This book only took me a couple of hours to read and was something that the company I work for handed to all people in managerial positions a few years back. It is written in the format of a short story where a “fairy godmother” called Charlie, who is obsessed with golf, appears to an Area Manager and explains to him how to create Raving Fans of his business.
I like the points that are taught in the book. The problem I have is that it has taken a concept that would probably have been better made into a short video or condensed into a couple of A4 pages with some examples of the businesses that successfully implement the concepts, rather than try to make it into a story with some cheesy characters.
To summarize what this book is all about without the waffling, Ken Blanchard teaches three “trade secrets” to create something called Raving Fans of your business which are basically super loyal, happy customers (way more than just satisfied customers). These are his main three points:
1. Decide what you want
2. Discover what the customer wants
3. Deliver Plus One
A few other concepts which are good lessons for any business owner or manager, is that you should be very wary of silence or “fine” as positive feedback because it’s a sign that something is wrong. Also that it’s difficult to try and change too much at once, it’s better to find small service promises that you can deliver consistently. Flexibility is to do with what is delivered as part of customer service whereas consistency is to do with how it is delivered.
That is pretty much the whole book in a nutshell.
Favourite quote from the book:
“If you don’t look after your people, they won’t look after your customers” – Charlie, Pg68.
Overall: 62%