Now here’s
a story of how to “wow” the customer.
Rarely as providers do we put ourselves in the shoes of our customers to
find ways to meet needs they’re not even aware of.

In The Amazement
Revolution, an engaging new book on customer service,
author Shep Hyken tells the story of a Web hosting company named Contegix that
proactively uncovered and prevented an impending disaster for a client while
the client itself was unaware of what was happening. One weekend, the Contegix
director of key accounts was monitoring social media mentions of all his
clients’ companies when he noticed a disturbing trend involving one of those
clients, an online ticket agency. A promotion had led to a tidal wave of demand
for free tickets that threatened to crash the client’s Web site. When efforts
to reach the client for a server upgrade authorization were unsuccessful, the
director of key accounts preemptively called in his engineers, who rushed to
install the additional servers that kept the client’s site functioning. On Monday, Contegix informed the client what had
happened during the weekend, and said that the client could pay for the new
servers or refuse them. Contegix also said the rush installation and
engineering over the weekend would be offered at no cost.

The Contegix story is one of the many case studies that exemplify what Hyken
calls “amazing” customer service — customer service that is
consistently and predictably above average. While a number of the ideas in The Amazement Revolution
may be familiar to readers of customer service books, Hyken (whose previous
book was the best-selling The
Cult of the Customer) offers a framework that translates the key
issues of customer service into seven actionable strategies, supported by more
than 100 specific takeaways (with typical flair, Hyken calls them ARTs or
Amazing Revolution Takeaways).

The Power of
Partnership and FUN

The Contegix case study is a powerful illustration of Hyken’s third strategy:
to cultivate a partnership
with customers that goes beyond the traditional ongoing service relationship.
The monitoring of the client’s social media mentions alone was beyond the duty
of a standard Web hosting arrangement. Most Web-hosting companies would not
even have learned of the problem until after the client itself noticed the
issue — which would have been that Monday morning
after the site had crashed over the weekend.

Another of Hyken’s seven strategies is for companies to “have serious
FUN.” The acronym stands for employees who are motivated in their
interactions with customers by a personal sense of Fulfillment and of being appreciated for
their Unique
needs and skill, and the anticipation of the Next
challenge.

As Hyken explains, if you engage your employees, they will engage your
customers. Hyken’s other strategies include:

Provide Membership: Treat the people served by a company as members with
an elite status rather than customers.

Hire Right: Hire the people whose personalities will best support the
customer service experience. The key is to hire for attitude first, then worry
about developing the right skills.

Create a Memorable After-Experience: Create a memorable, positive and
even unexpected experience for customers after they have done business with
you.

Build Community: Create a community of evangelists by listening to,
supporting and respecting your most loyal customers.

Walk the Walk: Make sure every employee at every level of the
organization consistently and without exception supports your commitment to
customer service.

Enthusiastic
Practicality

The cover of The Amazement Revolution
features a stylized rendering of fireworks, effectively underscoring the
celebration of great customer service in these pages. Some readers may see the
cover illustration as cheerleader pom poms, which would be equally appropriate
given the palpable energy and enthusiasm in this book.

The power of the book, however, goes beyond Hyken’s engaging vocabulary and
style. The detailed organization and structure of the book offers readers easy
access to scores of practical strategies, tactics and ideas, supported by 50
real-world examples.

Managers and employees don’t need sizzle, they need steak, and Hyken delivers.