Newly expanded edition. A real-world, plain-language how-to guide for delivering amazing customer service to customers and end-users.

Now in its third edition, The Compassionate Geek is the definitive guide for delivering amazing customer service to customers and end-users. Filled with practical tips, best practices and real-world techniques, The Compassionate Geek is a quick read with equally fast results. Each chapter contains a reflection and discussion section to help improve customer service skills. Inside are lots of personal stories and examples of mistakes made and lessons learned in addition to an entire chapter on overcoming personal and professional obstacles. All of the information is presented in a straightforward style that can be understood and used right away. There's nothing foo-foo, just down-to-earth tips and technical support best practices learned from years of working with technical staff and demanding customers and end-users.

Here's what you'll find: The four intrinsic qualities of great customer service providers Customer service tips on how to say no without alienating your customer or end user Best practices for communicating with email, including examples Best practices for communicating using chat and texting Ten tips for being a good listener Two practical ways to keep your emotions in check using emotional intelligence (eq) techniques A six-step flow chart for handling customer and end user calls Customer service skills to use when the customer or end user is wrong How to work with the different generations in the workplace Motivational stories of human triumph with reflection and discussion questions Techniques for overcoming personal and professional obstacles

All of the information is presented in a straightforward style that you can understand and use right away. There's nothing "foo-foo," just down-to-earth tips and technical support best practices learned from years of working with technical staff and demanding customers and end users.

This book is geared toward professional growth or means to enhance leadership skills from home to the professional organization. The following core skills sets are referenced: Customer Service, Leadership Characteristics, Motivation and what motivates you, getting our youth motivated, and youth networking for excellence to address and eradicate bullying, and educating yourself for a future. Finally, it talks about your individual motivator or inspirational leader and what skills sets you demonstrate based on that person(s) teaching or views. This is an easy read and is dedicated to my grandmother for her great leadership in my life. In addition, this book, if you allow it, can assist you in dealing with change.

The "New York Times" and "Wall Street Journal" bestseller

The new secret to driving LOYALTY THAT PAYS

Once revolutionary, loyalty programs designed to differentiate products quickly became commoditized. And yet, billions of dollars are still spent every year on programs that are doomed to fail. These programs, it turns out, don't inspire long-term loyalty. Once a better deal comes along, customers will gladly defect. Can you blame them?

Silicon Valley start-up Bunchball, the pioneer and innovator in gamification, is light years ahead when it comes to the concept of loyalty--and using it to drive business profits and growth. Focusing not only on customer loyalty, but also the loyalty of employees and partners, Bunchball combines behavioral economics, big data, social media, and gamification to inspire loyalty that lasts--from everyone involved in the success of a business.

Now, in "Loyalty 3.0," Bunchball founder Rajat Paharia reveals how you can use these same techniques to seize the competitive edge for your business.

Paharia shows you how to create a system powered by human motivation and digital technology that creates ongoing, persistent engagement among customers, employees, and partners. "Loyalty 3.0" arms you with everything you need to know in order to build a loyalty and engagement program that drives a sustainable advantage for your business, including: The building blocks of motivation, big data, and gamification necessary for creating a powerful strategy that drives long-term loyalty Case studies from today's most innovative companies that are already driving customer engagement, learning and skill development, and employee motivation with "Loyalty 3.0" methods Step-by-step guidance on how to plan, design, build, and optimize your program

Now is the time to abandon your traditional loyalty programs and start taking all your stakeholders seriously--so they will take your company seriously.

"Loyalty 3.0" is the game-changing leap you've been waiting for. When you create true loyalty among customers, employees, and business partners, you will generate a sustainable competitive advantage and win in your industry.

Praise for "Loyalty 3.0"

"Relationships are the single greatest asset for all organizations. Relationships with customers, relationships with employees, relationships with partners. In "Loyalty 3.0, Rajat Paharia reveals the new science of relationship building through big data and gamification."" --TIM BROWN, CEO, IDEO

""Loyalty 3.0 is filled with major insights and does a brilliant job of grounding the reader in fundamental concepts around motivation, big data, and gamification--building on these concepts through real-world case studies that bring the combinations to life. It finishes with actionable ideas and next steps that enable you to test and operationalize these ideas in your own workplace and personal life."" -- BRAD SMITH, CEO, Intuit

""A fascinating insight into how companies are exploiting big data."" -- MARK READ, CEO, WPP Digital

""Rajat pioneered the business use of big data and game mechanics to transform the customer experience. A decade before anyone else, he saw that the same techniques that video game designers had used for years--fast feedback, badges, competition, goals, and leveling up--were also incredibly powerful for motivating behavior outside of games, and an industry was born. This book shares his secrets."" -- CLARA SHIH, CEO of Hearsay Social, author of The Facebook Era, and board member at Starbucks

""Rajat Paharia comprehensively explains how to create loyalty in the modern world full of data and connectivity. If you want to learn how to motivate and inspire employees, you must read this book."" -- DAVE KERPEN, New York Times bestselling author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business

""In this powerful and groundbreaking book, Rajat Paharia clearly demonstrates how big data, motivation, and gamification can be utilized to create true engagement and loyalty. We believe Loyalty 3.0 will be a game changer for our associates and guests."" -- RAY BENNETT, Chief Lodging Services Officer, Marriott International

""The journey to Loyalty 3.0 is real. Rajat's vision shows why right time relevancy and context will transform how organizations engage with customers and truly craft relationships.""---R. RAY WANG, Principal Analyst and CEO at Constellation Research

""Adoption is a critical component when creating an exceptional customer experience or smarter workforce, and gamification has proven to be a powerful driver for success. The insights Rajat shares in Loyalty 3.0 will help guide the next wave of deeper relationships across the enterprise.""---SANDY CARTER, IBM Vice President, Social Business Evangelism and Sales

VIR-TAN-ZA (vur-TAHN-z ) n. neologism, a newly coined term] 1. A condition, state, or attitude of truth, financial success, and customer loyalty among business-to-business sales professionals. 2. Courage in the face of adverse business cycles or uncommon challenges. 3. Commitment to the highest degree of preparedness in business dealings resulting in outstanding professional and personal achievement. 4. A process for creating exceptional solutions to sales challenges, exceeding a customer's expectations. From Latin vir, "strength, heroic courage," veritas, "truth," and bonus, "a great good, a superior benefit, a bonanza."]

A guide to effectively communicating with customers to create lasting--and repeat--business relationships.
This book provides practical, results-oriented guidance for effective communication with customers through sample words, phrases, scripts, and strategies applied to real-world examples.
Unlike the vast majority of books that deal with customer communication, "How to Say It(R) Creating Complete Customer Satisfaction" does not separate sales from customer service communications, but instead integrates them into a single book. Readers will learn how to: Speak the language of Yes by asking the right questionsGet referrals through established customersOffer value through solutions, satisfaction, and trustAnticipate and preempt objectionsOwn a problem by owning the solution

Improve your vocabulary skills for the office and daily life with an easy-to-follow workbook that teaches you the facts you need to know to complete office tasks.

Jennifer Wilkins, who helps adult learners achieve academic and vocational success as the owner of Pathways Educational Services, an adult learning centre, provides lessons, exercises, and strategies to help you further your career as an office professional.

The workbook includes twelve modules and three review sections. The exercises introduce 365 words that are related to general office work. Each module begins with a list of words and their definitions to help complete the exercises that follow, and there are 142 exercises to complete.

Whether you're seeking help with a secondary-school business, an English as a Second Language program, or other training geared toward essential skills development, this workbook can help you. Get the tools you need to develop vocabulary and vocational skills, improve reading and oral communication skills, enhance problem-solving skills, and boost spelling and phonics skills.

Success is right around the corner, and getting there can be quick when you use Essential Skills: A General Office Vocabulary-Building Workbook.

For the most part, marketing and customer service have remained the same over the ages. Despite massive changes in the market position of customers and how we communicate with each other, most companies still use Caveman Era marketing tactics. A few marketers understand that the game has changed. Instead of hitting customers over the head with ad after ad, they go to potential customers where they are. Once there, they begin a relationship with prospects. In essences, they court customers. Cavemen Can't Market uses the analogy of a Suitor courting, or WOOing, an Intended to not only become a customer, but to move that customer through stages of commitments until she is not only loyal to him, but also makes him part of her identity. In the end, she will tell others how wonderful she is, in essence, marketing for him. Inside this analogy there are three stages of marketing: Attraction Conversation Relationship Marketers must understand these stages, as well as the pitfalls in each stage, to be successful in the new marketing era. Those who don't...will be as obsolete as a Caveman.

Striving for excellence in customer service is critical to gain a competitive advantage. It is the keystone for business growth and prosperity as it builds repetitive sales to existing customers and referrals for new customers. If customer service is looked at as a major business component and all customers are treated with excellence prior to the sale, during the sale, and after the sale, customer service will become a profit center that builds sales dollars to the top line and real profits to the bottom line. Customer service is not as simple as offering a smiling "good morning" greeting and a "have a nice day" parting, but an integrated system that manifests itself in all activities of the business to wield an overall customer service organizational mentality. Every time a customer comes in "contact with the company there is what we call a "touch point" and each touch point must be a Wow! Moment" for the customer. It is the build-up of these wow moments that develops into a superior customer service experience. No longer does the company sell whatever the customer is willing to buy or the company wants to sell, but realigns its customer service efforts to sell those products that the customer really needs. This book is geared to those interested in delivering customer service as a profit center concept that enables the organization to grow in the desired directions - doing the right thing the right way in spite of organizational roadblocks.

Negotiating with a customer-or prospective customer-is one of the most challenging forms of negotiating. Why? Because you have to negotiate great relationship and great return at the same time In Both Sides Win you will find three practices that will help you build relationship and achieve your goals when negotiating with a customer or prospect. The practices will help you gain influence, handle upsets, benefit from sources of power that many people tend to give away and, importantly, avoid getting sucked into price discussions too soon. The book is short and concise-something you can throw into a briefcase and pull out as a quick reminder on how to best approach a negotiation with a current or prospective customer-or anyone else. Although the focus of Both Sides Win is on customer negotiation, the practices will enhance your effectiveness in any kind of negotiation or sale.

Are you bedeviled by your difficult customer? Are angry or emotional customers taking out their fears and frustrations on you? Do you find yourself "taking home difficult customers" and letting them rent space in your head? Finally, do you want to take control of even the toughest customer situations, and handle them professionally, quickly, and effectively while reducing your stress levels?

Written for anyone dealing directly with customers in any industry from hospitality to business to business this book provides you with both the principles and words to defuse almost all difficult and scary customer situations. Here are just a few of the things you will learn to do: Why it's in YOUR interest to learn how to defuse volatile customer situations Why customers act in manipulative, aggressive and even childish ways How the verbal abuse game works, and how to stop the game cold How to apply the CARP system for defusing customers How to maintain SELF-CONTROL so you don't lose your cool, and get "baited" How to start off customer interaction well and PREVENT escalation How to choose your words so you come across as helpful and cooperative How to say no without being antagonistic How to get customers to STOP ranting, yelling and being aggressive, and getting them to LISTEN How to apply verbal self-defense techniques to TAKE control

...and tons more. This 8.5 x 11 inch book goes beyond what you've ever been taught about difficult customer situations, and allows you to stop feeling like you are powerless in the face of angry customers. It helps you decide what to do, and what to say, and goes way beyond the ";be nice"" advice so often mentioned in other books and training. You WILL learn from the 176 pages of 120 defusing tactics you'll learn.

There are even chapters for supervisors and managers (and how they can help), dealing with groups of customers and "the audience effect" and dealing with customers in social media.

It's time to stop feeling like a victim, and empower yourself to be the "go to" person with "tough customers." Not only will you increase enjoyment of your job, and reduce your stress levels, but you'll enhance your career prospects. Managers and supervisors DO notice when you can defuse the customers who are "nightmares." That means career advancement.

Poor Listening is a pandemic social virus that seeks to erode and destroy relationships at work, at home, between friends and within the family. It Only Hurts When I Listen identifies the surprising causes of this subtle but pervasive virus and offers a radical cure. With inspirational contributions by Ken Blanchard, Richard Blackaby and others, It Only Hurts When I Listen delivers both a wakeup call and customized treatment plan for transforming lives and relationships.

"Customer service has been central to Dell's success - this book is packed with practical techniques and proven insights for improving performance." - Michael Dell, CEO, Dell When You Get This One Thing Right You'll Literally Obliterate The Competition...How you treat your customers and what you do to keep them coming back for more will have the biggest impact on your bottom line. Get the service right and you'll benefit from lower future sales costs and increased market share as the 'good word' spreads. Get it wrong though and you can kiss goodbye to future business success as ever more sophisticated and demanding customers take their money elsewhere. With this in mind 'Bare Knuckle' persuasion expert Simon Hazeldine has joined forces with savvy customer service veteran Chris Norton to show you how to transform your organisation into a world beating customer led cash machine. Drawing on their own hard-won experience and modeling the best customer service principles today, Simon and Chris strip customer service back to the bone giving you the essential tools you really need to become your customers' true champion. Inside you will learn...* How To Find Out What Your Customers Really Want * The Right Way To Build A Customer Service Culture * How To Implement A Customer Service Strategy * The Bare Knuckle Customer Service Model * How To Benefit From Customer Complaints * What Customer Relationship Management Really Does * How To Set Up & Run A World Class Call Centre * The 5 Most Stupid Things To Say To A Customer * ...and much more

Today's consumer views loyalty to a business as a fad, and they also expect everything and then some. The companies that are thriving (and will continue to thrive) deliver amazing customer experiences. Customer service isn't just about being a department or a policy; it is about creating a culture where customers can't wait to do business with you, and are excited to refer their friends to you as well. This book's characters, Negative Ned and Positive Paul, illustrate the ABSURDITY of terrible customer service and the simple steps necessary to improve nearly every customer experience.

A contractor's success hinges around their most important asset: the customer relationship. With forty five years in the construction industry, author Joe Egan rose from apprentice to senior management and ownership positions at several large construction companies. Learn from his decades of experience in witnessing the building and destruction of that fragile bond between the contractor, employees and customers. Readers will (1) Uncover the common traits of the very successful contractors (2) Know the reasons why customers issue contracts other than the low price (3) Understand the principals and importance of true leadership (4) Recognize how to treat subcontractors (5) Build and maintain loyal customers (5) Learn how to get the contract on the next presentation and (6) Distinguish what is really important in life.

Practical Insights On Customer Service offers an African perspective on the thorny question of customer care. It challenges readers to reflect on the current challenges in Africa and how effective customer care can help to unlock some of the opportunities available in the continent. It highlights the common problems organizations face in the continent and recommends ways of enhancing the principles of customer service. Written in a reader-friendly language, the book also conscientises the readers and organizations to simple, but often overlooked winning formulae in life-customer service. ______________ He holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from Management College of Southern Africa (South Africa) and a post graduate certificate in Business Counselling from the University of Durham (UK). One of the most sought after speakers in Malawi, he is on the board of several companies and also runs his own consultancy firm, Arch Professionals, which offers professional training in customer service, sales, team building, attitude change, conflict management and strategy development. He also writes a weekly columnist for a local daily newspaper in Malawi. He can be contacted at [email protected]

Do you dream of the perfect sales organization?In this organization, where information moves freely between all areas, your Customer Relationship Management system sustains your evolving sales strategies. The sales cycles and the different stages are clear and sales pipeline review gives you accurate forecasts. This is the place where all simple tasks are automated and the marketing and sales department are strongly related.In this book, you will learn to set up and use OpenERP to: * Track your customers, partners and resellers network.* Design your sales stages efficiently from leads to opportunities and quotations.* Set up a lead automation system based on email or paper marketing campaigns.* Use the Ms. Outlook, Thunderbird and mobile phone plug-ins to improve your productivity.* Get accurate sales forecast and sales pipeline directly in OpenERP.* Measure and improve your performance through real-time information dashboards.

What's Your Purple Goldfish (WYPG) is about differentiation via added value. Marketing to your existing customers via G.L.U.E (giving little unexpected extras). The end result is increased sales, happier customers and positive word of mouth.

Praise for WYPG?

"In business you must do something that's above and beyond what's expected. Phelps shows the ingredients behind creating signature extras that are unconventional and innovative. Every business should be asking themselves, "What's our Purple Goldfish?"

-Tony Hsieh, NY Times bestselling author of "Delivering Happiness" and CEO of Zappos.com, Inc.

"Influence isn't a score, it is the ability to cause, effect or change behavior. Phelps shows marketers how to add that 'little something extra' that influences consumer behavior and drives word of mouth."

- Brian Solis, Author of The End of Business as Usual, Named a Top 2011 Business Book by Publisher's Weekly

"What's Your Purple Goldfish? is the new benchmark for customer service and experience excellence. The single source for numerous concepts and innovations that can help build the foundation for a world class brand (I just hope my competition doesn't find this book.)"

- Chris Zane, Author of Reinventing the Wheel - The Science of Creating Lifetime Customers

"Stan's approach of delivering the unexpected, lagniappes, is a great way to break from the pack and instill a mindset of customer delight across your company."

- Bruce Temkin, Author of The 6 Laws of Customer Experience

"Your project has been an inspiration. I've talked about it many times, and included links in my articles. CEM can be complicated, but your examples show that with some creativity, companies can stand out by doing a little something extra."

- Bob Thompson CEO of CustomerThink.com, the world's largest community dedicated to customer-centric business, Author of CrowdService: Harnessing the Wisdom of Crowds in Customer Service and Support

"What's Your Purple Goldfish? busts a myth and reveals a simple truth about customer service. Stan uncovers the recipe for creating signature added value that increases customer satisfaction and drives positive word of mouth."

- Barry Moltz, Author of Bounce, Crazy and B-A-M

"What's Your Purple Goldfish? is unique in that it doesn't leave you asking 'Now what?' after you've read it. It's filled with actual illustrations of what successful businesses are doing right now to differentiate themselves and add value to their customers' experiences."

- Steve Curtin

"What's Your Purple Goldfish? is a great guidebook full of real-world examples business owners can use to increase great experiences to delight and surprise their customers. Read this book before your competitors do or be left in the dust."

- Phil Gerbyshak, Author / co-author of 10 Ways to Make it Great and #Twitterworks

"I have been a huge fan and contributor to The Purple Goldfish Project since inception because many companies talk about being 'customer centric' but few actually are. This project is a reflection of all those great companies that are getting it right every day, winning the hearts and minds of their customers one customer at a time "

- Paul Dunay, Author of Facebook Marketing for Dummies

"At the heart of the marketing lagniappe concept lies the truth that we cannot simply meet the expectations of customers. Every experience starts with a person who had a need they would trade something of value to have solved. Lagniappe can create the difference between needs not solved or solved poorly, and needs solved so well we happily tell others of the experience. Purple Goldfish, crafted wisely in customer experiences, can be the difference between mediocre and great business performance."

- Linda Ireland, Author of Domino: How Customer Experience Can Tip Everything In Your Business Toward Better Financial Performance

How do you stand out in a sea of

Getting Customer Relationship Management right is a goal to which any customer focused company aspires. Yet, rather than enabling companies to achieve this goal, the complexity of choosing the right CRM vendor can become a stumbling block to companies trying to deliver excellence in customer service. With an increasing choice of established, corporate vendors, niche vendors and open source solutions, your decision to invest in CRM is vital in supporting the business information that underpins your delivery of sales, marketing and service excellence to your customers. In Choosing a CRMVendor, Andrew Schultz shares his expertise on the following subjects: CRM: The Illusion and the Reality The Fall of the Biggest CRM Vendor in the World The 3 Pillars of CRM Finding a Solution Choosing a Vendor Having led many CRM implementations as a consultant, and in his current role helping CRM consulting firms and vendors of CRM add-on applications develop solutions relevant to customer needs, Andrew Schultz is a solution architect with deep experience in understanding customer requirements and mapping those requirements to CRM functionality. In Choosing a CRMVendor, Schultz shares both his objective advice and the hard earned 'insider secrets' that you will find invaluable in making the right CRM vendor decision.

Call centres illustrate the consequences of globalisation for labour perhaps more clearly than any other form of employment. Call-centre workers sit at the interface between the global and the local, having to transcend the limitations of local time zones, cultures and speech patterns. They are also at the interface between companies and their customers, having to absorb the impact of anger, incomprehension, confusion and racist abuse whilst still meeting exacting productivity targets and staying calm and friendly. Finally, they take the brunt of the conflict at the contested interface between production and consumption, having to deal in their personal lives with the conflicts between the demands of paid and unpaid work. Drawing, amongst others, on organisational theory, sociology, communications studies, industrial relations, economic geography, gender theory and political economy, this important collection brings together survey evidence from around the world with case studies and vivid first-hand accounts of life in call centres from Asia, North and South America, Western and Eastern Europe. In the process it reveals many similarities but also demonstrates that national industrial relations traditions and workers' ability to negotiate can make a significant difference to the quality of working life in call centres.

If we are to get America back to work, it is imperative that we return to the values that made this nation great. There is a common thread among all thriving companies. They all understand the importance of customer service excellence. Legendary customer service begins with a commitment to the customer... at any cost In order to differentiate from your competition, you must stop talking about customer service excellence and start living it. This ideology must flow from the pinnacle of your organization to the very core of its foundation - persons who interact directly with your customers on a daily basis. A positive customer encounter can change the customer's perception of your organization from ordinary to exceptional. Therefore, it is paramount to understand that your organization's success depends entirely on its ability to create positive and memorable customer service experiences. In this book, you will discover timeless gems (quotes) from some of the world's most influential leaders. Leaders and innovators, who have turned their values into action and, in the process, changed the way the world does business. This book is required reading for all who work with and/or support customers. In order to get the most from your reading, we recommend that you read Legendary Customer Service until you master the precious gems within.

The essential guide for all customer service professionals. Written by industry thought-leaders from all over the world, this valuable resource delivers a comprehensive blueprint for any organization wishing to excel in customer services. Filled with pages of practical jargon-free advice, Insiders Know-How: Customer Service redefines customer service and sets a new benchmark for the industry. This book is sponsored by The SME Shop at www.thesmeshop.com