Building Great Customer Experiences [Hardcover]

Colin Shaw (Author), John Ivens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2002

This book is about building and delivering great customer experiences. Many companies neglect this, but the physical execution and emotional impact of customer experiences, companies and brands may ultimately determine customer satisfaction and loyalty and commercial success. With the use of compelling examples and cases the authors show that this is key for all companies and organizations.

"There are not many people who understand the new paradigm of the Customer Experience. The emerging gurus on the subject are Colin Shaw and John Ivens with their holistic approach. We will all have to embrace the paradigm they are unlocking and focus on our Customer Experience if we are to be successful in the future. At Microsoft we understand the importance of this and are committing ourselves to this new world."

Steve Harvey, Director of People, Profits & Loyalty, Microsoft

"Many business books look at new companies and how they have become successful. This book bases itself in the reality in which most business people find themselves daily – working in companies which have been established for some time and who are faced with legacy systems, legacy processes, legacy people, legacy channels and an existing culture. It focuses on how you can change an existing organisation in order to build and deliver Great Customer Experiences. Shaw and Ivens are the gurus of the Customer Experience. Whilst we have all recognised the importance of service in the past, their book moves business thinking on apace. It is about more than just customer service, it is about the whole Customer Experience. Their 7 Philosophies for Building Great Customer Experiences explicitly outline the building blocks that are the foundation of good business."

Liam Lambert, Director & General Manager, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London

"John and Colin’s innovative approach deserves applause - their thought leading book is at the cutting edge. Their 7 Philosophies for Building Great Customer Experiences underpin Hilton’s own philosophy on how to delight our customers. My endorsement reflects the importance I personally place on the Customer Experience".

Mike Ashton, Senior Vice President, Hilton International Hotels


f1"This book hits the strikezone of how marketers, and organizations overall, need to be thinking to win today. It's a clear roadmap for building a high performance organization crystallized around the customer. Importantly, Shaw and Ivens recognize that emotions are at the core of all relationships -- it's no different with customers than our family & friends -- and truly engaging and successful brands."

Barry Herstein, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Times Group, New York

"The Customer Experience will be a critical differentiator in today's commoditising economy. Colin and John's thought provoking book is essential reading for anyone wishing to create engaging and memorable Customer Experiences. This simple and readable book is littered with the views and thoughts of senior business leaders on the Customer Experience. It not only explains the theory of the Customer Experience but also provides practical advice and insights on how you can begin building and delivering Great Customer Experiences".

Peter Scott, Customer Service Director, T-Mobile

Editorial Reviews

Review

'There are not many people who understand the new paradigm of the Customer Experience. The emerging gurus on the subject are Colin Shaw & John Ivens with their holistic approach. We will all have to embrace the paradigm they are unlocking and focus on our Customer Experience if we are to be successful in the future. At Microsoft we understand the importance of this and are committing ourselves to this new world.' - Steve Harvey, Director of People, Profits & Loyalty, Microsoft 'This book hits the strikezone of how marketers, and organizations overall, need to be thinking to win today. It's a clear roadmap for building a high performance organization crystallized around the customer. Importantly, Shaw and Ivens recognize that emotions are at the core of all relationships - it's no different with customers than our family & friends - and truly engaging and successful brands.' - Barry Herstein, Chief Marketing Officer, Financial Times Group, New York 'John and Colin's innovative approach deserves applause - their thought-leading book is at the cutting edge. Their Seven Philosophies for Building Great Customer Experiences underpin Hilton's own philosophy on how to delight our customers. My endorsement reflects the importance I personally place on the Customer Experience.' - Mike Ashton, Senior Vice President Marketing Worldwide, Hilton International Hotels 'No matter what you are selling - a product or a service, a commodity or a differentiated product - customers are both judge and jury when it comes to deciding whether or not a company succeeds. This book helps companies understand that in order to win in the court of public opinion, they need to build a high-performance organization focused on the customer. Colin Shaw and John Ivens make their case with the best kind of evidence - common sense real-life examples.' - Mohan Kharbanda, Vice President, Customer Experience, Americas, Dell Computers, Texas 'Customer Delight is the great Holy Grail for all of us involved in service or consumer industries but it is all too easy to overcomplicate your approach to achieving it or to finding out what your customers really want. This book by Colin Shaw and John Ivens is packed with clear, common sense advice, analysis and real-world experiences which would help anyone to develop a more effective approach and improve their business as a result.' - Steve Nash, After Sales Director, BMW 'Shaw and Ivens are the gurus of the Customer Experience. Whilst we have all recognised the importance of service in the past, their book moves business thinking on apace. It is about more than just customer service, it is about the whole Customer Experience. Their Seven Philosophies for Building Great Customer Experiences explicitly outline the building blocks that are the foundation of good business.' - Liam Lambert, Director & General Manager, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park 'John & Colin's approach is the most exciting, practical and effective I have seen in the whole area of becoming a customer focused organisation. We have all talked about the why for years, but now there is no excuse, this is the how.' - Ayes Amewudah, Vice President Marketing Operations EMEA, Lucent Technologies 'A well researched, well written, well presented and thought-provoking read.' - Financial Adviser 'Building Great Customer Experiences does exactly what it says on the tin...Overall, this is a well researched, well written, well presented and thought-provoking read.' - Simon Ashmore, Financial Adviser 'The truth it contains and the challenges to current dogma are brilliant and fundamental to everything we should be doing in marketing.' - Stephen Pidgeon, Markeing

From the Publisher

This volume is about building and delivering great customer experiences. Many companies neglect this, but the physical execution and emotional impact of customer experiences, companies and brands may ultimately determine customer satisfaction and loyalty and commercial success. With the use of examples and cases, the authors show that this is key for all companies and organizations.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; First Edition edition (September 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333990137
• ISBN-13: 978-0333990131
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,365 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Leading, February 2, 2003

By 

Mr S J POWERS (Newark, New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Great Customer Experiences (Hardcover)

I've started to see lots of commentators, conference speakers and consultants talking about the Customer Experience. But none of them come anywhere near these guys for a holistic and in-depth treatment of the subject. Their book provides the intellectual rigour, as well as advice which is clearly based on practical experience, that is missing from so many Customer Service and Customer Experience books.

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not insightful and not well-written, April 20, 2004

By 

Edward E. Rigdon (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building Great Customer Experiences (Hardcover)

It takes a great deal of effort to write any book, even a bad one, so I hate to be excessively critical, but I found very little value in this book. Despite its intriguing title, I don't think anyone will gain from reading this book, unless they are a prospective client of the authors' consulting firm, Beyond Philosophy, and would like a peek at the vendor's approach. (There's no escaping the shadow of the authors' consultancy within these pages. I know consultants write books to get noticed, but this one is more like something you would create just so you could hand it out to clients.)

At its best, this book repeats marketing dogma. More often, though, it simply misses. You can usually count on a book like this for some valuable anecdotes, if nothing else, but even the authors' anecdotes don't always make the intended point (as near as I could tell). It really needs a substantial reorganization, starting with a framework that would help the authors decide what is important and what is trivial, and then a solid edit.

In my opinion, this book is probably not what you're looking for. For example, you'd think that a book about "Building Great Customer Experience" would at least define "customer experience." But no--the authors say that people are usually better off figuring this out for themselves. You'll be much happier, for example, with Lasalle and Britton's (2003) Priceless: Turning Ordinary products into Extraordinary Experiences.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical way to Building great Customer Experience, June 27, 2004

By 

R.Majumdar (Mumbai, Maharashtra India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Building Great Customer Experiences (Hardcover)

The only book I have come across which tell you not only the "what" but "how" of buiding great Customer Experience.The concept of having a Customer Experience statement is so basic , yet so powerful in getting the whole organization to be aligned towards delivering great Customer experience.The authors take you through step by step process to implement the Customer experience statement. A must read for any organization serious about building great Customer Experience.