11 Best Books to Improve Your Customer Service And Online Reputation

"The whole world opened to me when I learned to read" - Mary Mcleod Bethune

Being an avid book reader and author, I am a strong votary to books being a treasure trove to gain insights into marketing, entrepreneurship and of course customer service. All business thought leaders have one thing in common: they are book lovers, and they all love sharing their expertise with others. And when such leaders put all their knowledge and years of experience in a book, you won't want to miss them.

Compiled here are 11 books from such leaders worth recommending out of the countless many to gain a sound perspective on customer service. Each of these business experts provides deep insight into creating amazing relationships with your customers and boost business reputation.

11 Hand-Picked, Best Customer Service Books from Industry Experts

1. The Amazement Revolution by Shep Hyken

The theme of this book is that customer service is more than a company department, as it can be the difference between success or failure. Hyken offers seven amazement strategies for satisfying customers with quality experiences that lead to success.

2. The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary by Joseph A. Michelli

Michelli gives insight into how since 1992 Starbucks' stock has grown 5,000%. He attributes this achievement partly to energizing employees and developing personalized customer experiences, culminating in customer loyalty.

3. Amaze Every Customer Every Time: 52 Tools for Delivering the Most Amazing Customer Service on the Planet by Shep Hyken

Hyken points to top quality service that amazes customers as the vehicle for achieving company greatness. He emphasizes five keys to creating amazement: leadership, culture, personalization, competitive edge and community.

4. The Ultimate Question 2.0: How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World by Rob Markey

The book covers the essential customer satisfaction metric of Net Promoter Score. It's all about how to turn loyal customers into promoters of your brand.

5. Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization by Leonardo Inghilleri

Focusing on authentic, superior customer loyalty in a competitive market is the predominant theme of this book. Turning customers into "walking billboards" is the solution for meeting this challenge.

6. The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Background for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman and Rick DeLisi

The authors explore the reasons why customers become loyal or disloyal. They showcase successful companies using CEB research, along with revealing tools and templates that will help enhance customer service, reduce churn rate and cut costs.

7. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh

Hsieh shares his career development that includes worm farming, pizza, LinkExchange, and Zappos. He emphasizes how developing a corporate culture of happiness as a top priority is a powerful winning strategy.

8. Harvard Business Review on Increasing Customer Loyalty by Harvard Business Review

This widely respected publisher offers nine HBR articles about the relationship between companies and customers. It offers insights on CRM software, behavioral science, service-profit chain and reversing customer dissatisfaction.

9. Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service by The Disney Institute and Theodore Kinni

The authors focus on how exceeding expectation is the foundation of Disney's customer service success. One of the primary strategies is to envision new outside-the-box ideas.

10. The Customer Rules: The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service by Lee Cockerell

As one of the most valuable customer service books, former Walt Disney World executive Cockerell lays out rules for winning over customers that involve sincerity, consistency, efficiency, creativity and excellence. It's a wealth of knowledge from a hospitality industry expert with over 40 years of experience.

11. Extraordinary Experiences: What Great Retail and Restaurant by Denise Lee Yohn

Yohn shares her analysis of seven very successful brands including Costco, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and PIRCH. The main theme is how to craft an amazing brand for companies of any size.

Put Ideas Into Action - Improve Your Online Reputation

The above compilation of some of the best books on customer service and online reputation can help you gain fresh and innovative perspectives on how to better focus on customer service in your business and therefore, protect and improve your online reputation by putting those ideas into action.