Chief Customer Officer : Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action [Hardcover]

Jeanne Bliss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2006

Drawing on her first-hand experience at top companies as diverse as Lands’ End and Microsoft, Jeanne Bliss explains why even great corporations can drift to delivering mediocrity to customers, and she offers a proven solution to break the cycle.

Different divisions and departments in corporations can fail to communicate and act as a team—they create silos instead of a superior customer experience. Jeanne Bliss shows in stark detail how profits suffer when businesses focus on their organizational charts and not their customer relationships.

This book provides leaders the tools and information they need to overcome organizational inertia and deliver a meaningful customer experience. The author includes diagnostics to determine if a company’s core strengths, metrics, and systems improve or harm customer relationships. With all these tools, leaders can address the organizational challenges they face with an exhaustive review of the Chief Customer Officer role and an evaluation to determine the right solution for their culture and company.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Drawing on first-hand experience, author Jeanne Bliss explains why even great firms can deliver mediocre customer service.” (Marketing Direct
& BrandRepublic.com, April 2007)

 

Review

“Jeanne Bliss is a powerhouse when it comes to driving customer focus. It’s in her bones. She has an uncanny ability to cut across an organization and support leaders in the quest to drive the operation of the company toward strong and powerful customer relations.”--Gary Comer, founder, Lands’ End

“Who else has led customer loyalty for five major U.S. corporations? Jeanne Bliss has an uncommon background, blending her passion for customer experiences with her ability to cut through organizations and get the job done. Business leaders would be wise to understand Jeanne’s approach to know how they can either enable or hinder the process. And those from throughout all parts of the organization will find the proven approaches to drive change that’s eluded them in the past.’--Jean-Philippe Courtois, president, Microsoft International, senior vice president, Microsoft Corporation

“The connection of customer care in a single C-level authority is an emerging discipline of the early 2000 decade--but Jeanne Bliss is already firmly in place as its oracle who can make it actionable as a major economic value-added.”-- Mack Hanan, bestselling author, Consultative Selling and CEO, the Grey Matter Group Inc.

“Talking about customer service is one thing; having it in your DNA is another. Chief Customer Office provides refreshing and needed advice for organizations that say they’ve committed to customer loyalty but don’t seem to make any progress.”--Wim Elfrink, senior vice president, customer advocacy, Cisco Systems Inc.

“Before you go around the block one more time trying to drive ‘customer focus,’ read Chief Customer Officer cover to cover. Jeanne Bliss gives you the tools, the tactics, and the real-world support you need to finally drive change across your company.”--Daniel J. Bishop, president and founder, The Maids International, Inc.--The Maids Homes Services

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787980943
• ISBN-13: 978-0787980948
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #53,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Customer Service

More About the Author

I'm third of seven passionate Italian kids raised in Chicago land. Growing up, my dad owned a BUSTER BROWN shoe store and each of us worked there, running into the stockroom for shoes, ringing the register and unloading boxes. We learned first-hand at that little store about humility and grace in business...watching him put the first pair of shoes on generations of kids' feet. Even took my turn wearing a Buster Brown costume - walking up and down the streets of downtown Des Plaines, Illinois handing out balloons in the hot sun. Inside, that's still who I am; Jeanne Marie Theresa Lombardo; short Italian girl from Chicago.

In the early years of my career, I was fortunate to be at Lands' End, working for founder Gary Comer. Building out so many of the services that Lands' End became known for gave me the passion for this work, and ruined me to do anything else professionally. That was it; I would spend my career as a "Customer Crusader."

After Lands' End my goal was to work in different types of organizations, each time, taking up the gauntlet to work with the President and across the organization to unite them on behalf of customers. It was an amazing journey.

I developed my passion for the customer at Lands' End, Inc. Then went on to be Senior Vice President of Franchise Services for Coldwell Banker Corporation. At Allstate Corporation, I served as chief officer for customer satisfaction & retention. I was Microsoft Corporation's General Manager of Worldwide Customer & Partner Loyalty. And at Mazda Motor of America; I initiated the brand's retention effort as senior manager, customer satisfaction.

Now, I coach leaders on how to wrap their company's focus around customer profits. I am honored to be called upon around worldwide, speaking at events about what it takes to become a beloved company and the work it takes to sustain the energy and effort across a business.


This work is my passion and I love talking about it! I'm available for conversation, brainstorming or figuring out how to "push that customer rock up the hill" at [e-mail]

Cheers!
Jeanne

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got Customers? You NEED THIS BOOK!, April 26, 2006

By 

J. Palamountain "Marketing Consultant" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chief Customer Officer : Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action (Hardcover)

Jeanne Bliss tells CEOs and leaders exactly HOW to make customers the center of the business. Other authors may tell you what to do, but this book gives you a complete set of instructions on how to do the work with every level of the organization. I especially like that the diagnostics and tools offered can be used immediately and that there are a multitude of proven ways to get the CEO engaged. No matter what kind of business you are in, if you've got customers, you need this book!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical advice for improving customer experience, June 7, 2006

By 

Richard Sharp "Director of Marketing" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chief Customer Officer : Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action (Hardcover)

Jeanne Bliss articulates not only the importance of putting customers at the center of your business, but conveys the challenges that prevent most companies from successfully delivering great customer experiences. The real-world techniques she introduces are essential reading for senior executives aiming to succeed by improving the delivered customer experience.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical AND Thought-Provoking, April 10, 2006

By 

William R. Price "customer service doctor" (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chief Customer Officer : Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action (Hardcover)

All the tools, technology, and training to drive customer loyalty and profitability won't get you where you need to go if you don't first address the company, its agendas (hidden and on the surface), and how to harness all of the forces at work. Chief Customer Officer debunks how to get this done. It gives realistic perspective and real-world techniques for instilling the motivation, the metrics, and the mechanics required to achieve traction inside the corporate machine. The author's "Connecting the Dots" at the end of the book is an excellent summary and concise guide to adopt "passionate action" on behalf of customers. But the book is also provocative, challenging us to think about how change really happens in companies, and how new roles like Chief Customer Officer are needed to bridge the gaps between hype and reality.