- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Free Press (September 27, 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743270274
- ASIN: B00164GECW
From Booklist
Willingham, founder and CEO of Integrity Systems, Inc., has helped large organizations around the world (including Johnson & Johnson, IBM, and the Library of Congress) enhance their customer-service skills through his seminars and training sessions. The major tenet of his philosophy is that the success you achieve directly relates to the value that you create for others. This success secret applies to both large and small companies and is particularly effective for the small entrepreneur, because the lessons in this book must be applied at the personal level, where the interaction between customers and company reps occurs. Willingham does much more than provide training for improving customer service; although he never comes out and says it, there is a spiritual component to his viewpoint. He asks the deeper questions such as, What is your purpose and what brings true happiness? Through this discovery process, Willingham helps anyone from CEOs to office workers discover the rewards of creating value by taking responsibility and tackling problems. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Review
"A tremendously enriching book filled with deep-rooted, unchanging principles that work. Trust, the glue of life, is founded on integrity."-- Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness
"Based on the belief that 'success is the by-product of the value you create for others,' Ron Willingham guides the reader through a series of thinking patterns, actions, beliefs, and behaviors that cannot fail to increase levels of success and personal growth. Integrity Service is a book not to be missed."
-- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Customer Mania!
"Ron's unique ability to connect with his readers and use real-life examples to find the relationships among integrity, service, and results makes his new book compelling and timely. His call to service will challenge and reward you both professionally and personally."
-- Marvin Girouard, chairman and CEO, Pier 1 Imports
"After forty years in the hospitality/services industry, I know that Integrity Service effectively explains all aspects of service in the business world. It confirms the same philosophy and integrity I have used with my own employees and customers over the years. I strongly recommend and encourage those starting their career, or anyone at any level seeking synergy, to read this book."
-- Armando Arribas, director, Catering and Convention Services Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Company, Orlando
"Integrity Service provides terrific, practical advice for professionals who truly desire to develop a customer-focused culture. As always, Ron Willingham puts the focus on people: their needs and desires and those who serve them."
-- Beth Daniell, vice president, sales and marketing, American Red Cross --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
"Based on the belief that 'success is the by-product of the value you create for others,' Ron Willingham guides the reader through a series of thinking patterns, actions, beliefs, and behaviors that cannot fail to increase levels of success and personal growth. Integrity Service is a book not to be missed."
-- Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Customer Mania!
"Ron's unique ability to connect with his readers and use real-life examples to find the relationships among integrity, service, and results makes his new book compelling and timely. His call to service will challenge and reward you both professionally and personally."
-- Marvin Girouard, chairman and CEO, Pier 1 Imports
"After forty years in the hospitality/services industry, I know that Integrity Service effectively explains all aspects of service in the business world. It confirms the same philosophy and integrity I have used with my own employees and customers over the years. I strongly recommend and encourage those starting their career, or anyone at any level seeking synergy, to read this book."
-- Armando Arribas, director, Catering and Convention Services Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Company, Orlando
"Integrity Service provides terrific, practical advice for professionals who truly desire to develop a customer-focused culture. As always, Ron Willingham puts the focus on people: their needs and desires and those who serve them."
-- Beth Daniell, vice president, sales and marketing, American Red Cross --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Product Description
Every company today recognizes the importance of good customer service and putting the customer first. Why, then, do service people so often treat us as though we're supposed to serve them, rather than the opposite? How often do we feel neglected, frustrated, or just plain unhappy -- wondering what happened to basic civility and common courtesy? Why do things seem to be getting worse rather than better? And how can businesses train employees to offer customers the courtesy and attention they are entitled to?Ron Willingham, whose seminars and training sessions have helped big companies around the world change their employees' behavior, offers a new and subtler way of looking at customer service. Instead of the traditional "paint an artificial smile on your face" approach, Integrity Service brings the whole person into the service experience, showing that good customer relationships grow from employees' beliefs about who they are and what's possible for them to achieve, what career rewards they deserve, and what value they can give customers.
Integrity Service presents fundamental principles that lead to individual success and gives readers specific action guidelines for on and off the job. Willingham's documented success through his seminars and programs ensures that the hands-on help in this book will bring employees and managers to a new understanding of the nature of service.
In a world of automated phone systems and constantly frustrated customers, Ron Willingham provides a proven program that empowers employees to provide the superior service that people really want and deserve.
Integrity Service presents fundamental principles that lead to individual success and gives readers specific action guidelines for on and off the job. Willingham's documented success through his seminars and programs ensures that the hands-on help in this book will bring employees and managers to a new understanding of the nature of service.
In a world of automated phone systems and constantly frustrated customers, Ron Willingham provides a proven program that empowers employees to provide the superior service that people really want and deserve.
xcerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
IntroductionThis Book Is About Your Success
We can have one of three views in all relationships:
Yes, this book is about your success. It's about your life and your possibilities for enjoying more of the prosperity and abundance that await your quest.
Since you're reading this, I assume that you have a strong desire for greater success in all facets of your life -- in your career, your relationships, and your personal effectiveness. I'm trusting that you're serious about your future hopes and dreams coming true.
I'll share with you time-honored principles that will surely lead you into ever-increasing levels of personal growth and goal achievement. More than 1.5 million people have participated in my personal growth courses in sixty-five nations, and what I'm offering you now is what has worked so well for them.
At this very moment, it's the level of your desire for life's richness that will determine the results you enjoy from reading these chapters.
It's not enough to simply read this book. The book must be experienced. I'll continually challenge you to spend whatever time you need on each chapter -- practicing the suggestions that I'll share with you.
With a sincere desire plus application, you'll soon begin to enjoy expanded success -- on and off your job.
That's my promise to you.
Why Do You Work?
Why do you do what you do? Which of the following career views is yours?
Why You Succeed
Here's a success secret that many people don't know...or practice. They don't practice it because it runs counter to our self- focused human nature. Yet this ageless principle is unerring in its results. It always works in a paradoxical way. Here's the secret: Your success is the by-product of the value you create for others. Your actual level of success is then measured by the amount of benefits you create for the most people.
Are you disappointed with my advice? Or excited? Will you quickly dismiss it as too simplistic, or will you see it for the wisdom it contains? If, indeed, you do understand the common sense of this eternal success principle, and if it's consistent with your values, then you're ready for this book. In the pages that follow, I'll serve as your guide and lead you through a series of thinking patterns, actions, beliefs, and behaviors that will surely elevate you to in- creased levels of success and personal growth...if you make them your own and practice them in your daily life.
Your Two Life Directions
The truth is painfully simple...and paradoxical. We -- individuals and organizations -- have two basic life directions that influence our career success and personal happiness. One is to focus on ourselves, get what we can get, and keep all we can keep. The other is to focus on others and to create as much value for them as we can, knowing that we'll be compensated, rewarded, or respected according to the amount of value we create.
Think about these two life and business views a moment. One is driven by our natural, human, ego-focus. The other evolves from an external, outer, success-oriented focus. As you begin this book, take a few moments to review the Integrity Service Values and Ethics mentioned at the beginning of it. After reading them, ask yourself these questions:
A Customer-Focused Individual
Start by defining your job as helping your organization:
A Customer-Focused Organization
Organizations are made up of people. Organizational effectiveness results to the degree that these people can work together in a spirit of unity and harmony toward a common goal. Many organizations miss this point.
Billions of dollars are spent on organizational development. Even more billions are spent on reorganization after reorganization, driven by the assumption that once the company finds the right organizational strategy, everything will be great. So, when it isn't great, what do companies do? They call in new consultants and go through yet another reorganization.
While the proper organizational structure is important, many managers overlook a more important issue -- their people. Often their people feel like mere numbers, inanimate statistical units that are passed around, handed off, and in many cases made to feel paranoid and insecure. Even in the largest of organizations, it's the development and uniting of people that get the least attention and budget, and too many organizations pay the price of this oversight.
Managers don't harness their people's energies and creativity. They can, though, by developing a customer-focused organization. This gives people a common vision that transcends their own self-focus. Take a look at the following "Customer-Focused Organizations" model. Let me explain the model.
We can have one of three views in all relationships:
- It's all about me.
- It's all about you.
- It's all about us.
Yes, this book is about your success. It's about your life and your possibilities for enjoying more of the prosperity and abundance that await your quest.
Since you're reading this, I assume that you have a strong desire for greater success in all facets of your life -- in your career, your relationships, and your personal effectiveness. I'm trusting that you're serious about your future hopes and dreams coming true.
I'll share with you time-honored principles that will surely lead you into ever-increasing levels of personal growth and goal achievement. More than 1.5 million people have participated in my personal growth courses in sixty-five nations, and what I'm offering you now is what has worked so well for them.
At this very moment, it's the level of your desire for life's richness that will determine the results you enjoy from reading these chapters.
It's not enough to simply read this book. The book must be experienced. I'll continually challenge you to spend whatever time you need on each chapter -- practicing the suggestions that I'll share with you.
With a sincere desire plus application, you'll soon begin to enjoy expanded success -- on and off your job.
That's my promise to you.
Why Do You Work?
Why do you do what you do? Which of the following career views is yours?
- "It's spending eight hours at my job."
- "It's doing a good job."
- "It's creating value for internal and external customers."
Why You Succeed
Here's a success secret that many people don't know...or practice. They don't practice it because it runs counter to our self- focused human nature. Yet this ageless principle is unerring in its results. It always works in a paradoxical way. Here's the secret: Your success is the by-product of the value you create for others. Your actual level of success is then measured by the amount of benefits you create for the most people.
Are you disappointed with my advice? Or excited? Will you quickly dismiss it as too simplistic, or will you see it for the wisdom it contains? If, indeed, you do understand the common sense of this eternal success principle, and if it's consistent with your values, then you're ready for this book. In the pages that follow, I'll serve as your guide and lead you through a series of thinking patterns, actions, beliefs, and behaviors that will surely elevate you to in- creased levels of success and personal growth...if you make them your own and practice them in your daily life.
Your Two Life Directions
The truth is painfully simple...and paradoxical. We -- individuals and organizations -- have two basic life directions that influence our career success and personal happiness. One is to focus on ourselves, get what we can get, and keep all we can keep. The other is to focus on others and to create as much value for them as we can, knowing that we'll be compensated, rewarded, or respected according to the amount of value we create.
Think about these two life and business views a moment. One is driven by our natural, human, ego-focus. The other evolves from an external, outer, success-oriented focus. As you begin this book, take a few moments to review the Integrity Service Values and Ethics mentioned at the beginning of it. After reading them, ask yourself these questions:
- If the people in an organization practiced them, would that company be more profitable? a great place in which to work? ensured of its successful future? trusted and respected?
- If an individual faithfully practiced them, would he or she be more successful? more valuable to his or her organization? happier and more personally fulfilled? more highly compensated?
- external customers,
- internal associates,
- friends,
- family members, and
- relationships.
A Customer-Focused Individual
Start by defining your job as helping your organization:
- 1. Get and keep satisfied, loyal customers.
- 2. Get and keep satisfied, loyal employees.
- 3. Enjoy growth and profitability.
A Customer-Focused Organization
Organizations are made up of people. Organizational effectiveness results to the degree that these people can work together in a spirit of unity and harmony toward a common goal. Many organizations miss this point.
Billions of dollars are spent on organizational development. Even more billions are spent on reorganization after reorganization, driven by the assumption that once the company finds the right organizational strategy, everything will be great. So, when it isn't great, what do companies do? They call in new consultants and go through yet another reorganization.
While the proper organizational structure is important, many managers overlook a more important issue -- their people. Often their people feel like mere numbers, inanimate statistical units that are passed around, handed off, and in many cases made to feel paranoid and insecure. Even in the largest of organizations, it's the development and uniting of people that get the least attention and budget, and too many organizations pay the price of this oversight.
Managers don't harness their people's energies and creativity. They can, though, by developing a customer-focused organization. This gives people a common vision that transcends their own self-focus. Take a look at the following "Customer-Focused Organizations" model. Let me explain the model.
- 1. The purpose of any organization is to serve its owners or stake-holders with growth and profitability. To do this, the organization must get and keep loyal, profitable customers and loyal, productive employees.
- 2. The point of contact includes anyone who touches customers.
- 3. The pillars of the organization are the people and systems that make up the different departments and divisions. They must view their jobs as supporting those who touch customers.
- 4. The foundation is the company's mission, vision, and core values.
- Growth and profitability are driven by
- Customer loyalty, which comes from
- Customer satisfaction, which is driven by
- Value provided to customers, which comes from
- Employee productivity, which is driven by
- Employee loyalty, which is caused by
- Employee satisfaction, which is driven by
- Internal quality, which is a result of
- Leadership.
- 1. Who your customers are.
- 2. What their unique needs are.
- 3. Why they choose to do business with you.
- 4. What unique value you give them that they can't get elsewhere.
- 5. How well your role creates value for customers or ...
