Book review: Delight Your Customers by Steve Curtin
Delight Your Customers is a new book on customer service (AMACOM) by Steve Curtin @enthused. The official launch date for the book is June 11. You can pre-order it here, or opt to get the eBook right now by clicking here. I had a chance to review an advanced copy and it’s a classic. Steve uncovers the three truths of providing exceptional customer service and highlights seven key behaviors. Delight Your Customers is about doing the little things that authentically convey that you care. The little extra that takes ordinary service to extraordinary.
Job Function vs. Job Essence
I can remember reading a book back in college by Eric Fromm entitled, To Have or To Be. The book describes two modes in life; the having mode which is based on material possessions, power and greed; and the being mode, which is based on love, the pleasure of sharing, and productive activity. The premise of Steve’s book is somewhat similar. There are two aspects of any job: the job function which is based on duties and tasks (the what and the how) and job essence which is based on the purpose and being (the why) of the role. The key to providing extraordinary service is to empower employees to push past the basic knowledge and skills associated with job function and get them to focus on job essence. The goal of job essence is to provide service that is memorable. Service that ultimately leads to the creation of brand advocates.
The Journey
Steve uncovers the journey to extraordinary in seven behaviors and dozens of examples. Here’s brief description of each behavior:
- Express genuine interest.
- Offer sincere and specific compliments.
- Share unique knowledge.
- Convey authentic enthusisam.
- Use appropriate humor.
- Provide pleasant surprises.
- Deliver service heroics.
Every chapter in the book ends with a summary of the key concepts and a brief exercise to get you started on the road from ordinary to extraordinary. I literally could not put the book down. Throughout the book Steve provides snapshots of current levels of service and then uses real life extraordinary stories that illustrate each concept. The end of the book shows how you can introduce and reinforce the concept of job essence.
If you are serious about elevating the level of service in your organization, this is your book. If you want “promoters,” this is your book. Read it and begin your journey from ordinary to extraordinary.
Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) – Here’s a fun book trailer for Delight Your Customers:
“Delight Your Customers” Book Trailer from Maha Mohtaseb on Vimeo.
