Customer Reviews

Fabled Service: Ordinary Acts, Extraordinary Outcomes (Warren Bennis Executive Briefing Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read at least a dozen books on customer service. None even come close to Elizabeth Sanders' book on Fabled Service. Sanders makes her points clearly and cogently, illustrating each with a vivid picture or metaphor of how to get it right! I have used Fabled Service as a great departure point for conversations among my colleagues about customer service leadership. If you are only going to read one book on customer service, this is the one to read.

WOW! Betsy Sanders truly inspired me to delve deep into myself and fill page after page of ideas for customer service that had nothing to do with her industry...this book speaks to any industry or field. Because fabled service is so rarely experienced, but continuously sought after by businesses everywhere, this book is a must for any new hire, established executive or just the coordinator of a small volunteer organization. The essence of fabled service is the people, so hiring and retaining excellent employees is simply a must, as is recognizing their efforts, ideas and energies expended on your behalf. I applaud Betsy and her comprehensive collection of ideas, thoughts and direction to help others achieve true Fabled Service in their own lives!

The best book on customer service that I have ever read. Betsy Sanders takes the mystery out of providing great service by clearly explaining, with examples, that it comes from the top.

This book is by Betsy Sanders, VP and General Manager of NOrdstrom's Southern California Division . Betsy shares her secrets to legendary customer service --not theories-- but what works....7 chapters of this nicely sized volume 124 pages plus a good index cover what Fabled Service is and isn't and how to move from philosophy to practice. There's a bit of zen here as she encourages you to practice the small tings to be perfect on the large. Being of service is a journey -- as we all know...The book is illustrated with photos and some easy to the eye graphics. For example on page 40 -- there is a prescription for fabled service which includes two primary ingredients #1 Respect and Ingredient #2 Flexibility...she says there are no sweeter words than "I'll take care of that". It's everyone's job -- not just the 'customer service' dude or chix. Lots of things need to meld together to get the right outcome -- like the environoment, the technology and the message. Integrity and fabled service are intertwined too...nice chapter 7 on how to be a traditional or transformational leader and what makes a leader...A preface by Warren Bennis adds to the credibility of this tome. Surprisingly -- the words of wisdom are timeless -- even the Internet and social networking and email hasn't changed the importance of SERVICE......A good read -- might be kewl to leave it in the coffee room for people to glance at in between breaks!

Once a young lady offered her mother-in-law to a retail outlet that had a no questions policy on returns. In another better known case, a customer returned used tires to the legendary Nordstrom which accepted it politely though it had never ever sold a tire. Fables are born when excellence captures the imagination of the customers.

This book brings out what lies behind the secret of such excellence when it comes to customer service. Such service that becomes fabled comes straight from the heart of the employees. The challenge then is to hire those whose hearts are for whom they serve and to train and lead them into excellence of service delivery.

Through well structured illustrations from companies like SAS, Nordstrom, McDonald's, Wal-Mart, The Ritz Carlton, the message is driven straight to the heart -Make service everything your company is and does. This is accomplished through two sets of employees - those who serve the customers directly and those who serve these employees. Hiring for the right attitude and leading these men and women to excel is the "how" of the story.

The book mostly picks examples from retail, the philosophy and scope extends to all industries. After all, there is no business without a customer. Though all of us agree that the customer is the purpose of our business, at the top of our organization charts we never find the customer. The customer is conveniently forgotten in the organizations' most important document. Not at Nordstrom for example. Here the organization chart is an inverted pyramid with customers at the top. It takes a different mind set to accept such realities. In fact it not a state of the mind, but a matter of the heart.

Recommended for professionals working in today's "knowledge industries". Maybe they will gain some knowledge on what it means to serve customers!

Fabled Service is solid proof of the importance of customer service supported by Sanders's experience with Nordstrom. Businesses strive for customer service, and Sanders provides useful and detailed explanations and strategies for how to attain the basic concept of excellent customer service. Fabled Service is as good as Michael Levine's Guerilla PR: Wired, which explains how to attain excellent public relations coverage in the modern age without busting the budget.

If you are in business or are thinking about going into business, this book is a must. No matter what else you know or think you know, these core concepts are the keys to success. Real examples from real life with real meaning. And Betsy Sanders has a way of making it understandable and simple.

The principles are relevant to starting, running and transforming any business into a model that is self perpetuating. I especially like her definition of stewardship.

"Stewardship implies acceptance of responsibility for certain assets with the expectation that at the end of your watch, you will hand them on in more abundance and in better condition than when you recieved them. When you think of yourself as a steward you do not expect honor to accrue to you, rather you feel honored to be involved in something so worthy of your time and talents."

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The book is pretty, nice graphics, good fonts, lots of white space, etc. I personally agree that good serice is a good thing. But the message is pretty simple and the focus is hammer, hammer, hammer... This is like a Tony Robbins publication with a micro focus.
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Here are the seven suggested "Commitments":
1. To Make Service Everything Your Company Is and Does
2. To Be of Service in ALL That You Do
3. To Act On the Belief That You Are in Business to Serve Customers
4. To Serve Those Who Serve the Customers
5. To Design Every Part of Your Business With Service as the Desired Outcome
6. To Be In Business to Serve Society
7. To Create and Sustain the Vision

But these commitments simply don't work in all situations and all companies. The "service is good" idea has been twisted into a religion - and there's a lot of religion here - the pictures include Albert Schweitzer and Mother Theresa! How can I argue against them?

Hopefully I won't be damned because I didn't give it 5 stars.