Amaze Every Customer Every Time

Shep Hyken, a customer experience expert, builds his case for amazing customers around a single role model: Ace Hardware, which Businessweek named one of the ten best customer service brands in America and which led its industry in customer satisfaction rankings. Stories of Ace's work with its customers illustrate five tactical areas of customer amazement: culture, leadership, competitive edge, community and one-on-one service. Hyken argues that this kind of service requires everyone in an organization to act as a leader, with or without a title. The material is broken into 52 Amazement Tools, such as asking the extra question and focusing on the customer rather than the money, which Hyken presents as simple, clear and useful for almost anybody.

Zappos chief executive Tony Hsieh endorsed it, tying its message to the Zappos aim of delivering WOW through service. Horst Schulze of Capella Hotel Group called its message clear and its lessons simple.