Client / Customer Service Recommended Reading

Shelley in Virginia asked me for reading recommendations on providing the ultimate customer experience. Here’s my initial list:

Any of Jeffrey Gitomer’s books, and especially Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless: How to Make Them Love You, Keep You Coming Back, and Tell Everyone They Know.

“Building the Happiness Centred Business” by Dr. Paddi Lund (he’s an Australian dentist with a GREAT philosophy and system for doing business) http://www.solutionspress.com.au/

Customers For Life: How To Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer by Carl Sewell

HUG YOUR CUSTOMERS: THE PROVEN WAY TO PERSONALIZE SALES AND ACHIEVE ASTOUNDING RESULTS by Jack Mitchell

The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America’s #1 Customer Service Company by Robert Spector and Patrick D. McCarthy

Pour Your Heart into It : How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time by Howard Shultz

What’s Your Word?

I recently read a post on a blog called “Escape from Cubicle Nation” about finding a SINGLE word to define your brand. In it the writer talks about how important it is to “find a way to differentiate your business in a meaningful way.” Think about businesses you use regularly or are familiar with. If you had to pick one word to describe each of them, what would it be? Hmmm. This could be a fun game for long summer vacation trips.

But seriously, there is potentially valuable information here for your business. What are your thoughts on the word that would describe YOUR business? What would your clients say is THE one word that describes your business? Could be an interesting exercise to ask them because you might uncover some extraordinary marketing material. Plus, you may find new opportunities for increased income.

Life’s Golden Ticket

Have you ever wished you could have a second chance at your life? I got an email from somewhere that asked “what if you were given a ticket that could magically start your life anew?” and promoted the new book “Life’s Golden Ticket” by Brendon Burchard. I’m always interested in a good story and this one is called “an inspirational novel,” which intrigued me even more. Some of the reviews call it “life changing;” I wouldn’t go that far, but it is definitely absorbing and thought-provoking.

The story follows the experiences of a man who steps into a world designed to teach him about his past so that he can see the possibilities and choices available to him going forward. His fiancée Mary is on her deathbed after she’s been missing for 40 days and no one knows why. She begs him to take a mysterious envelope to an abandoned amusement park, where he meets an old groundskeeper. The two men set out to learn what happened to Mary and take a journey that involves some bizarre characters. I guarantee that you will relate to at least one of the lessons he learns along the way.

If you’ve read and enjoyed “The Alchemist” or “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” you will love this book. If you haven’t read those, you are in for a new kind of treat.

It’s a quick read; I finished the entire book on a flight from Palm Beach to Boston. You can feel good about buying it because a portion of the proceeds go to Kiwanis International, Junior Achievement and the YMCA. Once you’ve read it, pass it along to someone else who would enjoy some good summer reading. For more info about the book or the author’s seminars, or to sign up for a sweepstakes trip for two to anywhere in the world, go to www.lifesgoldenticket.com.

Grasp This One Thing

Do you remember the old guy Curly in the movie “City Slickers”? He says that the meaning of life is just ONE thing, but that ONE thing is different for everyone. Each of us has to figure out what our one thing is. Talking with my friend Lara last week, my one thing became very clear. Sure, I’ve sorta, kinda known for a long time, but I was never able to exactly articulate it the way I can now. And the most interesting thing is that, even though I might not have been fully consciously aware, this one thing was still driving my actions and was the unrealized purpose underlying Zen Rabbit.

So what is it already you ask. It’s creating and maintaining close relationships. Were you expecting something more earth shattering? Last year I saw results of a survey that said 25% of Americans don’t have a single friend in whom they can confide. And more than 50% have only one or two especially close friends. The study offered lots of speculation as to why these numbers are so low, but the bottom line is it’s very sad. That’s a lot of loneliness and disconnection.

We’ve all been caught up in getting through the day. But then that one day turns into getting through the week and through the month, etc. Pretty soon it’s ten or twenty years later and you’re completely out of touch with everyone. And the reason you’ve allowed yourself to get out of touch is that you got lazy. OUCH! Are you insulted now? Yes, I said you got lazy. You’ll rephrase it as “busy,” but the ugly truth is you allowed other things to take priority.

And since they don’t call you, your friends are lazy too. Because you come home from work exhausted and throw yourself in front of the TV to veg instead of picking up the phone to connect. I totally understand the appeal of the vegetative state. I also understand the greater importance of not choosing that option, at least not every night.

For my 40^th birthday (I know, I know. I can hardly believe it myself!), my husband and I went to the Washington, D.C. area, where we had lived for 13 years. He threw a surprise party for me and more than 30 friends who live locally showed up. Now the remarkable thing is that we moved away ten years ago. And I still have close friendships with that many people there. It’s been important to me to stay in touch with them and they’ve told me that it’s been important to them that I stay in touch, even if they don’t make the effort. I tell you this not to brag that I’m so great and have so many friends, but to make a point.

If most people can’t even make an effort to maintain close friendships, how are they ever going to manage to develop and sustain relationships with clients?! And as every businessperson knows, if you can’t keep clients, you really don’t have much chance for a strong and prosperous business.

Fortunately for you, our paths have crossed somewhere in time. I just finished sharing with you that maintaining close relationships is my “Curly’s ONE thing.” That’s what I’m good at and love to do. Maybe it’s not so easy for you, so let me help you. Together we can ensure that the people important to your success feel appreciated.

Debut of Rabbit Rouser Online!

Three weeks ago I made a commitment to my friend Lara to start a blog by the end of June. Oops. With all that was going on before vacation, didn’t quite make it.  

Now that I’m back into the full swing of business, I put it at the top of my priority list. And, voila! Here is the first blog posting.

Since Zen Rabbit already has an offline, printed and mailed via USPS newsletter called “Rabbit Rouser,” it just makes sense to continue the name to the online version. Of course here I won’t be limited to a legal size document and can post more detail and more frequently.

Enjoy!