About the Book…
The Customer Rules – The 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service is a book written by Lee Cockerell. In this book, Mr. Cockerell describes to us his list of 39 essential rules that he has honed over the years as a way to deliver sensational service — or, if you do it wrong, ways that you can truly drive your customers away. Some of his list of rules are very pertinent in the Internet connected environment that we live in today, and it’s vital that those of us that rely on good customer service skills deliver that product, or we may fall victim to some of the pitfalls just like some of the companies that Mr. Cockerell refers too in his book.
About Lee Cockerell…
Lee Cockerell, as you may or may not know, is the former Executive Vice President of Operations for the Walt Disney World® Resort, where he led for 10 years. During his time, he had 40,000 Cast Members under him, and spent countless hours honing and refining his customer service techniques. Before that, he held various executive positions at both Hilton Hotels and Marriott Corporation, and spent his career working on improving customer service wherever he was at. It is my pleasure to be reviewing his book for you today.
My Thoughts…
In February 2013, I became a Travel Agent for Pixie Vacations. My initial thought was to give it a try and see if it was a viable part-time occupation for me. As a travel agent, I became immersed in thoughts about how I could best serve my clients while at the same time staying true to all that I believed in. The answer I came to was that — and I know that this is a common sense answer — I had to treat my clients the way that I expected to be treated should I be the customer and they the agent. As a result, Rule #5 “Ask Yourself: What Would Mom Do?” is a very big rule in my life. My Mom gave me much the same advice that Mr. Cockerell’s Mom did — to be successful, you must make sure you work hard at all you do, and also, you need to treat others exactly how you want to be treated. This rule has served me well both in my life as a travel agent and also in my full time job as a network security manager. I think Mr. Cockerell summed it up very well in this quote: “Don’t do anything you would not want Mom to know about.” With the way the world has shrunk because of the advent of the internet, that rule is especially useful when you think about Rule #2: “You Win Customers One at a time, and lose them a Thousand at a time.” With the Internet dialing us all into a global media circus, it isn’t hard to make a mistake that will be noticed by your Mom, even if she barely touches Facebook and has never heard of Twitter. These two rules are but a drop in the bucket in this book — you have 37 other rules to dig into and learn so you don’t make the mistake that could cost you so much hard work.
Conclusion…
In summary, I think that “The Customer Rules” is a book that every business person should read, regardless of the industry they are working in, regardless of the customer clientele that they serve. As Mr. Cockerell so aptly put in Rule #1, “Customer Service is not a Department,” the sooner we all learn this, the better off we will all be. In many ways, Customer Service is a forgotten term, especially in this dog-eat-dog world. The customers are getting fed up with that kind of attitude in the marketplace, and the company that succeeds the most will be the one that truly embraces Customer Service, excels at it, owns up to the mistakes that they make, and in doing so, retains a loyal customer base that will refer them time and time again to their friends.
This review of The Customer Rules by Lee Cockerell is part of a Magical Blogorail sponsored campaign.
Former Executive Vice President of Operations at Walt Disney World Resort, Lee Cockerell, shares his 39 Essential Rules for Delivering Sensational Service in his latest book The Customer Rules. And if you want more from Lee Cockerell check out his first book Creating The Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney.
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You are right I am continually amazed when people make comments that they regret thinking that somehow it was on the internet and private. Definitely goes back to Mom saying if you can’t say it in public than don’t say it at all.
Great points, Mike! It’s great how Mr. Cockerell takes something as complex as customer service and distills it down into simple, easy to implement ideas.