How much do customers value good service? Enough to shell outmore money-as much as 10 percent-for the same merchandise butbetter treatment, according to authors Karen Leland and KeithBailey in Customer Service for Dummies (IDG Books, $19.99paper).
Of course, you probably don't need much convincing to acceptthe notion that first-rate customer service is a prerequisite forany company's success. But, as the authors so astutely pointout, there's a world of difference between good intentions andgood follow-through.
To measure how well your business walks the walk, so to speak,Leland and Bailey provide a service questionnaire you can use. Onceyou assess your company's weaknesses, you'll have a betteridea of which chapters you should pay the closest attention to.
Interestingly, the authors encourage business owners to think oftheir employees as customers, too. "Too often we limit ourdefinition of a customer to someone who is outside of ourcompany," they lament. "The other half of the picture isthe people who work inside your company and rely on you for theservices, products, and information that they need to get theirjobs done. They are not traditional customers, yet they need thesame tender, loving care you give to your external customers."Makes a lot of sense to the non-dummies among us, doesn'tit?
Management Of The Absurd
Any management book that concludes with a chapter titled"My Advice Is Don't Take My Advice" is bound to raisea few eyebrows-and for good reason. But don't read RichardFarson's Management of the Absurd: Paradoxes inLeadership (Simon & Schuster, $21 cloth) for itsentertainment value. Rather, read it to challenge your ownassumptions.
"Examining the absurd is not just a playful exercise,"Farson stresses. "I believe that many programs in managementtraining today . . . fail to appreciate the complexity andparadoxical nature of human organizations."
Without question, Farson faces an uphill battle. He asks readersto believe that effective managers are not in control and thatpraise can actually be a bad thing. Even worse, he makes youquestion the very traits you most pride yourself on.
"Strengths can become weaknesses when we rely too much onthem, carry them to exaggerated lengths, or apply them where theydon't belong," he warns.
It's just that sort of statement that forces readers to dosome serious thinking of their own. And that, undoubtedly, is theauthor's intention.
Jamming
If you're hoping to enhance your creativity as anentrepreneur, you might want to listen to a stack of John Coltranerecords. Follow that up with an earful of Charlie Parker andThelonious Monk. Once you get into the groove, you'll be allthe more prepared to delve into Jamming: The Art andDiscipline of Business Creativity (HarperBusiness, $23cloth).
Author John Kao cleverly likens the creativity in jazz music tothe creativity in business. Think it's a stretch? Not really,considering that both encourage freedom within a set of establishedguidelines. "Like jazz, creativity has its vocabulary andconventions," writes Kao, himself a jazz pianist. "As injazz, too, its paradoxes create tensions. It demands freeexpressiveness and disciplined self-control, solitude in a crowdedroom, acceptance and defiance, serendipity and direction."
The title of Kao's book springs, of course, from thatmagical moment in music whereby inspiration gives way toinnovation. You can jam in business, too-what else arebrainstorming sessions for?-which makes Kao's metaphor such agood one.
