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Incredible customer service
Furthermore, this commitment is deemed to include '... no withdrawal into the more esoteric and abstruse realms of academe'. This may be the case but Integrated Marketing does not sit easily either as a practical guide or authoritative text. The claim made of the book to be 'realistic, readable and relevant' may in part be true, but it was hidden in rather chatty text which w o u l d have benefitted from stronger editing. There are eight chapters with titles such as 'Red lamps, dry skin and cut corners limiting engineering attrition in design and development' and 'Cutting the cackle: the sales force in perspective' that are designed to '... s h o w . . , h o w to achieve inter-departmental cooperation for a unified, market-focused strategy'. However, the content requires the reader to concentrate and evaluate extensively without providing a solid framework against which this is possible. Some sections include interesting observations and are well presented but too many were difficult to assimilate on a first reading. Mr. Skinner may be '... very alive in a practical, helpful and pragmatic w a y to all those situations where mass marketing techniques and lavish budgets just do not apply', but he does not appear to be alive to marketing--understanding h o w his customers access material in an efficient way.
Principles of Marketing is a useful text which provides an interesting perspective on basic aspects of marketing. The author summarises marketing effectively and elucidates throughout, drawing on a wide range of management sources to enhance the explanation of what w o u l d otherwise simply be another book in the marketing maze. A straightforward, fairly classic, approach is used to provide detail on concepts and techniques balanced by sensible examples. Twenty one chapters cover key marketing issues with well described definitions and models or analytical tools--starting with 'understanding environments and markets', 'understanding customers and consumers' and ending with overviews of 'marketing of services', 'industrial marketing', and 'international marketing' to finish on 'putting it all together--strategy and planning'. In addition, well devised short (often less than half a page) case studies have been included with relevant
Book Reviews
discussion questions. A good selection of diagrams is used, although perhaPs too few. There are many sections of value to both the practitioner and student. However, the wealth of content is not always readily accessible and the book could benefit from some layout reorganization, notably visually and structurally--the 'key learning points' given for each chapter appear at the end; small print is used to avoid overwhelming the reader, sadly it nevertheless does. A little more attention to making the text user-friendly would not go amiss and would make a good text excellent.
Incredible Customer Service is billed as appealing to public sector managers, but it is valuable for anyone concerned with improving customer service as it meets the stated objective of being '... highly stimulating and provocative'. The author has sectionalized the text into five parts: 'The 14 key tests of customer service', 'Managing to achieve incredible customer service', 'Some practical steps', 'Some case studies', and 'Some final thoughts'. Each part is a well developed appraisal of the key factors that contribute to incredible customer service, backed up by 'the stories that customers tell', which adds an interesting practical dimension. Indeed, a very pragmatic approach is adopted which provides useful hints for both the practitioner and student in understanding the route to business success through enhanced customer service. Many fairly obvious ideas have been well described and re-worked to give an insight into manageable ways of enhancing the interface between companies and their customers. The inclusion of 'customer mantras' for managers--learning h o w to improve customer service is a lifelong pursuit', 'never ever criticize the customers who give you feedback, no matter how disagreeable it is'--within a readable content are helpful reminders of what good service is all about. Details of how some companies approach the task of customer service--Waterstone's Booksellers, Bank of Scotland among others--round off the content. This is not an academic book but an informative and common sense read that will benefit practitioners in marketing especially, as well as the inquiring student. ANNA ZACHAREWICZ
Independent Consultant.
Principles of Marketing is a useful text which provides an interesting perspective on basic aspects of marketing. The author summarises marketing effectively and elucidates throughout, drawing on a wide range of management sources to enhance the explanation of what w o u l d otherwise simply be another book in the marketing maze. A straightforward, fairly classic, approach is used to provide detail on concepts and techniques balanced by sensible examples. Twenty one chapters cover key marketing issues with well described definitions and models or analytical tools--starting with 'understanding environments and markets', 'understanding customers and consumers' and ending with overviews of 'marketing of services', 'industrial marketing', and 'international marketing' to finish on 'putting it all together--strategy and planning'. In addition, well devised short (often less than half a page) case studies have been included with relevant
Book Reviews
discussion questions. A good selection of diagrams is used, although perhaPs too few. There are many sections of value to both the practitioner and student. However, the wealth of content is not always readily accessible and the book could benefit from some layout reorganization, notably visually and structurally--the 'key learning points' given for each chapter appear at the end; small print is used to avoid overwhelming the reader, sadly it nevertheless does. A little more attention to making the text user-friendly would not go amiss and would make a good text excellent.
Incredible Customer Service is billed as appealing to public sector managers, but it is valuable for anyone concerned with improving customer service as it meets the stated objective of being '... highly stimulating and provocative'. The author has sectionalized the text into five parts: 'The 14 key tests of customer service', 'Managing to achieve incredible customer service', 'Some practical steps', 'Some case studies', and 'Some final thoughts'. Each part is a well developed appraisal of the key factors that contribute to incredible customer service, backed up by 'the stories that customers tell', which adds an interesting practical dimension. Indeed, a very pragmatic approach is adopted which provides useful hints for both the practitioner and student in understanding the route to business success through enhanced customer service. Many fairly obvious ideas have been well described and re-worked to give an insight into manageable ways of enhancing the interface between companies and their customers. The inclusion of 'customer mantras' for managers--learning h o w to improve customer service is a lifelong pursuit', 'never ever criticize the customers who give you feedback, no matter how disagreeable it is'--within a readable content are helpful reminders of what good service is all about. Details of how some companies approach the task of customer service--Waterstone's Booksellers, Bank of Scotland among others--round off the content. This is not an academic book but an informative and common sense read that will benefit practitioners in marketing especially, as well as the inquiring student. ANNA ZACHAREWICZ
Independent Consultant.