Amacom High-Tech, High-Touch Customer Service: Inspire Timeless Loyalty in the Demanding New World of Social Commerce

Great no bull s*** book about the great aspect of service. Really enjoyable, and takes the service quite easy, no big theories og models.

HIGH TECH, HIGH TOUCH CUSTOMER SERVICE by Micah Solomon takes the reader on a road map of customer service in the digital age. Just as technology is changing at lightning-fast speed, so too must successful businesses be quick to adopt new ways to interact and satisfy the digital customer. Gone are the days when the mantra was, "If you want to be successful in business today, you must have an internet presence." While truer today than ever before, unfortunately many companies have no idea how to manage that internet presence.Learning to treat individual customers as individuals, honoring individual preferences unique to that customer, is the key to business success. While this statement, found in Chapter 1 of the book, has always been accurate, learning to treat the virtual customer as an individual is more challenging. The challenge is compounded by the `activist' mentality whereby customers now demand an alignment of company values with their own and they express this sentiment with their buying choices. These are the types of issues that are addressed here by the author.Solomon examines both positive and negative examples of how companies have responded to customer issues in the new era. As an example, let's take a close look at Chapter 4; The Art of Anticipation. To introduce the concept of `anticipatory' service, Solomon utilizes Ritz-Carlton, whose credo includes, "The Ritz-Carlton ... fulfils even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests". To expand on the anticipatory experience, Solomon examines a typical trip into an Apple store and how Apple has mastered the art of anticipatory service. For effect, Solomon discloses the experience he had years ago when he ordered his first Macintosh and compares it to the experience he had recently when ordering his last Mac. The contrasts are start and clearly delineate the advances the company has made in anticipatory service. The chapter goes on to include other hit and miss examples of anticipatory service. Most, but not all, of the chapters conclude with a "your point is" section which recaps the crucial points to remember.Along the journey, there is good information here about creating and maintaining corporate culture, hiring people with the right attitude, social media and how to position yourself correctly, principles of successful self-service, providing for disabled customers, and avoiding what is perhaps the common mistake in the digital age many companies make, using technology to complicate the customer experience into something more harmful than it is useful. Haven't we all experience having to spend countless time jumping through hoops before we can ever get the opportunity to speak to an actual human, only to find out they speak very limited or broken English and really can't answer our questions?That last point is really what this book is all about. While technology has advanced business like nothing else, one aspect of business - customer service - is often made much more difficult by the very technology that assures business success in today's world. If not used correctly, that technology brings with it many pitfalls that must be avoided. Solomon's book will help you avoid those pitfalls and utilize the technology to the best of your ability.

I just finished reading Micah Solomon's "High Touch, High Tech Customer Service" and thought it was great. It was a combination learning experience / wake-up-call for my businesses. I realized that it is impossible to survive if you sit idly by and don't attend to the ever-changing customer landscape. You can do a lot old school and stick to the adage - "the customer is always right", but it's just not enough. This book really enlightened me on how much information customers have at their fingertips. It also enlightened me on how powerful a single disgruntled customer can be. Solomon doesn't stop at just breaking down the issues - he goes into great detail explaining how to deal with the issues-the right way.Solomon's insights helped to extend and give more detail to the broad stroke concepts I learned reading Tony Hseih's books  Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose; A Round Table Comic . Which were more specifically about culture building.Using case studies and interesting (and sometimes very funny) vignettes, Solomon makes what would normally be a pretty boring topic fascinating.Honestly, I decided to read this book because I wanted to demystify some things about using social media to communicate with my customers. I got all the answers I was looking for on that front, and a whole lot more.I am now convinced that customer service is the new marketing. Learn or become part of the dead pool. If you want to keep your business ahead of the curve and start really anticipating your customer's needs - this book is an awesome place to start.Lastly - as an experiment - I took a chance and did as Solomon suggests at the end of the book. He actually gives you his contact info and invites you to use it. I set my kindle on the nightstand - picked up my iPhone and wrote him an email. It was almost kind of ridiculous how fast he responded - and I am not talking about an auto-response. He answered all of my questions as if we had been friends for years. He practices what he preaches. I would recommend this read to anyone that has an interest in making sure his or her business survives the next 3-5+ years. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose; A Round Table Comic

A simply outstanding book on customer service in the modern era. We have adopted many of the ideas in this book when building out the customer experience model for our business (a luxury travel service). In today's high-tech, always-on "social media-infused world", integrating high-touch service is not just important, it's a killer strategic advantage when executed well. Micah's book gives sound advice on how to create a scalable culture of customer service that earns raving customers for life.

Hich-tech high-touch customer service is definitely a must read especially in this social CRM digital age! Micah generously shares valuable examples on customers retention and loyalty. This book is excellent for anyone who is in the service industry. I love this book so much and bought half a dozen to share with my support managers and colleagues.