Employee Management and Customer Service in the Retail Industry, by Gary Heil and Chris Thomas, attempts to combine the psychology of dealing with employees and customers with the practical realities of managing a retail business. Organized into ten chapters, this book loosely follows a retail manager's natural progression from interviewing prospective employees, to hiring the right ones, paying them fairly, and keeping them happy on the job.

How Today's Marketing Leaders Have Bypassed the "Experts" to Craft Effective, Inexpensive Customer Loyalty Programs

Database marketing is today's most powerful tool for designing cost-effective, resource-efficient marketing and operations programs. "The Customer Loyalty Solution "cuts through theory and guesswork to examine how leading marketers from Land's End to IBM are using today's new breed of database marketing tools to compute lifetime value, cut costs in every area, and make databases easier to access and utilize from anywhere on the globe.

Praise for "The Customer Loyalty Solution":

""The Customer Loyalty Solution "combines the best of traditional practice with contemporary market factors in terms that inspire and cut across industries. Straightforward enough for the upcoming 1-1 marketer as well as a great catch-up for the seasoned practitioner."--Joe Rapolla, VP, Consumer Marketing Services, Universal Music Group/CLO

"Delivers practical solutions instead of hyperbole and theory. Hughes makes this book fun to read, and he gets his point across--clearly."--Robert McKim, CEO, msdbm

"Well written and easy to understand. Hughes imparts his wisdom to set realistic expectations and provides case studies adding real-world application."--J.C. Johnson, VP, Database Marketing, Fairfield Resorts

"Hughes distills the jargon and complexity of database marketing into a refreshingly straightforward and practical guide. "The Customer Loyalty Solution "should be required reading for anyone serious about making database marketing work."--Jonathan Huth, VP, Relationship Database Marketing, Scotiabank

New technologies like the Web have brought unprecedented change to databasemarketing. But some things never change. Successful marketers have learned that to understand their customers they must still think like their customers, who continue to ignore one-time discounts to ask, "Why would I want to be that company's customer? What's in it for me?"

"The Customer Loyalty Solution "goes straight to the source, revealing how marketers today are leveraging their database marketing programs to identify and attract the most profitable new customers, increase current customer retention and repurchase, and identify and reward their most loyal and profitable customers. More than 40 detailed case studies and dozens of examples reveal success stories includingVerizon's "best in class" datamart that realized a 1681 percent return on marketing investment Isuzu's database project that targeted only their best prospects--and cut industry-standard per-unit sales costs in half "Weekly Standard"'s variable headline strategy that increased direct mail response rates by nearly 25 percent

Author and database marketing pioneer Arthur Hughes doesn't hide behind incomprehensible formulas and impossible-to-navigate layouts. Each easy-to-follow chapter clearly addresses and explains a different piece of the database-marketing puzzle. Case studies are clearly marked and detail what went right--or wrong. Chapter-ending synopses summarize the lessons to be learned in each chapter and clearly review what worked and what didn't. These features and others combine with innovative charts and quizzes to ensure hands-on understanding of material covered and make the book a timely, practical guide.

"The Customer Loyalty Solution "reveals how database marketing and customer relationshipmanagement initiatives are making a difference, today, for the world's leading marketers. It provides you with step-by-step techniques for benchmarking their efforts to develop intelligent strategies of your own, understanding how and why they work, and monitoring their results to continually adjust and modify for changing market conditions. The result will be far stronger customer loyalty, more consistent repeat sales, and a database-marketing program that is enjoyable and successful--for both you and your most profitable customers.

Customer Service, Aiming for Excellence is a fast-paced, humourous and fresh approach to Customer Service that will benefit both first time employees and seasoned professionals as well. This easy-to-read, 'one sitting', book tells you how to handle different customers instead of just why you need to. The fun and insights are inescapable and 'it provides the tools to deal with difficult situations with confidence and a greater understanding of the underlying motives behind behavior'.
Customer Service, Aiming for Excellence introduces the concept of "Linked Pairs," the relationships between the situations/conditions that cause a problem and the generally appropriate techniques that aid in solving it.
Aiming for Excellence also teaches you to identify the 5 customer types and how best to handle them based on their personality.
The book also discusses Opportunities for Excellence, Everyday Extraordinary Service and Professionalism. If you have already read a book on customer service, have some fun and add this one to your list. If you read only one book on customer service make this one it!

Lynn Thomas, a nationally acclaimed retention specialist and speaker on the topic, now shares her practical and proven tools and techniques on how to delight and dazzle customers time, after time, after time. In her new book, she shares how to bring heart and a sharp customer focus to corporate America WHILE increasing profitability. Your company can apply these techniques immediately to increase your business' retention rate. The ROI is 15:1. Is there another profitable strategy that you are currently employing that will generate that return? No, because retention produces the highest impact on profits of any strategy that Lynn has uncovered over the 14 years she has been a retention expert. Lynn makes it easy, simple and fun to learn how to delight your customers. Companies can refocus on what really matters-Their Customers These top customers know the most about your business and are eager to share their ideas for your business to become even more successful. Read it now, to avoid the mistakes of your competitors and be the person to bring heart and a sharp customer focus back into your company while reaping the financial rewards.

Written to enhance awareness for the consumer and provider, the information in this book will help both sides see their responsibility. The author hopes to make the dining experience a happy one for all.

HOW TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES

FEATURING ITS OWN REGULARLY UPDATED WEBSITE, TELECOM CONVERGENCE IS THE ONLY SURVIVAL MANUAL YOU NEED FOR THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF TELECOM

In this new edition of Telecommunications Convergence, globally recognized telecom guru Steven Shepard gives you a life raft for the whirlpool of todays tech market. With the keen analytical skills and deep knowledge of the industry that have earned him marquee status at telecom conferences around the world, Shepard breaks down the key questions you must answer for your own company and career.

Steven Shepard predicted the current overcapacity, convergence shakeout, and downturn in telecom. Now, in this second edition, he gives you nearly 300 new pages of solutions that work--an almost entirely new book. With this information you and your company can survive--and even thrive--in the challenging environment he forecast.

If youre serious about telecom, you need Shepards technology, service, and management answers to the most critical questions you face:

* What survival strategies will work for my company?

* How do I build a company-sparing blueprint?

* Can management and network hierarchy changes improve the outcome?

* Capability: build or buy?

* What are the smart companies doing right now?

* And most important of all--whats next?

This is a lucid book on the ins and outs of the much-in-vogue call centres, it caters to the need of a global audience with panache. The focus is on honing personal relation skills and educating the reader on what it takes ti thrive in the highly competitive, vibrant and evolving world of call centres.

In the last half of the 20th Century, the world economy has benefited from a globalization process driven by the enlightened confluence of technology, innovation, trade, and foreign direct investment. This book broadens our understanding of that process. Opening with a review of current global economic metrics and the significant differences between advanced and developing nations, the book goes on to discuss the globalization paradigm and the forces driving it. Discussing the importance of new ideas and new technology in continued economic growth, the volume shows how the protection of intellectual property encourages innovation. Also covering the evolution of international trade, the book reviews trade distortions from both external and internal sources, comparing trade on a multilateral, non-discriminatory basis with alternative trade practices, such as free trade and custom unions. The work also reviews the origins and functions of the new World Trade Organization.

Describing the rapidly growing practice of foreign direct investment, the book shows how FDI is closely linked to international trade and concludes with a review of the important function FDI can play in the bundling and delivery of the resources required for accelerated economic development of the emerging world.

What makes the world's top companies so adept at providing stellar customer service? How do they meet the needs of every customer and still turn healthy profits? And, most important, how can you adapt their practices to fit your business?

Thanks to over six years of ongoing research and an investment of $30 million, Arthur Andersen has created its Global Best Practices Database to uncover breakthrough thinking at world-class companies. Now, in Best Practices, Arthur Andersen for the first time shares its understanding of how more than forty best-practices companies focus on their customers, create growth, reduce cost, and increase profits. Managers of any business in any industry can adapt and apply what those companies do best.

Unlike most books based merely on an author's own theories or limited anecdotal experience, Best Practices is backed up by 30,000 pages of active, documented data on hundreds of companies worldwide. This book concentrates primarily on customers and how to involve them in everything from the design of products and services to marketing, selling, and product delivery.

Perhaps the greatest value of the book lies in its linking of best practices to business processes, thereby encouraging managers to expand their thinking and engage in creative problem-solving with the help of insights from companies inside or outside their own industry For example, the manager of a clothing store chain can study how Federal Express adapted the concept of just-in-time manufacturing to its rapid delivery of parts between supplier and customer. The owner of a small coffee shop chain might learn from American Express and Peapod how to target customers by offering particular products and predicting exactly when they will make their next purchases.

These and other examples will help business people diagnose the processes in place at their own companies and determine how best to improve them. Comprehensive and on the cutting edge, Best Practices will serve as an invaluable information resource.

Me-Tailing looks at the ways digital and on-line retailing work and how retailers can embrace the changes and personalize their services.

The importance of customer service is widely emphasized in business today. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the organization and dynamics of front-line work. The volume is based on a five-year study of over a thousand employees and eight leading companies in the United States, Australia, and Japan.

On the Front Line reveals similarities and differences found in work environments -- such as variance in authority relations and division of labor -- as well as significant contrasts between management approaches used in Japan and those used in the United States and Australia. By examining how work differs among service, sales, and knowledge-based settings, it also shows how bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, and network forms of organization coexist in the informational economy.

The importance of customer service is widely emphasized in business today. This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the organization and dynamics of front-line work. The volume is based on a four-year study of over a thousand employees and eight leading companies in the United States, Australia, and Japan. On the Front Line reveals similarities and differences found in work environments such as variance in authority relations and division of labor as well as significant contrasts between management approaches used in Japan and those used in the United States and Australia. By examining how work differs among service, sales, and knowledge-based settings, it also shows how bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, and network forms of organization coexist in the informational economy.This seminal analysis of work in the service sector offers both a benchmark for consultants working with customer-contact organizations and valuable information for anyone concerned with the changing nature of work."

A valuable tool for any health care leader dedicated to improving the quality of care and enhancing patient satisfaction. Combining theory and discussion with a practical `action plan' format, Sherman challenges the reader to think about solutions, not just ideas.
--Irwin Press, president, Press, Ganey Associates, Inc.

Whether you're a CEO, a caregiver, or simply someone who cares about the results of service initiatives, you'll find plenty of great ideas in this book.
--Mark C. Clement, president and CEO, Holy Cross Hospital, Winner, 1994 AHA Great Comebacks Award, 1996 International Enterprise Award for Customer Satisfaction, 1998 Global Best Practices Award for Customer Service

Total Customer Satisfaction reports on the breakthrough methods used by awarding winning hospitals and health care organizations to achieve top-rated national status in customer satisfaction. Learn from top experts in the field of how to create and implement total customer satisfaction tactical plan that will boost customer satisfaction ratings in your health care organization.

This is a story of how work gets done. It is also a study of how field service technicians talk about their work and how that talk is instrumental in their success. In his innovative ethnography, Julian E. Orr studies the people who repair photocopiers and shares vignettes from their daily lives. He characterizes their work as a continuous highly skilled improvisation within a triangular relationship of technician, customer, and machine. The work technicians do encompasses elements not contained in the official definition of the job yet vital to its success. Orr's analysis of the way repair people talk about their work reveals that talk is, in fact, a crucial dimension of their practice. Diagnosis happens through a narrative process, the creation of a coherent description of the troubled machine. The descriptions become the basis for technicians' discourse about their experience, and the circulation of stories among the technicians is the principal means by which they stay informed of the developing subtleties of machine behavior. Orr demonstrates that technical knowledge is a socially distributed resource stored and diffused primarily through an oral culture.Based on participant observation with copier repair technicians in the field and strengthened by Orr's own years as a technician, this book explodes numerous myths about technicians and suggests how technical work differs from other kinds of employment.

Develop standard-setting customer service!
Based on the best-selling book Fabled Service by Betsy Sanders!
This program will help you develop exceptional customer service that puts your organization above your competition. Inspiring Fabled Service helps you assess your needs and select activities to improve weak areas in your current customer service.
Teach others vital customer service skills, such as how to:
* Positively represent the organization
* Satisfy customers so they will buy the product or service
* Encourage customers to return
* Understand what motivates people and initiates action
* Solve problems immediately and effectively... and more!
Simply written, this program includes all necessary materials to create results-oriented, customized customer service training. A Trainer's Guide includes specific direction for administering the Customer Service Survey, which assesses individual strengths and weaknesses in three learning areas: understanding him or herself and others; planning for results; and product/service knowledge. The Guide also includes 12 prepared activities that correspond with the three learning areas. Using results from the survey, you choose activities that will help your group improve in its weaker areas. Each activity specifies goals, materials needed, time required, physical setting, and process (including questions to help you review what was learned and help people understand what can be applied to every day situations).
You will need to order a Participant Workbook for each person involved in the training. The Workbook includes a copy of the survey and participant materials for each activity.
Creategreat service that gets customers talking!

An instant business classic and bestseller--the bible of customer service is now available in paperback! This acclaimed book distills The Forum Corporation's 20 years of experience helping such companies as Xerox, Westinghouse, American Express, and Fidelity Investments, and provides the most thoroughly researched and practical information ever available on customer service.

This book illustrates the vital link between satisfying external customers and improving processes within the organization to ensure that internal customers are satisfied, too.

Total Commitment to the Customer:
The Only Way to Succeed in the Supercompetitive 1990s

Packed with practical activities and planning support to help you deliver these exciting new qualifications. * A complete unit-by-unit course companion for learners.* Helps prepare learners for specific job roles.* Includes 'Hands on' and 'Ready for Work?' features to develop practical skills.* Assessment practice activities and dedicated 'Getting Ready for Assessment' sections support preparation for assignments, tasks and external tests.