Raving Fans: A Revolutionary Approach To Customer Service

I'm a dentist, and even though people think I have patients, they are also customers. I and my staff have to deliver exceptional service if I expect them to come back and refer their friends and family to me. The normal dental experience in this world is "well, he didn't hurt me too much." I want people to rave about their dental visits, not just tell the usual "horror stories"! This book has been used in my office as a reading assignment and the subject of staff meetings, in an attempt to comunicate to my staff and have them deliver service that exceeds the patient's expectations. The simple style it's told in really keeps their attention, since most people will not read the more detailed and lengthy books on the market that are similar in substance. Highly recommended for any business person--large or small!

I've been a struggling small business owner (some 32 to 38 employees, depending upon the season) thinking my problem was either that I was undercapitalized or that I had hired the wrong people. Raving Fans was a wake up call. The problem was I wasn't creating raving fans. I was satisfied if my customers were satisfied, but I learned in this book that service is so bad that customers expectations are low. It's easy to satisfy low expectations and it doesn't mean very much. You have to create raving fans. Customers who tell others how wonderful you are. Today everyone in my company is focused on customers. Focused on creating stories our customers can tell others. Creating those magic moments the book calls giving symbolic hugs. Best of all Raving Fans gave me the road map to do it, all wrapped up in three easy lessons. This book may be simple, but it is also profound and by far the best customer service book I've ever read, and I guess the best business book too. I'd be out of business today if I hadn't adopted the strategy of creating raving fans and then getting everyone in the company to do the same. The result is we've stopped buring our customer list every six months. We're retaining old customers, adding new ones and sales are way up. Today Raving Fans is required reading for every new hire. Thanks Amazon for this opportunity to write this review. You're the best. I'm your RAVING FAN!

Richard Anders

In a world of almost no service, RAVING FANS takes the opposite perspective -- that virtually perfect service is worth pursuing. Those who are used to providing and suffering from having no service will find this book impossible to comprehend. I found it inspiring.

A major problem with most books on management processes is that that do too little to focus on how to make large amounts of progress beyond what is now done. RAVING FANS is a big success in providing you with simple instructions for making large strides toward achievable perfection in providing service.

Imagining perfection is a critical first step to improvement, yet most people have never thought about what that could mean. Then testing that perfection with customers (and potential customers) must be done to be sure that there is a valid opportunity, and to be able to understand customers' ideas about achievable perfection. Then attaching the idea of continuous improvement toward that vision is also valuable, and useful.

There are plenty of practical tips about how to do each part in RAVING FANS, which is key to making this book so valuable.

One of the reasons that I enjoy writing reviews about books on-line is that I can find a book like RAVING FANS that agrees so much with my own perspective and research. This book will quickly get you past your Psychology of Disbelief, Bureaucracy, Procrastination, Communiation, and Ugly Duckling stalls. Good for Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles . . . and good for you, too! Even better for your customers!

If you like this book, be sure to go on to read GUNG HO, the second book in the series, which deals with getting employees fired up to produce great service for Raving Fans. The third book in the series, BIG BUCKS!, just came out, and is a worthwhile successor to the first two. I suggest you read all three if you have a business or aspire to have one that provides well for employees, customers, and owners.

A good related book is THE CUSTOMER CENTERED COMPANY by Richard Whiteley.

Ken Blanchard's books were recommended to me by a former employer. Because my position included customer service, I purchased RAVING FANS. The book takes a lighthearted look at the serious subject of customer service. It's easy to follow and contains valuable advice. It was good enough to be recommeneded to a co-worker, who has since gone into business for herself. While reading, I realized what wonderful service I receive from waitresses, my hairdresser, and my mechanic. These people could have read this book from cover to cover. I think that readers will be pleasantly surprised to recognize people in their everyday life who have made their customers into Raving Fans. Unfortunately, the employer who recommended Blanchard to me was not interested in reading the book. He didn't like my implementing Blanchard's suggestions -- despite clients calling and, indeed, RAVING, that the lessons I learned were increasing business. I ultimately left the job, and hope to be able to use he advice in the future.

Kenneth Blanchard continues his trend of writing easy-to-read books with BIG ideas for making your business better. Raving Fans is a book of stories relating how fictional companies have created an environment of delivering awesome customer service. A guy that has just been put in a managment position requiring a turnaround goes on a fictional trip with his "angel" to visit businesses that have figured out their vision and their system to deliver customer service extraordinary. Based on three simple principles (Decide, Discover, Deliver), each company has created a group of Raving Fans (not just customers, but fans) who wouldn't consider shopping anywhere else for what one of these companies offers. Within each story is other nuggets of common sense and good ideas that can be implemented in any company that has customers and wants to create fans. We required our store managers to read the book and each created a list ranging from 20-40 points that they can put into effect at their stores to improve customer service. This is a simple, must-read for every business owner and manager.