Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge [Hardcover]

Janelle Barlow (Author), Paul Stewart (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1576752984 | ISBN-13: 978-1576752982 | Publication Date: October 1, 2004 | Edition: 1

Branded Customer Service breaks new ground with an assertion that brand equity is built not just through advertising and public relations, but also through the human exchange of customer service. Customer relations experts Janelle Barlow and Paul Stewart have a passion for branding and explain in practical terms how to take a defined, recognizable brand position and then make it live through delivery of service. Challenges to consistency are discussed, as well as the internal promotion of brands, the reinforcement of brands through staff and customer interactions, and how to link brands to selling styles and messages.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

According to this turgid primer, service with a smile is no longer enough. With today’s glut of interchangeable commodities and cynical consumers, every aspect of customer service must reinforce the brand image promulgated by the marketing department. Thus, employees of Fabulous Freddie’s gas stations try to work the word "fabulous" into every conversation with customers, while Abercrombie and Fitch hires college-age salespeople who look like their catalogue models. CNBC commentator Barlow, author of A Complaint Is a Gift, and consulting colleague Stewart, regale readers with anecdotes about snippy, sullen, ignorant sales associates who undermine brand loyalty and, worse, waiters and customer service reps whose carefully scripted cheerfulness and solicitude leave customers with a sour aftertaste of inauthenticity. Their ideal, derived from complexity theory conceits about the self-organizing behavior of flocking birds, is to get the typical high-turnover, minimum-wage service worker so imbued with the brand’s essence that it emerges in spontaneous, emotionally real encounters in which "service representatives and customers dance together in brand space." Their suggestions include lots of human resources exercises in which employees ponder and internalize the brand messages expressed in advertising, as well as acting lessons, penmanship instruction, "personal image and professional presence training," humor classes, seminars in reading body language, and exhortations to "live the brand" at work and at home. A case study of a makeover of a Bahamas resort, in which employees were instructed to translate the hotel’s marketing themes into the local island patois and create their own posters, dances and songs about them, gives readers a good sense of the book’s softly totalitarian approach to customer service.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Barlow and Stewart reveal the secret of consumer loyalty. Consumers and companies alike should rejoice at the insights they offer." -- Rod Oram, business commentator

"Buy this book now for every employee and take your company to the next level of competitive performance." -- Joe Calloway, author of Becoming a Category of One

"Read this book for a foundation on which to base your customer service, for practical tips, and for sustainable advantages." -- Bruce Scheer, Founder and Principal, FutureSight Consulting

"This book is not only well written, it shows very clearly how to incorporate brand into service delivery." -- Sirish Mani, National Customer Service Center Operations Development Manager, Toyota Financial Services

"This book makes a welcome stand for where brand needs to go. A wake-up call to companies worldwide." -- Mark Di Somma, Pusher, Audacity Group

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 259 pages
• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 1 edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576752984
• ISBN-13: 978-1576752982
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #978,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book made a difference for me!, November 16, 2004

By 

Thomas Roberts (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge (Hardcover)

I am a small business owner, formerly with a major U.S. company. My current business offers its consulting services and products through people. It feels like Branded Customer Service was written for me, though I could have used it equally well when I was with my former employer.

Authors Barlow and Stewart really hit it on the head when they say that your brand is your reputation, and that for service organizations "reputation" is basically how your staff interact with your clients/customers. It's of great value to not only receive a grounding in the essential elements of branding from this book; it's particularly useful to go through the Tool Box at the end of the book.

My staff and I have already gone through several of the exercises, and while we have a way to go, we are definitely making progress on defining our business strategy through our brand position that will ultimately be delivered by our people. We've gotten buy in I never thought possible by following the approach recommended by these authors. I'd recommend this book without a moment's hesitation.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Words: Go Buy This Book!, March 15, 2005

By 

Richard J. Mclafferty Jr. (Bend, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge (Hardcover)

I have been working on a branded customer service project for a few years now, and was looking for some research or reference material when I came across this book - it was like I found my "tribe"!

The authors do a brilliant job defining the concept of branded service, and offer great tools and ideas that you can use to start getting your organization "on-brand." It's easy and fun to read with real-life examples of what it's like to experience on-brand and off-brand service.

If you believe that branding only belongs in the advertising or marking department - think again. It's the job of the entire organization to not only represent your brand, but to also make it come alive!

Once you read this book you will never be able to look at an organization or service experience again without thinking... hmmm...was that off/on brand or what!

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is working in this field, or thinking about how to gain a real competitive advantage for their organization.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Enough Customers? Get Out Your Toolbox!, October 20, 2004

By 

Byron Nelson Jr. "Walnut Creek, CA, USA" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Branded Customer Service: The New Competitive Edge (Hardcover)

Whether you are gaining or losing market share, this marketing book with emphasis on excellence in customer service by being on brand throughout your organization, has the answers. Can you answer these questions: What experience does your brand give to a customer? What does the customer expect? What is delivered? What psychological needs are met? What is the personal connection between your brand and the customer? Are the service experiences aligned with the brand promises? Do your sales people understand that the way they sell is part of the brand delivery? Just ask some of your sales, marketing, and upper management these questions. If there isn't a clear brand message, you have a very useful part of this book called the Toolbox of On Brand Exercises to help you achieve On Brand Customer Service results. This separates this marketing/customer service book from all the rest. And it will probably separate your firm from the rest by growing market share with the customers you are looking for. This book has clarified my analysis of the very competitive medical device industry that I work in and given me insights on how to deliver a powerful On Brand message to my physician and hospital customers.