The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service [Hardcover]

Donna Cutting (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2008

The Celebrity Experience combines the best practices of the business world with those of the celebrity world to create a practical and proactive guide for anyone who wants to bring their business’s internal and external customer service to the level of star treatment. Based on the unique ways celebrities are treated, the book shares techniques you can use to treat your customers to a red-carpet experience, guaranteeing repeat business and stellar word of mouth.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Imagine a world where red carpets were rolled out for you wherever you went and you were always greeted by name and with a smile. Imagine being admired and complimented by strangers on a daily basis. Imagine if those who did business with you always bent over backwards to cater to your personal desires and needs. If that sounds like a fantasyland, it is. And it's called Hollywood.

Every day, Hollywood's biggest superstars live out that fantasy, receiving red-carpet treatment virtually everywhere they go. But they aren't the only ones. More and more, companies are realizing that when they treat their customers like VIPs, those customers keep coming back and help spread the word.

For business owners, entrepreneurs, or anyone who works in a service industry, The Celebrity Experience shows how to turn customers into lifelong, adoring clients by delivering consistent red-carpet customer service. Based on hundreds of interviews with professionals who exclusively serve celebrity clients, author Donna Cutting shows you how to make every customer feel like a superstar.

Combining the best practices of the Hollywood celebrity scene with those of the business world, The Celebrity Experience presents simple, effective ways to:

• Make red-carpet first impressions on new customers

• Give them what they want and earn customers for life

• Generate buzz and positive word-of-mouth by delivering what you promise

• Improve your customer service performance by putting employees first

• Develop the creativity and flexibility to deliver on every customer request

• Succeed by putting your customers' interests ahead of your own

In addition to celebrity ideas you can implement in your business immediately, The Celebrity Experience also includes stories from celebrities themselves and real-world examplesof successful companies that go above and beyond to deliver impeccable service for their customers. Today, it's often customer service that separates good companies from great ones. The Celebrity Experience shows you how to put your business on the customer service A-list.

From the Back Cover

Praise for

The Celebrity Experience
—Bob Danzig, former CEO, Hearst Newspapers, and author, speaker, and professor

"You can't focus on the customer until you develop the right attitudes in your team. The Celebrity Experience is proof that you can treat your customers as stars and improve the bottom line."
—Howard D. Putnam, former CEO, Southwest Airlines, and author of The Winds of Turbulence

"The Celebrity Experience precisely and lightheartedly details the way we all would love to be treated. You may not always get celebrity treatment, but there is no longer any excuse for failing to provide such an experience for your customers. The great stories, targeted examples, and wise asides all combine for a good read."
—Stephen C. Lundin, author of the Fish! series of books and coauthor of Top Performer: A Bold Approach to Sales and Service

"Imagine a world where every customer receives nothing but red-carpet service. A fantasy? A pipe dream? Not anymore. In Cutting's wonderful new book, we learn how easy—and profitable—it is to create the celebrity experience for our customers. A worthwhile read that challenges assumptions, provides techniques, and inspires action, this may be the most beneficial book you read all year."—Phillip Van Hooser, author of Willie's Way: 6 Secrets for Wooing, Wowing, and Winning Customers and Their Loyalty

"Cutting's charming book is overflowing with practical ideas, delightful stories, and amazing examples of organizations that treat their customers—and their employees—like stars. I could hardly put it down! Not only does the celebrity experience create loyal customers, but it also makes workplaces lots more fun. Thank you, Donna, for helping us all look at service through Hollywood's eyes!"
—Barbara A. Glanz, professional speaker and author of CARE Packages for Your Customers and coauthor of The Simple Truths of Service as Inspired by Johnny the Bagger

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470174013
• ISBN-13: 978-0470174012
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donna Cutting, CSP is the author of "The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red-Carpet Customer Service," (Wiley, 2008). President and CEO of Donna Cutting Presents, Inc., she is a full time keynote speaker on the topics of employee engagement and red-carpet customer service. Her company also provides training and consulting programs to assist people in keeping the red-carpet experience alive in their organizations.

Her clients include Pricewaterhouse Coopers, JJ Taylor and Companies, Florida SHRM, Alaska SHRM, Penn National Gaming, Great Harvest Bread Company, HR Southwest, First Bank of Richmond, the City of Dallas, Florida Career Professionals, the Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, California Association of Health Services at Home, and the University of Alaska, several SHRM chapters and many other corporations and associations. She's honored to be a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), which is an earned designation through the National Speakers Association and the International Federation of Professional Speakers. Only 10% of speakers in the world are CSP's.

Donna and "The Celebrity Experience" have been featured or quoted on television, radio and in print including ABC's America This Morning, ABC Channel 7 in Chicago, several Business Journals across the country, Investor's Business Daily, Weekend Entrepreneur, and several business related radio shows. She has authored over 50 articles which have been published in a variety of trade magazines, The Employer's Group newsletter, jobdig.com, and BusinessKnowHow.com.

Donna's background as a stage actress sets the stage for her theatrical speaking style, and her experience as a manager in the health care arena contributes to her expertise in employee engagement and customer service.
A member of the National Speakers Association, The International Federation of Professional Speakers and Past President of NSA Central Florida, Donna currently lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with her husband, Jim and their Maltese dog, Snowball.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put it down!, January 15, 2008

By 

Sandra J. Geroux "Sandyg" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service (Hardcover)

I really love the stories in this book! They really show how you can give red carpet service, no matter whether you're a BIG company or a small one! I couldn't wait to see what other celebrity stories were going to be there from one page to the next - I especially loved the green M&M's, and the pizza they baked on a plane to deliver it from one country to another... wow - it really helps you start thinking about what you can do that's extra for your customers (even if you can't fly a freshly-baked pizza to another country)! Great job getting our imaginations going to create better service for our customers.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great concept! And an easy read, too!, January 4, 2008

By 

David Glickman (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service (Hardcover)

"The Celebrity Experience" can be best described as 'customer service on steroids'. It's a fresh and novel way of looking at how to treat customers, no matter what business you're in. The author shows the power of treating all customers as though they were "celebrities" and gives concrete (and amazingly creative) examples of businesses that are already doing so. She shows the reader how they, too, can easily implement "The Celebrity Experience" in their business, really without much cost, but with simply a new way of looking at how to view their customers. I also enjoyed the writing style, because it was a very fast and easy read. This book is destined to set a new standard in the way businesses look at their customers!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be a Star! or Get Treated Like One, January 15, 2008

By 

Chellie Campbell "The Wealthy Spirit" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celebrity Experience: Insider Secrets to Delivering Red Carpet Customer Service (Hardcover)

Don't you just love it when you get treated like a Star? I do, and I know my customers love it when I treat them like a celebrity, too. We all want to feel special, acknowledged, important, and welcome. We want people to smile at us and really want to help. Donna Cutting has provided a cutting-edge book on how any business can provide the best in first-class service and treat their clients to the celebrity experience. From her interviews with hundreds of celebrity personal assistants, PR representatives, television executives, consultants, and more, she gleaned the special secrets and tips on just how to give your customers the red carpet treatment.

She introduces you to the best-qualified providers of "The Celebrity Experience" such as Scott Graham of Xtreme Personal Assistant Concierge Services who shares the amazing lengths his team will go through for their clients and Katrina Campins, owner of a luxury real estate company and star of the first season of "The Apprentice" who builds the buzz factor and gives back at the same time. There is no sports franchise that gives more power to the fans than NASCAR racing, and Gaylord Opryland Resort uses their experience with celebrities to treat everyday people like stars.

Filled with engaging stories and dozens of examples from organizations of every kind, you will love the lessons of this book. And you'll be hoping every company you do business with reads it!!

Chellie Campbell, Author
The Wealthy Spirit: Daily Affirmations for Financial Stress Reduction and Zero to Zillionaire