I was asked recently while presenting at the National Association of Quick Printer Owner Conference to post the list of books referenced during the presentation.  Below is the rundown of some books you may want to consider and a brief summary of what you may find interesting.  Happy reading.

Book List & Summary:

1) Customer Retention by Michael Lowenstien

Summary: Covers the myth of customer satisfaction and how to set up retention strategies.  Between 65 and 85% of customers who defect say they were satisfied or very satisfied with their supplier.  Stay close and know your current situation all the time.

2) The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld

Summary: Driving profits and growth by driving loyalty. Create promoters of your business by measuring and increasing the # of very loyal customers

3) Customer Intimacy by Fred Wiersema

Summary: Pick the right customer base.  Know you “A” customer

4) Customer Service on the Internet by Jim Sterne, 1996

Summary: Funny how some things have changed, others have stayed the same, and how still so very far behind printers are after 12 yrs of internet evolution. Quote: “If you have an unhappy customer on the internet, he doesn’t tell his six friends, he tells his 6,000 friends.  Jeff Bezos, President, Amazon.com

5)  101 Ways to Build Customer Loyalty by Debra Schmidt: www.theloyaltyleader.com

Summary: 5 Fs of loyalty:  Family, friendly, flexible, follow-up, fast.  The #1 loyalty killer is the difference between a customer’s expectations and his or her actual experience.  Very tactical, simple,  and practical things to consider.

6) Balanced Scorecard by Paul Niven

Summary: The typical Quick Printer is the Nordstroms(intimacy) of the printing industry.  Not the Walmart(operational) or Sony(innovator). Measuring customer feedback is one of three top areas to keep the score.

7) Website Magazine: 

Summary:  Cutting edge information reporting on the evolution of email marketing, websites, and social networking.

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Summary: Be remarkable.  Be different in a big way.  Be amazing.  Drive word of mouth.