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A Complaint Is a Gift: Recovering Customer Loyalty When Things Go Wrong Paperback – August 1, 2008

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Janelle Barlow (Author)
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Janelle Barlow (Author), Claus Moller (Author), Tony Hsieh (Foreword)
4.6 out of 5 stars 48 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 287 pages
  • Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers; 2nd edition (August 1, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1576755827
  • ISBN-13: 978-1576755822
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #334,321 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsTurning Complaints Into Profitable, Long-Term Success!
By Donald Mitchell HALL OF FAMEVINE VOICE on September 23, 2000
Format: Paperback
This book creates a new paradigm concerning customer dissatisfaction: The complaint is a major economic opportunity which can be systematically used to improve business processes, reduce errors, increase quality, strengthen bonds with customers, and create expanded growth and profitability. The reason: We normally see things from the company's view point, and miss many mistakes and opportunities by not empathizing enough with the customer's view point. A good related book is Moments of Truth (which I also reviewed), which looks at using this approach during the turnaround of SAS.
The book is organized into three parts. The first one looks at the economic implications of complaints. Complaints are an opportunity to improve (the theory behind the gift paradigm), are cheap market research, present chances to win over customers, can establish a closer link to customers if we encourage them to complain, and are a great economic threat if we leave the enraged customer dissatisfied (as they tell everyone they can on television and the Internet). There are many useful examples and statistics to establish the size and importance of these economic connections.
Part II explains how to implement a complaint-as-a-gift program in an individual circumstance of dealing with an unhappy customer. The key barrier here is that front-line employees feel the pain of the personal attacks they receive, and fight back. I thought the best part of the book was in the explanations about how the psychology of these interactions works in most cases, and can be improved. The book has many scripts and examples of how to make this less painful for the front-line people while delighting the customer.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsInsightful!
By Rolf Dobelli HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWER on February 16, 2001
Format: Paperback
At a time where companies spend millions to attract new customers, this book offers low-cost methods for keeping the customers you already have. Authors Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller advocate using customer complaints to help your business grow. This highly readable book achieves a perfect balance of general information backed up by hard, statistical data. While this book is written for "anyone who deals with customers and who would like to benefit from customer feedback," the end of the book focuses more on steps top-level managers can take to implement a "complaint-friendly organization." We at getAbstract.com recommend this book to managers and to people in front-line, customer service positions. Giving a copy of this book to your front-line personnel would be an excellent first step toward making your organization complaint friendly.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThis is a gift!
By mario@thestreet.com on December 10, 1997
Format: Paperback
I am a customer service representative who is using this book as a major guide to constructing a customer service department for an internet based financial publication. I have more post-its on my office walls than paint. I can't stop the ideas from pouring out of me or the book. It has to be in my small but possibly cosmic opinion this is the best book written on how to deal with people and their problems with a product or service. I highly recommend it to anyone who is trying to better understand what their customers are thinking and not saying.
Mario Viscardi
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4.0 out of 5 starsCalling this book "superficial tripe" misses the point entirely
By David Hinman on August 13, 2000
Format: Paperback
*********************
I wrote this in 2011 -->

I will agree with one other reviewer that the book often acts like an advertisement for the author's business. They plug their company relentlessly.

That is really the only good critique I have of the book. It would be a much stronger read if a times it didn't come across as self-serving.

Now lowering my rating to 4 stars.

Even so, treating complaints like free market research is something all companies should do.

*********************
I wrote this in 2000 -->

I will agree that the scholarship in this book isn't the weightiest. It's a fairly light read. And it does act as a product plug for the authors shamelessly and repeatedly. And it does sort of repeat the same few points over and over again. However dismissing it as tripe misses the point.

The book DOES NOT recommend kowtowing to or embracing rude customers. It DOES recommend listening to complaints and methodically engaging in a dialogue about them. This can allow you to diagnose systemic failures, discover new ways to offer value, and identify inefficent activities.

It also doesn't recommend pitting employees against customers. What should a manager do if their employees complain to them? Should they follow the techniques recommended in this book and listen or turn a deaf ear?

What's truly pathetic is that this understanding of the potential value of complaints should be standard policy in every company in the world. Industries spend vast sums every year on market research, trying to figure out what their customers want. Then they turn right around and often ignore customers who tell them.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsSeeing complaints as a gift
By Sara Mencia Abre on December 20, 2002
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
When you read this book you will understand how to handle customers complaints from a different point of view. It teachs you in a joyfull and gracious manner how to handle complaints thru differents points of contact: phone, face to face or written.

You will be able to classify customers depending their character and reaction. One of the most valuables chapters in this book is the one where the authors describe the different levels that a customer pass thru his desguise. So you will be able to act as soon as you recognize the customer will take off your control. Great knowledge!

This is a very dynamic, funny book that will have you wake up all the time. Usefull for managers or front liners.

For me, this book have been a truly gift!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsI love this book, but please fix the Kindle formatting!

I love this book, but please fix the Kindle formatting! Most of the text is in italics, which makes it difficult to read, and many of the footnotes are not linked as they should... Read more

Published 2 months ago by Deborah_in_ABQ
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Second time I bought the same book

Published 9 months ago by John Sinclair
5.0 out of 5 starsVery useful book!

It is a wonderful book full of examples how to recover customers when things go wrong. I have already started using it with have found favorable results. Read more

Published 12 months ago by Mandeep Arora
5.0 out of 5 starsI heard this author speak some time ago and really ...

I heard this author speak some time ago and really appreciated the information she gave and more that was in the book. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Carole
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Customer Service training instrument!

Everyone loves gifts... Change the way you think of customer feed back. Take advantage of each opportunity to improve. Read more

Published 18 months ago by KJ Page
4.0 out of 5 starsI have been with sprint for 4 years now, ...

I have been with sprint for 4 years now , i have been lied to so many times that i just want out ofmy contract. Read more

Published 19 months ago by william ross
5.0 out of 5 starsgreat read

this book includes nice lessons for all parts of an organization. I recommend it for all functional areas of a business...

Published on January 12, 2014 by CH
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat for handling customer/guest opportunities

I was asked to read this by my Hotel Manager and it's been very insightful so far. A good read for people who work in customer service.

Published on January 11, 2014 by Brittany Jarrin
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book for handling poor service

Great examples if great and poor customer service.
The tools for handling complaints and poor service are fantastic. Read more

Published on November 2, 2013 by J. J. Santos
5.0 out of 5 starsWill change your thinking about customer service

My definition of a good business book is one that persuasively challenges conventional thinking. 'A Complaint is a Gift' does that with a compelling argument for why angry... Read more

Published on August 4, 2013 by Paul Gillin

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