Must Read: 5 Books with Tips and Techniques to Improve Your Customer Experience and Service

I know we’re in August and the Back to School advertisements are making the rounds, but summer isn’t over yet! So if you’re heading on vacation soon or relaxing as business slows down a bit, here are a few book suggestions for you to uplevel your own CX skills and that of your team. The following books should be in your arsenal for customer experience transformation.

I hope you pick up a copy or two from the list below and head back to work with a new strategy for getting things done!

The authors of the following books have also been guests on my podcast, The Chief Customer Officer Human Duct Tape Show.

The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath

In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath ask you to think about the positive moments and experiences you’ve had in your life. They explain how these experiences are created because of four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. Their insights help us understand why we tend to remember the best and the worst moments of an experience. Chip and Dan share anecdotes and research that help us piece together ways we can create delightful but meaningful experiences that elevate customers.

Hear Dan Heath share some concepts from the book in our episode: How to Create Power Moments That Rise Above the Rest with Dan Heath.

Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise by Horst Schulze

Horst Schulze, Founder, Chairman & CEO of the Capella Hotel Group, and Co-founder & Former COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. knows a thing or two about creating memorable experiences and providing stellar customer service. In this book, Horst shares distinct principles that have helped him amass global success over his fifty-year career. Horst knows how to lead himself and others into greatness and has grown the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. into a multi-billion dollar brand. Learn how you can apply Horst’s principles to your business.

Watch my video interview with Horst and learn how to be a leader that sets the vision and the standards: 3 Keys to Creating Excellence in Your Customer and Employee Experience with Horst Schulze.

Talk Triggers by Jay Baer and Daniel Lemin

Jay Baer, Founder of marketing consultancy, Convince & Convert, and author of 6 best-selling books, has co-authored this book with Daniel Lemin, shedding light on why and how customers talk about brands. There are more than 30 case studies on different brands and the tactics they employ that results in word of mouth recommendations from one customer to another (Doubletree Hotels and the warm cookie upon arrival, Cheesecake factory’s extensive menu, and more). Pick up the book and read about their 4-5-6 learning system that goes into creating a talk trigger.

Watch my video interview with Jay Baer to get some insights into the book: How to Build In Experiences That Will Earn Customers’ Raves: Introducing the ‘Tak Trigger’ with Jay Baer.

The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty by Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick Delsi

Author, Matthew Dixon is the executive director of the Sales & Service Practice of CEB and also contributes to the Harvard Business Review. In this book, Matthew and his co-authors break down myths about sales, customer experience and customer loyalty. They share research-based facts to help you create plans of action with measurable results. You’ll find tools and templates that have already been tested with CEB in this book to help you improve service, reduce expenses, and decrease churn.

Matthew shared some of his expertise with a guest post on the Customer Bliss blog: Is Your Customer Service Department A ‘Factory of Sadness’?

Kaleidoscope Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles by Chip R. Bell

Author, keynote speaker, and consultant, Chip R. Bell provides a great resource with nine key concepts to help you deliver customer service and experience that’s truly memorable. Like the other CX experts, Chip knows that there’s more to creating a great experience than just providing good service. In this book, Chip offers great takeaways with a focus on grace and giving that will really have you take another look at how you interact with your customers and employees.

Read Chip’s guest post on the Customer Bliss blog about the importance of giving others your best: Mama’s Manners: A Guest Post by Chip Bell.

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Of course, don’t forget that you can also add my books to your reading list as well! My book, Chief Customer Officer 2.0 is a classic, with many of my guests mentioning it helped them develop a framework for their work and truly step into their role as a CX leader. Also, if you haven’t already picked up my new book, Would You Do That Your Mother? The ‘Make Mom Proud’ Standard for How to Treat Your Mother, it’s a great tool with checklists and resources to help you and your team make the best decisions when it comes to treating your customers with respect and dignity.

Have you read any of the books on this list? How have they helped you? Share with me in the comments!