Books about Customer Service: Our Top 5 Recommendations

Looking for interesting and engaging books about customer service to inspire you and your team? Here’s our top recommendations.

Every now and then, businesses and organizations solicit our advice in regards to books about customer service. Sometimes, it’s an individual at a business who wants to expand his or her knowledge about customer service strategies; other times, it’s a business leader who desires his or her team members to read and study a book to improve the organization’s customer service.

In either case, we’re pleased to do so. Indeed, we strongly believe that “readers are leaders.” Accordingly, we encourage leaders and their team members to engage in the practice of reading and studying books about customer service.

So what books about customer service do we recommend? Here’s a list of our top five recommendations, together with links and short summaries. Although the list isn’t exhaustive, it represents some of the best books about customer service that reveal simple and practical strategies that you and your team can learn and implement to produce measurable results in your business or organization.

The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service (Lee Cockerell)

If there’s anyone who knows customer service, it’s Lee Cockerell. In addition to possessing executive leadership experience at the Hilton and Marriott, Lee is the former Executive Vice President of the Walt Disney World Resort, a customer service powerhouse. His book shares proven customer service strategies that work. Moreover, it is an engaging read that lends itself to the perfect book to read, study, and implement.

Disney U: How Disney University Develops the World’s Most Engaged, Loyal, and Customer-Centric Employees (Doug Lipp)

Speaking of Disney, this book provides a deep, yet accessible and practical, insight about how Disney creates and maintains a culture that produces a consistent, high-quality customer service experience. Not only is the book interesting to read, but it also provides a “blueprint” that businesses and organizations may use to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence: Creating a Values-Driven Service Culture (Robert Spector and BreAnne O. Reeves)

Recently revised and updated, this book explores the relationship between employee engagement and the overall customer experience. Yes, external customer service is important, but so is internal customer service. Simply put, it’s not a coincidence that businesses and organizations that focus on internal customer service excel at external customer service. Why? Culture and core values are not mere abstract concepts, but rather provide a concrete foundation upon which businesses and organizations should be built.

The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (Joseph A. Michelli)

This book discusses how the Ritz-Carlton, yet another customer service powerhouse, leverages employee empowerment, anticipates customer expectations, and implements continuous customer service training to produce a first-class customer service experience. The book is especially appropriate for leaders and emerging leaders who desire to learn more about creating, implementing, and improving organizational-wide customer service processes. Although the book focuses on the hospitality industry, its principles and practices can be applied to any business and organization.

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (Tony Hsieh)

Zappos, an online shoe and clothing business led by Tony Hsieh, an exceptional and somewhat unconventional visionary, proves that even e-commerce organizations possess the ability to provide memorable customer service experiences. The book articulates the critical and pivotal role that organizational culture assumes in a business. Moreover, the book explores innovative practices – such as paying new employees $2,000 to quit – that have propelled Zappos into not only one of the best 25 organizations to work for, but also one of the world’s top-rated e-commerce businesses.

This week, consider selecting to read – either for yourself or as part of an organizational-wide initiative – one of the these books about customer service. We guarantee that you and your team will not only learn from, but also be inspired by, the customer service strategies discussed in any of those books about customer service.

As always, have a customerific week!

Mark