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“You are the same today as you’ll be in five years except for two things: the books you read and the people you meet,” written by author and speaker Charlie “Tremendous” Jones.
One can achieve outstanding customer service most swiftly by drawing insights from those who have already achieved it. While enrolling in a course is an option, it may not be feasible for everyone due to time constraints.
Learning on the job is another possibility, but ten entails facing challenges and setbacks. The most efficient approach, which minimally affects our daily routines, involves enhancing our skills by delving into published guidance provided by industry experts.
Selecting the appropriate book can significantly save time by steering you clear of common mistakes and enabling personal growth beyond your own experiences. But hold on, there’s a catch! Brace yourself for the staggering reality: the customer service bookshelf is overflowing with a dizzying array of options. It’s so many that you could conceivably spend your entire professional life just flipping through those pages. It’s a literary jungle out there, waiting to be explored.
By typing “customer service” into Amazon’s search bar, you’ll find over 40,000 book results, including both excellent customer service books and promotional materials. It’s really time taking but we have done this for you!
Here’s our curated collection of the top 10 books on customer service that we have personally read and adored.
Within this post, you will find a compilation of various types of books on:
- Sales and customer support
- Customer support books for your employees
- Books on Customer service for managers
- Books focusing on customer service skills
So, keep reading to know more!
Unveiling the 10 Best Books on Customer Service Excellence
To advance in your customer success role, it is important to remain updated on the latest developments and skills in the industry. To assist you here, we have compiled a list of 10 indispensable books on customer service and different stories that can help you to enhance your self-development and take significant strides forward in your career.
1. Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away) by Micah Solomon
“Ignore Your Customers (and They’ll Go Away)” by Micah Solomon is an exceptional new book on customer service. Micah Solomon, a renowned consultant with extensive experience in customer service, thoroughly examines companies known for their outstanding customer service, such as Amazon and the Ritz-Carlton.
The book emphasizes the significance of maintaining consistency and treating customer assistance as an ongoing commitment. As companies expand and acquire more customers, the quality of support often falters. However, this book strongly emphasizes the need to maintain a personal and helpful approach even at the enterprise level.
The book offers a practical set of tools for effectively scaling customer service alongside business growth and implementing sustainable practices for client care.
Rating: 4.6/5
2. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Zappos’ extraordinary customer service approach propelled the company to become an eCommerce powerhouse. In the book “Delivering Happiness,” founder Tony Hsieh shares his insights on customer service and business management. Hsieh’s valuable advice includes the recommendation to make customer service a responsibility shared by the entire organization, rather than just one department.
Zappos’ success can be attributed, in part, to its leadership’s commitment not only to satisfy customers but also to create a captivating and enjoyable work environment for employees. Often, managers focus on employees to treat customers well without taking steps to ensure the happiness and support of their own team members.
This book highlights the importance of employee satisfaction as a crucial aspect of customer service because when your team is well taken care of, they naturally provide better care to customers.
Inspirational quote from the book: “Make customer service a priority for the whole company, not just a department. A customer service attitude needs to come from the top.”
Rating: 4.6/5
3. Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service by The Disney Institute and Theodore Kinni
“Be Our Guest” is regarded as one of the premier books on customer service. This remarkable work dissects the enchanting Disney magic that transforms the company’s theme parks into the renowned “happiest place in the world.”
The book emphasizes the importance of structuring company procedures with their guests in mind and draws examples from various features of Disney theme parks.
As an example, Disney utilizes a parking system that categorizes its guests into lots based on their arrival time. This thoughtful approach simplifies the task for the tram drivers, who can effortlessly transport guests to their appropriate location at the end of the day. Consequently, it eliminates the frustration of recalling the parking lot and locating the car for exhausted parents or travelers.
By proactively anticipating the emotions and requirements of their guests, Disney consistently surpasses conventional customer service benchmarks, leaving a profound impact on visitors. “Be Our Guest” serves as a source of inspiration for companies aiming to elevate their standards and go beyond merely satisfying customers to truly impress them.
A famous quote from the book: “In this volatile business of ours, we can ill afford to rest on our laurels, even to pause in retrospect. Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future. —Walt Disney”
Rating: 4.7/5
4. The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service
“The Customer Rules” stands out as one of the exceptional books on great customer service skills designed for employees. This practical handbook presents a set of fundamental commandments for delivering excellent support, including powerful principles like “be a wordsmith – language matters” and “treat every customer like a regular.”
By adhering to these timeless concepts, your employees can effortlessly engage with and impress their clients. “The Customer Rules” breaks down the art of client care into straightforward guidelines empowering your team members to navigate any situation with confidence and consistently leave a positive impression on customers.
A famous quote from the book: “Your customers hold you to a high standard. If you want to achieve true excellence, raise that bar even higher for yourself, your colleagues, and everyone around you.”
Rating: 4.6/5
5. Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless: By Jeffrey Gitomer
Gain insight into the differentiation between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty through this highly recommended customer service book. Once you grasp this disparity, your attention will naturally shift towards prioritizing customer loyalty. In this book, Gitomer provides invaluable guidance on how to effectively nurture customer relationships, leading to enhanced profitability in return.
Within the pages, the author outlines 12 techniques that can be employed to cultivate loyalty by consistently providing outstanding customer service. The author emphasizes the significance of keeping your team actively involved and committed to resolving customer issues. Instead of relying on company policies as a shield, the book encourages taking personal responsibility for customer satisfaction.
Rating: 4.5/5
6. The Service Culture Handbook by Jeff Toister
For managers seeking to inspire and motivate their employees, “The Service Culture Handbook” is one of the best-selling customer service books to look into. It offers insightful guidance on fostering hospitality mindsets and cultivating habits of excellence and positive work environments that embrace and appreciate exceptional service.
While many books on this specific segment concentrate on specific actions and best practices, this handbook goes deeper by emphasizing the importance of creating an organizational culture where delivering outstanding customer care is of utmost importance.
By studying successful companies known for their exceptional service, the book uncovers the important factors that lead to their success. It is a valuable guidebook for managers as it offers a wealth of information and guidance on how to empower employees by giving them a meaningful mission to work towards, instead of just giving them lectures.
It serves as a comprehensive resource that helps managers understand how to create a strong service-oriented culture within their organization.
Rating 4.6/5
7. Chief Customer Officer 2.0 by Jeanne Bliss
Jeanne Bliss, an esteemed authority in the field of customer leadership, presents her expertise in the book. She delves into the role of customer-driven executives, such as the Chief Customer Officer, and outlines five key competencies.
These competencies serve as a framework for evaluating and coaching executives to transform customers into a catalyst for growth. However, these five principles can also be invaluable guiding principles regardless of your career stage.
- Value and manage your customers as important assets.
- Foster alignment around enhancing the customer experience.
- Establish a systematic customer listening process.
- Proactively ensure reliability and innovation in the customer experience.
- Emphasize leadership, accountability, and customer-centric work culture.
Rating: 4.4/5
8. The Customer Service Survival Kit by Richard Gallagher
It is one of the best books on essential customer service skills. One key ability for support professionals is effectively responding to complaints and soothing upset customers. This book provides you with practical techniques to communicate with your clients and swiftly diffuse tense situations.
In addition to providing a list of terms to use in different tough situations, “The Customer Service Survival Kit” goes beyond that by delving into the psychology behind customer frustration. This deeper understanding enables support agents to diagnose underlying issues more effectively and respond with greater efficiency and professionalism.
The book encompasses a wide range of scenarios, including delivering unfavorable news and addressing complaints on social media. It emphasizes that these difficult situations are not just obstacles to overcome but also opportunities to fulfill important needs and create memorable experiences for your customers.
Inspiring quote from the book: “I love worst-case scenarios. Why? Because they hold the key to creating truly incredible service.”
Rating: 4.5/5
9. Be Amazing or Go Home by Shep Hyken
Be Amazing or Go Home is a top-notch resource for employees seeking to enhance their customer service skills. This book presents a comprehensive guide to the qualities that are required to be exceptional team members and customer advocates. It emphasizes the importance of being proactive, actively seeking feedback, assuming responsibility, and maintaining authenticity. Packed with a plethora of valuable techniques and suggestions, the book equips individuals with the tools needed to boost confidence and establish respectful connections with both clients and colleagues.
This book only provides achievable objectives and actionable steps for improvement but also serves as an inspiring pep talk and practical playbook.
Rating: 4.5/5
10. Uncommon Service by Frances Frei and Anne Morris Argue
This is one of the best-selling customer service books, making it a must-read for you.
According to authors Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, achieving exceptional customer service requires a strategic trade-off: in order to provide exceptional customer service, you should focus less on some parts of your business.
Surprisingly, the authors propose that it is impossible to excel in every single area simultaneously. Instead, they argue that by deliberately underperforming in certain domains, businesses can redirect their focus and resources toward delivering outstanding customer service.
This provocative approach challenges the notion of trying to do everything perfectly and encourages a more deliberate and targeted approach to optimize customer satisfaction.
The authors advise businesses to determine the aspects that are most important to their customers and make them a top priority. They emphasize that by excelling in these specific areas, companies can gain a competitive edge.
However, they also acknowledge that this prioritization might lead to underperformance in other aspects of the business. The authors argue that customer service plays a crucial role in helping customers choose among numerous options, making this trade-off a necessary and valuable strategy.
Rating: 4.5/5
Over to You!
Establishing effective customer service is no simple task. It presents a significant challenge that demands meticulous planning, thorough preparation, vigilant monitoring, and continuous adjustment. However, tackling this challenge can be made easier by leveraging the knowledge and insights gained from the experiences of others who have successfully navigated this path before you.
We trust that our compilation of top-notch customer service books will be both beneficial and enlightening for you. These resources offer valuable recommendations that can be adapted to suit the unique requirements of your business.
Till then, Goodbye!
