Knock Your Socks Off Service Recovery

by Zemke, Ron

• ISBN13: 9780814470848
• ISBN10: 081447084X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-05-26
• Publisher: Amacom Books

Summary

"Cancelled flights, damaged goods, botched bills, locked-up software--these are the service screw-ups that leave customers angry, disgusted...and determined to never buy from you again! But these mad-as-hell customers can be wooed back through skillful, planned ""service recovery."" And, surprisingly, customers who experience world-class Knock Your Socks Off service recovery become your most loyal customers--and are a source of continuing business for years to come. Building on the popular, breezy approach of the Knock Your Socks Off Service series, the authors provide managers with an upbeat primer on creating a first-class recovery system. Enlivened by John Bush's witty illustrations, the book explains: * The economics of recovery--what it costs when you lose customers, and how little it can cost to win them back * The processes, policies, and technology a company must have to ensure an effective, real-time recovery system * The manager's role in sustaining an outstanding recovery system--through training, coaching, empowering, supporting, inspiring, and rewarding great service providers."

Author Biography

"Ron Zemke (Minneapolis, MN) is president of Performance Research Associates and author or coauthor of 25 books, including the best-selling Knock Your Socks Off Service series, Generations at Work (AMACOM 0-8144-0480-4), and Service America!

Chip R. Bell (Dallas, TX) is a senior principal with Performance Research Associates and author or coauthor of 12 books, including Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service (AMACOM 0-8144-7784-4), Customers as Partners, and Beep, Beep: Competing in the Age of Road Runner."

Table of Contents

Our Thanks	vii
Introduction: The Art of Service Recovery: Fixing Broken Customers and Keeping Them on Your Side	1	(4)
Part One Dollars and Sense of Service Recovery	5	(32)
The Economics of Service Recovery	7	(7)
Using Proactive Recovery to Rescue At-Risk Customers	14	(11)
Reactivation: The Recovery of Lost ``Souls''	25	(5)
The Psychology of Recovery: Inside the Mind of a Broken Customer	30	(7)
Part Two The Service Recovery Process	37	(34)
Service Recovery: The Process	39	(10)
The Axioms of Elegant Service Recovery	49	(13)
Recovery and the Internet/E-Commerce	62	(9)
Part Three Creating a Strategic Service Recovery System	71	(46)
Creating a Service Recovery System	73	(8)
Creating Consistent Solutions: The Solution Space Approach	81	(11)
Apology to Atonement: The Anatomy of Great Grovel	92	(7)
Recovering from Recovery: Turning Spendthrifts into ``Passionate Pragmatists''	99	(5)
Crisis Intervention	104	(13)
Part Four Leading Service Recovery	117	(48)
Find and Retain Good People	121	(9)
Train and Coach	130	(10)
Involve and Empower: The Healing Magic of ``Responsible Freedom''	140	(9)
Reward and Recognize Great Recovery	149	(8)
Support and Inspire Performance and Persistence	157	(8)
Part Five The Service Recovery Toolkit	165	(32)
A Rage Apart: Recovery and the Customer from Hell@	167	(5)
Winning Words and Helpful Phrases	172	(10)
Recovery on the Phone	182	(8)
When and How to Fire a Customer	190	(7)
Appendix How Ready Are You for Knock Your Socks Off Service Recovery When Things Go Wrong for Customers?	197	(12)
Afterword	209	(2)
Additional Resources	211	(2)
About the Authors	213