Build Your Customer Strategy: A Guide to Creating ... (ISBN 0471776602)

Why you need your customers to have an emotional bond with your company and how to develop it.:
Think about the businesses and products you care about most. It might be a favorite restaurant or a professional tool you use in your job. Do you feel an emotional connection to the business? Why? Do you see a face or remember some particularly special personal interactions with the company? You probably do. Now, do you suppose that your customers fell that way about your company? Why not? If they do, what are you doing so they feel that emotional connection? James Barnes has written a very powerful book about why you want to have your customers develop a strong emotional bond with your business. Even more, he provides you with key information on how to do it. You start by wearing a customer hat to work each day. Look at your business as your customers see it and get rid of everything that stands between your customer and his caring about your company. I also like they way he understands the benefits of CRM, but shows so clearly about why it is inadequate. A repeat customer isn't a loyal customer. And a customer focused company is not a customer centric company. Targeting marketing messages cannot substitute for a powerful personal connection. His discussion of why lateral extensions are more useful in creating customer connections than linear extensions is among the best in the book. Just terrific stuff. You won't go wrong by reading and implementing what Mr. Barnes has provided for you here. Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Class assignment:
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Build Your Customer Strategy:
One of the best, easy to understand well written books on the subject of Customer service excellence. Dr. Jim Barnes left out all the industry jargon and catch phrases to keep this book readable. This subject has been abused by thousands of "customer service experts" over the years but Dr. Barnes' approach is so different he makes you want to read this book cover to cover and appreciate what he has to share. I strongly recommend this book to all business owners in the service and retail industries.

A thought-provoking guide to creating loyal customers:
James Barnes is an iconoclast about statistics and customer relationship management software. He's interested in building customer loyalty instead. He advocates building it not with data but by putting yourself in your customers' shoes. Your job then becomes removing everything that gets in the way of their having a great experience in every interaction with your company. Charts help him get his points across, and an appendix that provides a "customer strategy template" will help you implement his ideas. getAbstract recommends this book if you still believe that repeat customers are the same thing as loyal customers or that having a targeted customer marketing strategy means your company is customer-focused.

A practical and straight forward approach to the customer.:
Once again, Jim Barnes has written a straight forward guide on building customer relationships. In simple terms- wear the customer hat and listen. Using the emotional connection as the foundation of the relationship, Jim has provided detailed explanations and examples on the strength of creating true, lasting relationships with customers. We have all been in the position of a truly happy customer where we have told others about our experience. Jim Barnes has studied this experience and has given the reader the examples and explanations so that we can try to create this kind of a company- a truly customer focussed company.