University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Be Your Customer’s Hero
Book

Be Your Customer’s Hero

Real-World Tips & Techniques for the Service Front Lines

Adam Toporek
AMACOM, 2015
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

In 82 information-packed, short chapters, consultant Adam Toporek expertly details the inside route to heroic customer service. In this very useful handbook for service providers, he teaches employees how to treat customers with respect and put them first. This easy-to-use reference features clear, memorable examples. Toporek paints a rich, vivid picture of exactly what to do. First he coins the term “Hero-Class customer service” and then he shows you just how to achieve it. getAbstract recommends his comprehensive, practical advice to HR personnel, store supervisors, customer-service managers and front-line employees and owners.

Summary

“Hero-Class Customer Service”

Many companies strive to be “heroes” to their customers. Some airlines give passengers gifts. Some banks use ATM machines to offer unexpected presents. These promotions may win some publicity, but they have little to do with day-to-day customer service. Prioritize meeting your customers’ needs all the time. Be sure all of their experiences with your company are positive and “frictionless.”

Making customers happy doesn’t mean buying into the old adage, “The customer is always right.” The customer is often preposterously and absurdly wrong. Move beyond a literal interpretation. Think what the words signify: Place your customers first. Take good care of them at every turn.

“You and the customer are not on equal terms.” Your job is to serve your customers; they don’t serve you. Among every 100 customers, you can expect that 15 will treat you well. Fifty will be pleasant. Twenty will be neither good nor bad. Ten will be rude. Four will go out of their way to be surly and unpleasant. One will be nutty and frightening. Treat them all with courtesy, respect and deference. Nice or not, your customers must be your most pressing priority.

About the Author

Adam Toporek owns CTS Service Solutions, a consultancy that gives customer workshops. He founded the Customers That Stick blog and co-hosts the Crack the Customer Code podcast.

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