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    The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself
    The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself
    The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself
    Ebook106 pages2 hours

    The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself

    By Catherine Devrye

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    About this ebook

    If you’ve ever thought that you’re the only one who truly cares about service and you’re not sure how to maintain momentum in your organization, ‘The Customer Service Zoo’ may be just what you need to look at things with a fresh perspective. 

    It’s an easy to read parable with a light hearted approach to the perennial challenges of customer service; told with the charm and experience of Australia’s most recognized customer expert. Along similar lines to ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ or ‘Fish, it encourages you to look creatively at customer issues; while still looking after yourself.

    Feeling uninspired while preparing a customer service strategy, a father reluctantly takes his daughter to the zoo. The animal antics trigger a brainstorming journey, where his seemingly childlike thoughts convincingly come together. The lessons learned, as the story unfolds, are captured in an A-Z of simple and memorable animal analogies.

    It’s for anyone who has direct or indirect customer contact.

    Originally released by Allen & Unwin, Australia’s largest independent publisher, it’s been translated into numerous languages.

    Les Galbraith Vice President American Express
    ‘An excellent reference for leaders amidst  today’s demanding work life’ 

    Peter Weisner Manager Sales Mercedes Benz
    ‘Original as well as effective’  

    Tony Jollye Australian Institute of Management
    ‘Characteristics that good managers may well take to heart’’

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEverest Press
    Release dateFeb 21, 2014
    ISBN9781497752139
    The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself
    Author

    Catherine Devrye

    Catherine DeVrye is a best-selling author of 8 non-fiction books, translated into over a dozen languages, including a #1 best-selling business book in Australia and Taiwan. Her memoir also made the best seller list in Australia and Canada. Past winner of the Australian Executive Woman of the Year Award and Keynote Speaker of the Year, she is an outstanding communicator and her delightfully humorous approach to presenting authentic content has earned standing ovations and long queues at book signings and corporate conferences on 5 continents. Her books have been endorsed by Sir Edmund Hillary, Dr Edward DeBono, Bryce Courtenay, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. One who never excelled during English class at high school, Catherine calls herself an ‘accidental author’; simply writing from experience-and from the heart-in line with her mission to help others help themselves. Always in search of adventure-and fresh material-she has swam with sharks, cycled over the Andes, climbed to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro and beyond Everest Base Camp, volunteered with street kids in Vietnam & carried the Olympic torch on the day of the opening ceremonies of the Sydney Olympics. Yet, she always sees writing the next book as her biggest challenge.  

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      Book preview

      The Customer Service Zoo:Create Customers for Life and a Life for Yourself - Catherine Devrye

      cover.jpg

      The Customer Service Zoo:

      Create customers for life and a life for yourself

      Catherine DeVrye

      The Customer Service Zoo

      Copyright © 1999 Catherine DeVrye.

      The Customer Service Zoo revised e-book edition

      Copyright © 2012 Catherine DeVrye.

      First published in Australia in 1999 by Allen & Unwin.

      All rights reserved. This book is copyright © Catherine DeVrye and may not be electronically forwarded to others without permission from the author. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

      Everest Press

      PO Box 559

      Manly 1655 NSW

      Australia

      Phone: (61) 2 9977 3177

      Email: books@greatmotivation.com

      Web: www.greatmotivation.com

      Chapters

      Introduction

      Friday Night

      Saturday Morning

      Ape—Monkey See. Monkey do. Lead by example.

      Bear—Come out of hibernation

      Camel—A horse designed by a committee

      Dingo—You can teach an old dog new tricks

      Elephant—You’re only strong if you feel empowered

      Fish—Learn to fish to eat for a lifetime

      Giraffe—Stick your neck out to set higher standards

      Horse—You can lead ‘em to water but you can’t make ‘em drink

      Impala—Change direction quickly

      Joey—When the customer says jump, ask how high

      Koalas and Kookaburras—Bad service is no laughing matter

      Lion—Turn angry customers from lions to lambs

      Mouse—Pay attention to those tiny squeaks

      Nit—It’s the little things which bug people

      Ostrich—Never bury your head in the sand.

      Pig and Parrot—Don’t simply mimic others

      Quokka—Beware of little known breeds

      Rabbit—Multiply your customer base

      Seal—A balancing act

      Turkey or Tiger?—Replace the quick sales kill

      Unicorn—Pointed in the right direction

      Vulture—Beware of competition circling

      Whale—How to find and keep big performers

      X-breed—Taking the best of the best

      Yak and Yeti—That mythical perfect organisation

      Zebra—It’s not all black and white

      A New Beginning?

      Monday Morning With a Difference

      Acknowledgements

      About the author

      Other books by Catherine DeVrye

      Introduction

      Remember your childhood visits to the zoo? I can still fondly recall those Sunday afternoon trips, where I sat perched on Dad’s shoulders to see over the bigger people-to look into a world of wonder, fascinated by animal behaviour, as I am fascinated by people today

      It would be naive to suggest that the innocent playfulness of children, cubs or puppies can provide solutions to our increasingly complex business world. But, how often do we feel our places of employment are little more than cages to our creative spirit.

      I often hear such comments as ‘It’s a zoo out there.’

      We grow older and apart from wrinkles and grey hair, nothing seems to change; except growing resentment, or acceptance of our unnatural condition we find ourselves in; no longer having fun, feeling shackled by the mortgage. With the organisational chart providing as much freedom to move as a lion cage, we feel disempowered and trapped. This is especially true with the wide array of issues we face in providing quality customer service.

      Until recently, I hadn’t been to the zoo in years. I never seemed to have enough time. Life seemed simpler as a child, and Dad always seemed to have ready answers to my never ending array of questions.

      As the author of the #1 best-selling ‘Good Service is Good Business’, I have had the privilege of delivering presentations on five continents to leading business and government organsations. But lately, the questions which I frequently get asked, and find myself asking, have changed dramatically to the ones I asked my father. Now, they’re more likely to be:

      How to boost the bottom line?

      How to handle change?

      How to get more from employees?

      How to get more reliable suppliers?

      How to find more time and balance in our busy lives?

      How to have more loyal customers and more profitability?

      How to plan for the future?

      As an executive in both the private and public sectors for more than two decades, in two hemispheres, I have often wondered why we take pride in providing complex answers to such questions rather than relying on simplicity. In hindsight, many of the big corporate issues I faced at IBM or in government were handled easily once a simple solution had emerged from continual intellectual analysis.

      During my time as an executive in Japan, I learned about the Eastern calendar. For centuries, it had been based on a 12-year cycle, symbolic of certain character traits. Similar to Zodiac star signs, birth in the Year of the Tiger or Year of the Rabbit is meant to lend you certain character attributes. As animal analogies have always been used, it didn’t seem too crazy to use them in the context of a book on customer service.

      This is not a text and contains no earth shattering revelations. Rather, it is a simple story, which you can quickly and easily digest, especially written for those of you who are trying to provide better customer service in your organisation and who sometimes feel that you’re the only ones who care!

      So, for the next little while, suspend your sophisticated adult beliefs about what business books should be and enjoy your visit to the zoo.

      Friday Night

      It hadn’t been a good week. In fact, the past month had been nothing but one headache after another at the office-more customer complaints, less profit and a seemingly endless array of staff morale issues.

      Phil wasn’t in the best frame of mind when he arrived home on Friday night. He loosened his tie with one hand, turning the company car into the driveway with the other. He was looking forward to a cold drink and watching some football on TV.

      As he grabbed his briefcase from the back seat, he remembered that he also had to work on the customer service strategy over the weekend. It wasn’t an appealing thought. At least it could wait until after golf on Saturday.

      Their fat Labrador was the only one to greet him as he tripped over a suitcase by the front door.

      ‘What’s this doing here? he snarled.

      ‘I’ll be right down dear,’ called his wife Karen as she came down the stairs. She was obviously distressed.

      ‘I’ve got to visit Mum. The nursing home called to say that she’d taken a turn for the worse. I’ve arranged for Steve to stay with a school friend but you’ll have to look after Julie.’

      This was the last thing Phil needed after a bad week at work. But, what could he say? So much for a relaxing game of golf he thought.

      ‘Couldn’t you take Julie with you?’ he asked

      ‘To a nursing home!’ Karen exclaimed in exasperation. She gave him ‘the look’ and his resistance was overcome with guilt.

      ‘Heat up dinner in the microwave and she can watch DVDs until 8PM. I’ll see you Sunday.’

      ‘Yeah OK. I, uh, hope your mother feels a bit

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