Guest reviewer: Dawn Lane of Your Office Online Ltd www.your-office-online.co.uk

Viewed from the perspective of a new Area Manager in a (fictitious) company, and written in the form of a short story the Area Manager is visited by Charlie, his Fairy Godmother, who takes him on a journey from providing ‘customer service’ to gaining ‘raving fans!’

There are three main points to learn on the route to gaining ‘raving fans’:

1.             Decide what you want – have a vision of how your business looks/works and then impose that vision over the company so that you can see what it actually looks/works like, include the good and bad bits;

2.             Discover what the customer wants – does your vision for your company match your customers’ expectations and priorities? Ask them – you won’t know otherwise;

3.             Deliver plus one – once you know what you and your customer wants, deliver the service plus 1%. Improve the service slowly so that you are always consistent in what you provide and how you do it – nothing is guaranteed to lose customers by being inconsistent or being unable to deliver at the standard and in the time quoted.

‘Raving Fans!’ is a MUST READ for any business that has its customers’ needs and wants in mind, and who want these customers to return time and again to buy services or goods. It is an easy read with plenty of tips on how to improve your company’s customer service so that it will be constantly referred to potential new customers.

BUY ONLINE: Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles