Several months ago I blogged a particularly bad customer service experience, and subsequently mentioned a book on the subject by Adam Bailine. Adam recently sent me a copy of the book, and I had the chance to peruse it this weekend. The book is “Service This! Winning the war against Customer Disservice”, and is published by Last Chapter First (http://www.lastchapterfirst.com/). The basic message of this book is that there is a lot of bad customer service out here, and by being calm, persistent, relentless, consistent, and rocking the boat, you can make things better. This is not rocket science, and honestly, while I did find the book somewhat entertaining, I also found the content to be rather obvious and even simplistic. The books core message is sound, and I can see the sample letters being useful to those who need to write complaints. But recommendations like contacting the Better Business Bureau, well, frankly, I know of few companies or consumers who really care what the BBB thinks. So, my opinion of this book is somewhat neutral. This is a small book (under 100 pages), and costs just under $12 (so it is not a major investment), so there is little to lose here. But at the same time, don’t expect earth shattering revelations either.
Review: "Service This!"
One response to “Review: "Service This!"”
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That’s exactly how I felt about the book.
The information was basic, common-sense stuff.
But, the book is cheap and gives you a frame-work to work within while solving issues of poor service.
And, IMHO, sometimes it’s just easier to follow a few steps than to have to think of, "What do I do now?".
So, if you tend to get your customer service issues resolved on your own, then you might take a pass on this book.
However, if you’d like an easy to follow process, for, say, when the autobody shop you took your car to overcharges you by 220 dollars, then maybe this is your book.
HTH,
Chris Phillips
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