CONTENTS -- FOREWORD -- INTRODUCTION: WHY STRATEGIC CUSTOMER SERVICE? -- Beyond the Complaint Department -- Why Bother with Strategic Customer Service? -- Everyone Has a Stake in Service -- The Origins of This Book -- The Structure of This Book -- Starting Strategically -- PART 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE -- 1. SEEING CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGICALLY: Understanding the True Role of Customer Service in Your Business -- How Customer Service Affects a Business -- Making the Business Case for Improvements in Service -- Clarifying Key Concepts -- A Model for Maximizing Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty -- First Steps to Strategic Customer Service: Economic Imperative and VOC -- Key Takeaways -- 2. WHAT DO CUSTOMERS WANT (AND WHAT SHOULD WE DELIVER)?: Understanding Customer Expectations and Setting Goals Strategically -- Unexpected Reasons for Unmet Customer Expectations -- Trends in Customer Expectations About Service -- Setting Service Goals Strategically -- Key Takeaways -- PART 2: IDENTIFYING IMMEDIATE REVENUE AND PROFIT OPPORTUNITIES -- 3. TACTICAL RESPONSES AND STRATEGIC SOLUTIONS: Dealing with Customers' Problems and Addressing Their Causes -- Tactical Versus Strategic Problem Solving -- Five Steps to Tactical Problem Solving -- Six Tasks Connecting the Tactical Response to the Strategic Feedback Loop -- Unconventional Management Wisdom -- Key Takeaways -- 4. FIXES AND FINANCES: Making the Financial Case for Customer Service Investments -- The Case for Great Customer Service -- How CFOs Think -- Questions to Guide Modeling the Customer Experience -- The Market Damage Model: What's the Damage? -- The Word on Word of Mouth -- Quality and Service Allow You to Get a Premium Price -- The Market-at-Risk Calculation: Identifying Customers' Points of Pain Across the Whole Experience -- What About Customers With Limited or No Choice?.

Impacted Wisdom -- Key Takeaways -- 5. INFORMATION, PLEASE: Developing an Efficient, Actionable Voice of the Customer Process -- The Objective of VOC and Its Key Building Blocks -- Three Sources of VOC Information and What They Tell You -- The Attributes of an Effective VOC Process -- The Two Major Challenges in Using Customer Contact Data in VOC Programs -- Getting Started in Improving Your VOC Program -- Key Takeaways -- PART 3: RESPONDING TO CUSTOMERS' QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS -- 6. DEFINING PROCESSES THAT WORK FOR CUSTOMERS: Using the Eight-Point TARP Framework for Delivering Service -- Framing the Work -- Tactical Functions -- Strategic Service Functions -- Why Use the Service Delivery Framework? -- The Flowchart of the Framework -- Best Practices for Improving Specific Functions and Activities -- Implementing the Framework -- Get Your System Framed -- Key Takeaways -- 7. TECHNOLOGY AND THE CUSTOMER INTERFACE: Creating Systems That Customers Will Use-and Enjoy -- Why Customers Love-Hate Technology -- Getting the Customer-Technology Interface Right -- Nine Technological Applications to Consider -- A Few Words on "Push" Communications -- Key Takeaways -- 8. PEOPLE ARE STILL PARAMOUNT: Four Factors for Creating Sustained Front-Line Success -- The High-Turnover Mentality and Its Subtle Cost -- Factor 1: Hiring the Right People -- Factor 2: Providing the Right Tools -- Factor 3: Offering the Right Training -- Factor 4: Supplying the Right Motivation -- People Are the Solution -- Key Takeaways -- PART 4: MOVING TO THE NEXT LEVEL -- 9. THE ULTIMATE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: Boosting Revenue by Creating Delight -- What Is Delight? -- The Economics of Creating Delight -- Five Ways of Creating Delight -- Discover Your Specific Delighters -- Cross-Selling and Up-Selling -- Foster Creative Delight -- Key Takeaways.

10. BRAND-ALIGNED CUSTOMER SERVICE: Building the Service Strategy Into Every Function -- Customer Service as the Guardian of Brand Equity -- Customer Expectations and Experiences -- The Nine Building Blocks of Brand-Aligned Service -- Tiered Customer Relationships and How to Handle Them -- Brand-Aligning Strategic Customer Service -- Stand by Your Brand -- Key Takeaways -- PART 5: INTO THE FUTURE -- 11. RIDE WAVES WITHOUT WIPEOUTS: Dealing with Trends in Labor, Technology, and Politics -- Labor Trends: Challenges in Attracting Human Resources -- Technology Trends: The Challenge of Using Technology Intelligently -- Political Trends: Challenges in Regulatory and Safety Concerns and Environmental Issues -- Respond, Don't React -- Key Takeaways -- 12. A THOUSAND THINGS DONE RIGHT: Translating the Strategy of Delivering Superb Service Into Organizational Behavior -- Appointing a Chief Customer Officer -- Focusing All Functions on the Customer Experience -- Linking Incentives to the Right Metrics -- Delivering a Great Experience Through Channel Partners -- Never Declare Victory -- Forever Stay the Course -- Key Takeaways -- INDEX -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- X -- Y -- Z.