Where is customer service innovation really happening right now? Is it mostly in sales, brands, marketing, call centers, e-commerce, retailing, CRM, products, social media, mobile, games, finance? These titles show that it’s taking place over the entire spectrum.
Although there’s a strong relevance, we’ve left out media, PR, content and other directly related issues, which deserve a list of their own, which is something we’re working on at the moment. Many of these books address some aspects of these issues in the context of social media.
(10) Why Should Anyone Buy from You?: Earn customer trust to drive business success (Financial Times Series) by Justin Basini. Published on Oct 24, 2011.
(9) The Hidden Power of Your Customers: 4 Keys to Growing Your Business Through Existing Customers by Becky Carroll. Published on Jul 20, 2011.
(8) Uncommon Service: How to Win by Putting Customers at the Core of Your Business by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss. Published on Feb 7, 2012.
(7) We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World by Simon Mainwaring. Published on Jun 7, 2011.
(6) The Ultimate Question 2.0 (Revised and Expanded Edition): How Net Promoter Companies Thrive in a Customer-Driven World by Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey. Published in Hardcover – 1 Sep 2011.
(5) The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch. Published in Hardcover – 30 Jun 2011
(4) Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands, Sales and Marketing: The Essential Cultural Guide to Global Cultural Etiquette- from Presentations and Promotions to Communicating and Closing by Terri Morrison and Wayne A. Conway. Published in Paperback – 11 Nov 2011.
(3) Sales Chaos: Using Agility Selling to Think and Sell Differently by Tim Ohai and Brian Lambert. Published on May 31, 2011.
(2) Brand Failures: The Truth about the 100 Biggest Branding Mistakes of All Times by Matt Haig. Published on Jun 28, 2011.
(1) The Social Customer: How Brands Can Use Social CRM to Acquire, Monetize, and Retain Fans, Friends, and Followers by Adam Metz. Published on Sep 16, 2011.
Honorable mentions. I’m not sure if this one, although it is undoubtedly excellent, has quite enough direct relevance to qualify, but I can imagine that there will be some Harvard Business Review devotees out there who will assure me that it does.
Brand Real: How Smart Companies Live Their Brand Promise and Inspire Fierce Customer Loyalty by Laurence Vincent. Published in Hardcover – 1 Mar 2012.
The Zappos Experience: 5 Principles to Inspire, Engage, and WOW by Joseph A. Michelli. Published on Oct 7, 2011.
The Social Media Sales Revolution: The New Rules for Finding Customers, Building Relationships, and Closing More Sales Through Online Networking by Landy Chase and Kevin Knebl. Published in Hardcover – 1 Sep 2011.
