University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Legendary Service
Book

Legendary Service

The Key Is to Care

Ken Blanchard, Kathy Cuff and Vicki Halsey
McGraw-Hill, 2014
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Most businesses assume that they deliver good customer service; they may be in for a rude awakening. Noted customer-service guru Ken Blanchard – best-selling author of The One-Minute Manager – and his co-authors Kathy Cuff and Vicki Halsey detail how customer service can be easy and inexpensive to deliver when your managers and employees understand what to do. The authors illustrate each element of their “ICARE model” with a running parable of an employee learning about great customer service. They recount incidents from their sample employee’s training and her workday in a cogent, digestible series of anecdotes illustrating the authors’ accessible advice. getAbstract recommends this direct, if basic, manual – a genuine asset for your employees and customers – to managers and staff members who want to learn about “legendary customer service,” advance their careers and help their company prosper.

Summary

Making Customers Feel Wanted

It may sound too simple to believe, but the secret to great service is showing customers that you care. Despite the ease and low cost of outstanding service, most businesses fail to provide it. Instead, misinformed companies rely on expensive marketing efforts to attract new customers. In fact, it is much cheaper and less complicated to keep your existing customers happy.

The purpose of the “ICARE” customer-service model is to help employees develop “legendary service” and to deliver that level of service during every customer encounter. Legendary service means “consistently delivering ideal service that keeps customers coming back and that results in a competitive edge for your organization.”

Applying this tactic to achieve legendary service improves profitability. Conversely, failing to offer customer-focused service alienates consumers, reduces repeat business, deflates employee morale and lowers profits. Avoid this downward spiral by delivering such excellent service that your patrons brag about their experiences with your company.

Building Relationships

Unfortunately, businesses that offer an ideal level of customer...

About the Authors

Ken Blanchard is co-founder and chief spiritual officer of the Ken Blanchard Companies, where Kathy Cuff is senior consulting partner and Vicki Halsey is vice president of applied learning. Cuff and Halsey co-authored the Legendary Service training program. Blanchard is the co-author of 60 books, including The One Minute Manager.

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