Customer Mania!: It's Never Too Late to Build a Customer-Focused Company

Written by Kenneth Blanchard, Jim Ballard and Fred Finch

Narrated by Kenneth Blanchard

In Customer Mania!, Ken Blanchard, one of America's biggest bestselling authors and inspiring business leaders, writes of the key to customer service—creating a people-oriented, performance-driven, customer-first organization.

Customer service is the single most pressing problem for business managers and people in any service or sales operation, especially at the retail level. In fact, many experts believe that you build a business from the customer up. With coauthors Jim Ballard and Fred Finch, Blanchard explains why the customer is the right starting place from which to build a successful business. By drawing on examples from the world's largest restaurant company, Yum!—owner of KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's, and A&W Restaurants—the authors explain how any company, large or small, can develop a unified, people-first, customer-oriented culture. Packed with practical insights, Customer Mania! emphasizes four critical steps:

• Set Your Sights on the Right Target. The bottom line grows from taking care of customers and creating a motivating environment for your people.
• Treat Customers the Right Way. Determine the kind of experience you want your customers to have as they interact with every part of the company.
• Treat Employees the Right Way. Use strategies ranging from smart hiring to training and development to managing performance and creating a recognition culture.
• Build the Right Kind of Leadership. You can't do it all yourself, so let your people put their own brains to work and then support them all the way.

By relying on these concepts, businesses everywhere can cultivate passionate and engaged team members who contribute to the company's overall success. From CEO to middle manager to the person facing the consumer, Customer Mania! is a vital tool for enhancing their experience -- and their customer's.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Nov 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780743544962

Kenneth Blanchard

Kenneth Hartley Blanchard is an author, business consultant and motivational speaker. His writing career includes 60+ published books, most of which are co-authored books.

Reviews for Customer Mania!

[buckmitchell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Terrific book! Now I can see what turned around all of my favorite Yummy Restaurants. I definitely noticed the decline and when the redo happened and all the restaurants started taking business seriously. Thank you for another great book. Please keep them coming.

[lakenvelder_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book used the Yum! company to show how your company can use wise principles to become customer focused. These growing and profit making companies realize that "Profit is the applause you get for taking care of your customers AND creating a motivating environment for your people.

[jpsnow · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I've typically been impressed with Ken Blanchard's books. This one didn't work for me for a few reasons. First, it was hard to get excited by the trio of fast food restaurants when all three have gone downhill. Second,mthe format just didn't work, especially the back and forth between theory, then application, then grading Yum! Brands success. The most valuable lesson to me was on p. 160-162 where he talks about the importance of humility in a leader.