Summary: The Amazement Revolution

Review and Analysis of Hyken's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511022252
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Customer Relations
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of Shep Hyken's book: `The Amazement Revolution: Seven Customer Service Strategies to Create an Amazing Customer (and Employee) Experience`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Shep Hyken's book `The Amazement Revolution` shows that customer service isn’t a department within a company – it’s everything the company does. If you can amaze your customers, they will become addicted to doing business with you or, more specifically, to the quality of the experience they receive from you. In his book, the author presents seven amazement strategies from the best customer service focused organisations in the world, which you can use to bring your customers into a `Cult of Amazement`. This summary is a must-read for any manager who wants to learn from the best and become the top service organisation in their industry.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read `The Amazement Revolution` and find out how to teach your employees to deliver a superior experience to your customers.

Summary of The Amazement Revolution (Shep Hyken)

1. Membership

Change your mindset to treat your customers more like members of an exclusive club with special benefits attached. Offer members exclusive benefits and amenities. Invest in creating a membership experience customers will rave about.

At a superficial level, some people might think this is just a matter of describing your customers as “members” instead of “customers” but the membership amazement strategy means much more. Membership means when people decide to do business with you, they achieve a special status in your eyes – they become partners in what your organization is attempting to do to make the world a better place. As fully fledged partners, they are then entitled to better levels of service than they would normally expect. You recognize that special relationship by providing your customers with a level of value which is simply not available elsewhere.

To implement this strategy, some ideas you can consider using would include these:

Identify your fist-time customers and create some kind of welcoming ritual just for them

When customers go to any of the Four Seasons global family of luxury hotels for the first time, they’re given a specially designed welcoming procedure which provides “Recognition, Reassurance and Respect”. Guests are called by name throughout the check-in. The customer’s time is respected so instead of waiting for the guest to catch the receptionist’s eye, the receptionist actively greets guests and makes it clear: “You are the most important priority for me right now.” Typically, check-in is accomplished in four minutes or less in an interaction which flows seamlessly and smoothly.

“It became clear that the greatest luxury for our customers was time, and our service could help them make the most of that.”

– Isadore Sharp, chairman and CEO, Four Seasons

Find out what your customers value the most – and build membership offerings around that

Four Seasons gives its customers what they find hard to get – more time. REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), an outdoor gear and sporting goods retailer, offers a $20 lifetime membership which entitles members to a special discount on all purchases, a yearly dividend on the cooperative’s overall sales, major discounts on used equipment trade-ins, access to exclusive member-only facilities, discounts on outdoor education programs and other rental and service discounts. REI is perfectly happy to sell to casual customers as well but the membership benefits it offers are so compelling most people choose to become members before too long. If you know what your customers value but find hard to get, you can develop a membership program designed around delivering those benefits which will turn them into passionate evangelists for what you have to offer.

Help your customers send a message to the world about the values they believe in

The Better Business Bureau does this very well. When someone says they are a member of the Better Business Bureau, they’re signaling they adhere to a code of sound business practices including trust, honesty, transparency and so on. If you can create a membership experience which allows your customers to send a message to the rest of the world about their standards and practices, this can be a powerful way to increase your sales. Everyone likes to project the message of “Look at the kind of company I keep.”

Develop a membership program which generates a strong sense of belonging

Northern Lights Credit Union operates eight branches in Northern Ontario. One of its most popular membership programs is called “Pay-for-A’s.” Local high school students who are members can bring in their report cards and receive $10 for every A on their most recent report card. Every A also gives the student one entry in an annual raffle for a prize of a new laptop computer. This program is a win-win – local students get recognition for scholastic achievement as well as recognition from family and friends while the credit union gets grassroots word-of-mouth advertising. It also enables the credit union to make deeper inroads into the community it serves and differentiates the credit union from banks and other organizations.

Develop a membership program which generates a strong sense of belonging

The Entrepreneur’s Organization, founded in 1987, is a group of more than...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of The Amazement Revolution (Shep Hyken)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright