The Corporate Coach: How to Build a Team of Loyal Customers and Happy Employees [Paperback]

James B. Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1994

Jim Miller is famous for giving not just good service but legendary service. This is one of the reasons his company's sales have gone from $50,000 to $150,000,000 in twenty-five years. As founder and CEO of Miller Business Systems, he has built a reputation for being willing and able to do anything for his customers. But he is not just customer-oriented: He knows how to motivate his employees, and his upbeat, deeply personal approach to business is detailed in The Corporate Coach. Developed over twenty-five years of experience, Miller likens managing a company to coaching a team by joining customers and employees in a common cause. He believes in empowering people at every level of a company, in giving opportunities to develop, improve, and be creative, rather than languishing on the bench. Filled with anecdotes, specific "do this/don't do that" advice, and, above all, an attitude that is refreshing and inspiring, The Corporate Coach is essential reading for anyone who serves or manages people.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Miller, founder and CEO of Miller Business Systems, seems more coach than administrator as, in a virtual torrent of maxims enlivened by examples, incidents and anecdotes, he traces the growth of his office supply business from a single $50,000-per-year store to a corporate giant in the last 25 years. His employees, whose number grew from 12 to more than 650, are seen as members of highly autonomous teams constantly being motivated by their coach. The game, of course, is to win and retain customers. The teams are empowered to use extraordinary, sometimes dramatic, tactics to gain new customers and to retain old ones. The concept of customer loyalty was cultivated among the company's vendors and suppliers, who also became members of teams playing the same game. Miller, whose model coach was Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers, is a Wisconsin native who moved to Arlington, Tex., where this lively, engaging story unfolds. Miller's tale will suggest a new dimension for any business manager's performance.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The founder of Miller Business Systems, an office supply company, presents his principles of customer focus that have enhanced his company's success. Through analogies, Miller relates his leadership concepts to sports teams, which will surely appeal to executives with annual box seats! All the current good ideas on serving customers, such as hiring customer-oriented employees, focusing internal processes on serving customers, constant systems redesign based on customer feedback, and long-term relationships with customers can be found in this program, read by the author. Although Miller's ideas are soundly rooted in the extensive literature in this genre, he offers little new information. Also, with the significant problems inherent in today's professional sports business, his attempt to relate complex team-based organizational success to successful athletic teams is outdated. Invest instead in the more substantial work from Ron Zemke (Working with Jerks, S. & S. Audio, 1989).
Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (March 17, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0887306853
• ISBN-13: 978-0887306853
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,071,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "how-to" on building a customer oriented team., August 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Corporate Coach: How to Build a Team of Loyal Customers and Happy Employees (Paperback)

This book focuses on serving customers as the customer wants to be served not as the service provider wants to serve. The "Coach's Checklists" at the end of each chapter are each worth the price of the book. This book drives home the point that the ONLY difference between a business and sports team is the field they play on.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading for all customer service employees!, August 19, 2010

By 

John (Columbia, IL USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Corporate Coach : How to Build a Team of Loyal Customers and Happy Employees (Paperback)

I've been in customer service roles for over 30 years, from retail and restaurant to high tech and consulting. The key concepts of this book, if applied, helps us to strengthen our business relationships and put our business contacts first - buyers, sellers, distributors, bosses, employees, business partners. Miller writes with a conversational, story telling approach that illustrates the concepts he's presenting and makes the book relevant to your situation. Worth the time and energy to get it and read it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Great Ideas for Inspiring Teamwork, March 26, 2010

By 

Kristin J. Arnold (Scottsdale, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Corporate Coach: How to Build a Team of Loyal Customers and Happy Employees (Paperback)

"The Corporate Coach" is truly a gift to anyone who has to "coach" or lead a team.

Even though I am not a big fan of the sports team analogy, author and CEO of Miller Busines Systems, Jim Miller shares his insights, stories and practical advice on how to inspire teamswork. Jim has built a hugely successful company through teamwork, emphasizing customer service, empowerment and good ol' common sense.

In a "down-to-earth" style, Jim shares oodles and oodles of great, easy-to-implement ideas to create and sustain extraordinary teams. I kept marking page after page with post-it flags to tab one great idea after another. At the end of each chapter, Jim summarizes his key points with a "coach's checklist." For example, at the end of the "Create Small Wins" chapter:

* Encourage employees to believe in themseves. Do everything in your power to publicize their successes.

* Let everyone recognize good work. Every single employee at your company should be able to praise - in some kind of formal way - in somekind of formal way - all of the other people he or she works with.

* Have the boss give the award, whenever possible. Praise from a peer is good; recognition from top management is better.

* Praise them at home, too. Make employees heroes at home by sending letters, flowers, tickets to a ball game, or other presents to the house.