University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Emotional Value
Book

Emotional Value

Creating Strong Bonds With Your Customers

Janelle Barlow and Dianna Maul
Berrett-Koehler, 2000
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

Janelle Barlow and Dianna Maul go a step beyond most consultants (those who write business books to drum up customers). Instead, they offer a wealth of scholarly research and sources in their in-depth, colorfully written book, which successfully tackles the enormous role that emotions play in business and customer behavior. They explain and document it, and provide practical applications. getAbstract recommends this important book to all business people, whether they offer a product or a service, from CEOs through every level of staff.

Summary

Building an Emotion-Friendly Service Culture

The most important aspect of business, though it may be hard for stoics to imagine, is the emotional reaction customers have. When customers say, "I love it," they mean you and your company, too. A positive emotional experience makes a customer come back; a negative one makes a customer flee. By understanding the critical role emotions play, organizations can compete better and retain both customers and staff. Product satisfaction is not enough. Customers must have emotionally satisfying experiences and must not be alienated. Shape an emotionally friendly service culture "by understanding the role and power of emotions in business and by supporting emotional awareness" among your staff.

Emotional value is quite literally the "economic worth of feelings." Cathay Pacific, the Hong-Kong-based airline, discovered that the specific words their staff used when dealing with lost luggage claims and other complaints were far more important in customers’ decisions to fly with them again than the timeliness, accuracy, or even the amount of compensation.

Janelle’s dentist moves his practice to another town, but she still goes ...

About the Authors

Janelle Barlow is the author of the best-selling A Complaint is a Gift, and is president and owner of TMI, USA, a partner with the Danish-based multinational training and consultant group. Her clients include Hewlett-Packard, Chevron, Genetech, Avon, and many others. Diana Maul is vice president of marketing and senior consultant for TMI, USA. She was formerly with Horizon Airlines. Her TMI clients include AT&T, Northern States Power, United Jewish Appeal, and many others.

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