The Customer Rules: The 14 Indispensable, Irrefutable, and Indisputable Qualities of the Greatest Service Companies in the World

  • 7h 29m
  • C. Britt Beemer, Robert L. Shook
  • McGraw-Hill
  • 2009

Whether you run your own company or work for a large corporation, establishing customer loyalty is a prerequisite for business growth. In The Customer Rules, C. Britt Beemer, a leading consumer research and marketing consultant, and bestselling business author Robert Shook offer practical advice on how to build a robust company culture based on the concept of unsurpassed customer-service designed to increase your market share.

A combination of extensive market research unprecedented in scope, as well as close studies of fourteen companies that excel in the area of customer service, The Customer Rules distills profitable lessons on how to achieve strong customer loyalty. Referencing specific research findings, Beemer and Shook examine the obstacles that too often distract a company's focus from its most important task--providing preeminent service and creating a unique customer experience. The authors then supply fourteen workable solutions to ensure the return of customers time and time again, including:

  • Instill the importance of customer service in every employee.
  • Use a “small-town” approach to meeting customers' needs no matter how big your company is.
  • Develop a unique identity your customers will seek out.
  • Maintain a focus on the customer before, during, and after the sale

Success in retail, service, manufacturing, or any other business always boils down to the customer experience. Beemer and Shook use in-depth interviews with high-level managers from such companies as Chubb, NetJets, Edward Jones, Lexus, Johnson And Johnson, and Four Seasons Hotels to illustrate the best ways for creating exceptional customer service. The Customer Rules gives you the tools you'll need to become the undisputed leader in your industry.

About the Authors

C. Britt Beemer is the founder and CEO of America’s Research Group (ARG), a national consumer research firm that has interviewed more than 8 million consumers. His clients include companies with revenues ranging from $3 million to tens of billions of dollars in industries such as retailing, manufacturing, consumer products, financial services, real estate, and medical services. Beemer is renowned for his accuracy in predicting consumer trends and, in particular, sales for the coming retail Christmas season.

Robert L. Shook is a bestselling author of many business books, five of which have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list, including Longaberger, which reached the number-one spot. His most recent book is The Pep Talk, his first work of fiction, which was released earlier this year.

The Customer Rules is Beemer and Shook’s third collaboration. They also coauthored It Takes a Prophet to Make a Profit and Predatory Marketing.

In this Book

  • The Customer Rules—The 14 Indispensable, Irrefutable, and Indisputable Qualities of the Greatest Service Companies in the World
  • Introduction
  • Everyone’s Job
  • Sell Your Employees First
  • The Company Culture
  • Being Big, Thinking Small
  • The Total Customer Experience—Before, During, and After the Sale
  • The Personal Touch
  • It’s about Time
  • Why Selling a Service Differs from Selling a Product
  • When Price Rules
  • Multiple Tiers of Customers
  • Satisfy Main Street First, Then Wall Street
  • The Power of a Strong Brand
  • The Value of a Customer
  • Change Is Constant
  • Afterword
  • Endnotes
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