Batteries Included! - Creating Legendary Service [Hardcover]

"Nigel Barlow's book is simply brilliant! Is there anything left to say about superior customer service? The answer is obviously a resounding 'yes.' This book proves it! Incidentally, heed Barlow's words: 'Legendary' service is a far cry from even 'excellent' service!"

"After ten years studying best practice, what a joy to find a book that exposes customer service as it really should be, with wonderful vignettes from real organisations to help us appreciate what can be done. A 'must read' for all SOCAP members.'

"This is one of the most thought-provoking and stimulating books I've read on customer service in a long while. Not only is it an incredibly good read, but it does offer some profound and new insights into that elusive subject - how to create legendary service. I know at least one thousand companies which could benefit from the lessons in this book."

"Customer 'pull' has replaced supplier 'push' as the engine of economic growth, and customers now expect more from you than ever before. Nigel Barlow's inspiring book shows you how to stand out from the crowd by delivering legendary service experiences; the kind of experiences that turn customers into walking 'advocates' for your organisation.

"This is new territory for most organisations: customer service, but not as you know it! Barlow brings fresh thinking and inspiration to a discipline that has long been in need of an overhaul to match its new-found central importance. You need to be customer-centred to survive in the 21st century, the Customer Century as it has been dubbed. Nigel Barlow provides you with your essential route map."

"Batteries Included! made me want to cheer - as a professional responsible for customer contact but more importantly, as a customer. If you care about customers and want to do something about it, Batteries Included provides the right balance between passion and pragmatism and humanness and profitability. It ought to be required reading for everyone that has customers (before they go near one) from the boardroom (especially the boardroom) to the frontline. In the tradition of story telling, I hope there's a sequel!"

"Batteries Included! will challenge any business's notion of Customer Service. It dares you to be human; to risk acting on your customer's suggestions and being passionate about it. Now that's different. It is not only a great read, but an experience that steps you into a world of heartfelt empathy with your customers that is synonymous with memorable brands and lasting relationships - Legendary indeed."

The last two decades have seen the rise of the service economy, where image and customer perceptions are crucially important in building a successful business. Nigel Barlow draws on two decades of experience in 20 countries to argue that the age of service has failed to deliver on its promises. He goes far beyond the standard business-speak cliches of customer service to show why merely satisfying customers is not enough. He explores with original examples and firsthand experinces why service so often falls short of customer expectations, and shows how to think and act to create legendary service in the reader's own organization.

The founder-director of the Tom Peters Group in the UK provides a distinctive, fresh and iconoclastic study of truly great customer service and its importance to businesses.

Nigel Barlow is an ex-barrister who since 1980 has developed a business as a strategic coach to organizations including Barclays Bank, Arthur Andersen, the BBC and ICI, and as a keynote speaker at major events. He is the founder director of the Tom Peters Group in the UK, and of Service Legends.