age of Twitter, smartphones, and self-service kiosks, high-tech but still high-touch customer service is the answer.
Today’s customers are a hard bunch to crack. Time-strapped, screen-addicted, value-savvy, and socially engaged, their expectations are tougher than ever for a business to keep up with. They are empowered like never before and expect businesses to respect that sense of empowerment—lashing out at those that don’t.
Take heart: Old-fashioned customer service, fully retooled for today’s blistering pace and digitally connected reality, is what you need to build the kind loyal customer base that allows you to survive—and thrive. And High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service spells out surefire strategies for success in a clear, entertaining, and practical way. Discover:
• Six major customer trends and what they mean for your business
• Eight unbreakable rules for social media customer service
• How to effectively address online complainers and saboteurs on Yelp, Twitter, TripAdvisor, and other forums for user generated content
• The rising power of self-service—and how to design it properly
• How to build a company culture that breeds stellar customer service
High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service reveals inside secrets of wildly successful customer service initiatives, from Internet startups to venerable brands, and shows how companies of every stripe can turn casual customers into fervent supporters who will spread the word far and wide—online and off.
Synopsis
Advance Praise for High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service:
“In a world of mind-numbing choices and little loyalty, Micah reminds us why caring about your customers (and treating them that way) is not just something that feels good, it’s good business.”
— Seth Godin, bestselling author of Purple Cow and Linchpin
“Micah Solomon takes on one of the stickiest questions in business today—how to navigate the ever-changing landscape of technology without losing the soul of the customer experience—and explains it with great savvy. High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service is a must read for anyone serious about great service in the digital age.”
— Jay Coldren, Vice President, Lifestyle Brands, Marriott International
“To create a personal connection in today’s fast-paced environment businesses must listen and respond at the speed of light—and create a culture built on service. Solomon illustrates how to anticipate customer expectations and deliver a memorable experience every time.”
— Ray Davis, President and CEO, Umpqua Bank
“Clearly the best book on customer service management written in the last decade.”
— Professor Frank Allen Philpot, George Mason University School of Management
“Micah Solomon’s brilliantly written and often belly-laugh humorous High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service will show you how to embrace the new era of round the clock customer feedback and thrive in business for years to come.”
— Brian Schoenbaechler, President and Managing Partner, Integracore
“In my world of not-for-profits, there is almost nothing more important than building constituent loyalty and retention of donors. Micah Solomon’s methodology and wisdom are the true expert guidance that’s needed to make this a reality.”
— Jann Schultz, Director of Donor Relations, Operation Smile
“Micah Solomon’s pedigree as an entrepreneur, marketer, and customer service strategist is clear. In High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service, Solomon, better than anybody else I’ve seen, illustrates how to achieve a level of customer engagement that makes an organization thrive in our era of tech enabled business success.”
— Jonathan Feldman, Contributing Editor, Information Week
About the Author
MICAH SOLOMON (Seattle, WA) has been named by the Financial Post as “a new guru of customer service excellence.” He is a top keynote speaker and consultant on customer service issues, the customer experience, and company culture. A successful entrepreneur, he coauthored the bestselling Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit. His expertise has been featured in FastCompany, Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes.com, NBC and ABC television programming, and elsewhere.
Table of Contents
Contents
Introduction 1
Forearmed Is Forewarmed 2
A Light Touch at Just the Right Time 3
Saying Your Business Is ‘‘On the internet’’ Is Like Saying It’s
‘‘On the Power Grid’’ 4
All You Need to Know in a Rhyming Nutshell 5
Homeward Bound 6
Where Tech Makes Loyalty Easier 7
How This Book Is Organized 8
PART ONE
Timeliness and Timelessness 9
CHAPTER 1
Today’s Changed Customer: Making Lovemaking
Difficult 11
The Most Crucial Customer ‘‘Trends’’ Today Are Individual
Changes 12
Customer Trend 1: Customers Expect Anticipatory
Technological Behavior and Aggregated
Information—Instantly 12
Customer Trend 2: Shame Shift and Values-Based
Buying 14
Customer Trend 3: Timelessness over Trendiness 15
Customer Trend 4: Customer Empowerment 16
Customer Trend 5: The Greening of the Customer 17
Customer Trend 6: The Desire for Self-Service 18
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 19
CHAPTER 2
The Customer Remains the Same: Everything That
Isn’t New Under the Sun 21
Providing Value: As Easy as 1, 2 . . . 4 22
A Perfect Product or Service 22
Delivered in a Caring, Friendly Manner 23
In a Timely Fashion 25
. . . Backed Up by an Effective Problem-Resolution
Process 26
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 30
CHAPTER 3
Timeless Customer Service Done Right—and
Wrong: Mastery Versus Catastrophe 32
The Masterful Company 32
A Cameo of Catastrophe: Timeless Service Done Tragically
Wrong 40
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 45
PART TWO
High-Tech, High-Touch Anticipatory
Customer Service 47
CHAPTER 4
A Google of Apples a Day: The Art of Anticipation
in the Modern World of Customer Service 49
The Apple Store Experience 50
From Cradle to Credit Card 53
A Tale of Two Installs 53
Bringing It All Back Home 57
‘‘Attaching’’ Yourself to Customers: Gmail and More 58
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 61
CHAPTER 5
Anticipatory Customer Service: Your Culture 63
The Curse of the Short-Term Focus 64
Consciously Building a Company Culture: Why Bother? 66
You Can’t Out-Pixar Pixar—But Here’s What You Can
Do 69
Cultural Friends with Benefits 70
Cultural Fit, Oddballs, and When Not to Hire 71
Positive Peer Pressure: The Double Significance of Every
Hiring Decision 72
Vendors: Partners, Not Poison 74
Spelling Out How You Treat Customers, Vendors, and
Employees 75
How to Get Started Building Your Core 76
The Best Time to Start? Now. 77
Buy-in or Highwayin’ 79
Your Core Values Are Just the Start—But They Are a
Start 79
Culture Meets the Larger World 81
How This Plays Out in a Pinch: Southwest’s Culture Saves a
Service Dog 82
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 83
CHAPTER 6
Anticipatory Customer Service: Your People 86
A Wet Dog at Petco 88
Supernatural Selection 89
Trial by Hire 90
‘‘Fit’’ and Its Pitfalls 91
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 93
CHAPTER 7
Sangria, Sippy Cups, and Jesse Ventura: Autonomy
Versus Standards 95
Patting Down Jesse Ventura 96
The Case for Autonomy in Customer Service Work 98
The Need for Standards 101
Standards and Autonomy: The Hybrid Path 102
Pour Lion and PEPI 105
Conveying Standards—And Maintaining Autonomy 106
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 107
PART THREE
The Rise of Self-Service and Social
Media—And Other Seismic Shifts 109
CHAPTER 8
The Rise of Self-Service: A Boon to Your
Customers—But Only If You Do It Right 111
Awarding Myself the Mobile Prize 111
Principles of Successful Self-Service 115
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 119
CHAPTER 9
Technological Change and Disabled Customers: A
True Opportunity, If You Avoid the Missteps 121
There’s More to Ramping Up than Putting Ramps Up: A
Variety of Issues and Solutions 121
Wynn Some 125
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 126
CHAPTER 10
Shoulder Your Customer’s Burden (and Make Sure
You’re Not Adding to It!) 127
Stupid Stuff 127
Stupid Is as . . . I Forget 128
Get to Them First 132
Where Are the Opportunities to Get to Them First? 133
Permission to Anticipate 136
The Specific Medium Is the Message—And Its Only Chance
of Getting Through 139
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 140
Chapter 11
Anti-Social Media: Fears and Hazards of the New
Landscape 142
Bicycle Pumps and Veterinarians 142
Regime Change in 140 Characters 143
Ouch: The First Time They Talk About You 143
Nobody Uses Twitter to Tell a Friend His Fly’s Undone 144
Social Media Is Not a Disease 146
A Story That Almost Became a Viral Tweet 146
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 148
CHAPTER 12
Social Service: Principles for Social Media Customer
Service 149
Principle 1: Avoid the Fiasco Formula: A Digital Stitch in
Time Saves Nine (Million) 150
Principle 2: Lie Back and Think of England: Digital
Arguments with Customers Are an Exponentially Losing
Proposition 150
Principle 3: Turn Twankers into Thankers: Reach Out
Directly to Online Complainers 151
Principle 4: Consider Getting a Complainer on the
Telephone (with Permission)—Even if the Relationship
Started in Social Media Land 154
Principle 5: Get Happy Outcomes into the Public
Eye 155
Principle 6: Use Social Media and Personal Email to Make
Your Customers Feel Important 155
Principle 7: Monitor 156
Principle 8: If Your Social Media Responses Are Inferior
to—Or Not Integrated with—Your Other Channels,
They’re Hurting Your Brand 157
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 158
CHAPTER 13
Listening: Your Ears Are Your Most Important
Technology 160
Only One Perspective That Matters 160
Sanctuary Much: The S.M.A.R.T. Approach to the Human
Force Field 162
Using Electronic Systems to Enhance Your Listening 165
It’s All About Listening—And It Starts by Opening Yourself
to Hearing 169
The Maytag Repairman Lets You Slap Him in the
Facebook 169
Break It to Ourselves More Gently 172
Surveying the Landscape 173
‘‘And Your Point Is?’’ 175
Notes 179
Index 191