Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer: Earning Customer Loyalty in a Compulsion-to-Compare World [Hardcover]

Jill Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2009

Praise for Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer

"What an excellent wake-up call! Your company's most valuable asset—your loyal customers—have more tools than ever to compare you to competitors and switch. Griffin does an excellent job identifying the risks to customer loyalty in an environment of immediate and abundant information, and defines a path to earn loyalty through delivery of enhanced value in the eyes of your customers. A truly important premise to building and maintaining a successful business."?
—Gerald Evans, president, Hanes Brands Supply Chain and Asia Business Development

"In this dynamic treatise on customer retention, Jill Griffin, The Loyalty Maker, provides updated solutions to meet today's challenge of changing consumer shopping habits. A must-read for all retailers and wholesalers."
—Britt Jenkins, chairman of the board, Tandy Brand Accessories, Inc.

"Mandatory reading for anyone who manages customer loyalty. A truly thought-provoking read!"
—Timothy Keiningham, global chief strategy officer, executive vice president, IPSOS Loyalty

"Every company is in the service business now, whether they realize it or not. Jill's book is a great start on how to make your service experiences better than they are today."
—Robert Stephen, founder, The Geek Squad

"In today's Googlized marketplace, Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer is a must-read."
—Ken DeAngelis, general partner, Austin Ventures

"Griffin is pure loyalty genius!"
—Kelly Cook, vice president, Customer Engagement/CRM, Waste Management

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer

Customer loyalty strategies have turned a whole new page. Have you?

Today's customers typically begin their selection process by using Internet search engines, which provide an endless array of choices, as well as the ability to compare everything—price, delivery, product specifications—at the click of a mouse. Businesses unprepared to address this new breed of buyer are losing market share by the minute.

In Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer, customer loyalty expert Jill Griffin addresses this storm of change head-on. She examines the relentless, new selling landscape and offers practical advice for winning customer loyalty.

By taking a close look at why customers are compelled to search for new options and then switch to them, Griffin explains the new rules for building strong brand perception, how to build trust, and perhaps most importantly, how to be (and stay) different in the eyes of your customer. With the customer's Worth-It Test, companies can figure out how their prospects and buyers perceive them and whether they are, in fact, considered more "worth it" than their competitors. With Griffin's "10-Day Starter Plan," companies will be able to quickly get started putting into practice the hundreds of guidelines and examples outlined in the book.

In today's compulsion-to-compare world, does your brand measure up? In side-by-side comparisons with dozens—or even hundreds—of competitors, will your brand prevail? Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer helps ensure that it will.

About the Author

Jill Griffin, known to her clients as "The Loyalty Maker," is an award-winning author, consultant, and speaker. Since 1988 she has led Austin-based Griffin Group, helping B2B and B2C firms, large and small, build fiercely loyal customers. She is the author of Customer Loyalty, which was named to Harvard Business School's "Working Knowledge" list and has been translated into six languages, as well as a co-authored book, Customer Winback. An in-demand speaker, Jill keynotes conferences worldwide. Reach Jill at www.loyaltysolutions.com.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470345047
• ISBN-13: 978-0470345047
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #812,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jill Griffin has been preaching and teaching the gospel of customer loyalty in Corporate America for almost three decades. Dell, Microsoft, Ford Motor Company, Subaru, Marriott Hotels, Hewlett Packard, Cendant, IBM, AMD, Wells Fargo, Western Union, Sprint, Toyota and other similar organizations have sought her solutions and welcomed her deep inside their conference rooms, call centers and customer sites.

Jill's most recent duties have earned her a seat in the boardroom. Since 2002, Jill has served on the Board of Directors of Luby's, Inc. (NYSE: LUB), overseeing the restaurant chain's critical turnaround. In four short years, Luby's has returned to profitability, paid off all debt, enhanced shareholder value four-fold, and restored its storied Brand to prominence by winning back lapsed customers and marketing to new ones.

Jill's string of best-selling, award-winning books on customer loyalty began publication in the mid nineties, with the release of the internationally published, business best-seller, Customer Loyalty: How to Earn It, How to Keep It. The second edition of Customer Loyalty, revised for the digital age, is on Harvard Business School's 'Working Knowledge' list of recommended books.

Jill is the co-author of Customer Winback: How to Recapture Lost Customers and Keep Them Loyal, which won Soundview Executive Book Summaries' '30 Best Business Books' award.

Jill's newest book is Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer.


Her books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Portugese and Spanish.

Jill served on the University of Texas McCombs School of Business faculty from 1988 to 1990. Today, she is a frequent UT guest lecturer. Her two books have been used as textbooks for the university's MBA and undergraduate courses on customer management.

In her early career, Jill served as senior brand manager for RJR/Nabisco's largest brand and distinguished herself as one of the youngest brand managers in the corporation's history. From RJR/Nabisco, Jill joined AmeriSuites Hotels as the start-up chain's first National Director of Marketing and Sales. She launched Griffin Group in 1988.

Jill is the recipient of the 2003 Distinguished Alumna Award for the University of South Carolina Moore School of Business (received alongside Larry Kellner, Chairman and CEO of Continental Airlines) from which she holds MBA and Bachelor of Science degrees, Magna Cum Laude. Jill serves on the Moore School's Board of Trustees.

Jill's passion is speaking to audiences world-wide about the power and pit-falls of customer loyalty. Each of her Loyalty Maker presentations is 'painfully customized' and loaded with industry-specific how to's, wrapped around real-world, heart-felt stories and case studies. Jill's in-the-trenches leadership and experience, married with her high energy, fun-loving platform style, make her a real stand-out among corporate speakers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chock full of practical recommendations for earning customer loyalty, November 11, 2009

By 

Monica David (Sunnyvale, CA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer: Earning Customer Loyalty in a Compulsion-to-Compare World (Hardcover)

A must-have for anyone concerned about preventing customer defections in an environment where information about the competition is one click away. I have worked with Jill Griffin in the past and know her to be absolutely passionate about helping companies build and retain customer loyalty by delivering value that ultimately creates value for the company. She is ahead of the wave in recognizing that the rules of the game have changed significantly and that we need to do things differently. Having clearly spelled out the challenges, she then provides us a road map filled with practical examples of how to earn the customer's loyalty. It would be surprising if you did not walk away with a to-do list that you can start today!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apt Message for Today's Market, April 28, 2009

By 

A. Pincelli - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer: Earning Customer Loyalty in a Compulsion-to-Compare World (Hardcover)

Jill Griffin definitely has her finger on the pulse of today's buyer. Where can I find it faster, cheaper, better? Her new book teaches readers how to earn customer loyalty in today's world by giving value to the customer and continuing to meet and even exceed their expectations. As a fan of all of Griffin's books, I believe Taming the Search and Switch Customer is the best yet. I recommend it to anyone interested in building and maintaining a successful business!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you lead a business, you've got to have this book, March 24, 2009

By 

Karen Post "Branding Diva" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Taming the Search-and-Switch Customer: Earning Customer Loyalty in a Compulsion-to-Compare World (Hardcover)

I've read all of Jill Griffin's books. She's truly the master of Loyalty. This book really earned my praise because "search" has transformed business, branding and marketing as we knew it. In the book, Jill spells out a plan to combat the defector enemies that lurk and provides real world tools to leverage the good side of the Google and other search company's globe.

I highly recommend this book for both small and large organizations.