Table Of ContentPerformance Research Associates
Delivering
Knock
Your
Socks
Off
Service
20th Anniversary Edition
Artwork by John Bush
Edited by Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate
© Performance Research Associates, 2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Performance Research Associates, Inc.
Delivering knock your socks off service / Performance Research
Associates. — 5th updated and rev. ed.
p. cm.
“20th anniversary edition.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1755-3
ISBN-10: 0-8144-1755-8
1. Customer services. I. Title.
HF5415.5.A53 2012
658.8'12—dc22
2011014619
© 2012 Performance Research Associates, Inc.
Knock Your Socks Off Services®and Customers from Hell®are registered
trademarks of Performance Research Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic,
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Contents
Foreword vii
Our Thanks ix
Preface xi
Part One: The Fundamental Principles of Knock
Your Socks Off Service 1
1 The Only Unbreakable Rule: To the
Customer You Are the Company 3
2 Know What Knock Your Socks Off
Service Is 8
3 Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:
Reliable 12
4 Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:
(Re)-Assuring 18
5 Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:
Tangibles 23
6 Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:
Empathetic 27
7 Knock Your Socks Off Service Is:
Responsive 32
8 The Customer Is Always. . .
The Customer 37
Part Two: The How To’s of Knock Your Socks
Off Service 43
9 Honesty Is the Only Policy 45
10 All Rules Were Meant to Be Broken 49
(Including This One)
11 Creating Trust in an Insecure, 53
Suspicious World
12 Taking Ownership of Your Service 57
Encounters
13 Become a Listening Post 62
14 Asking Intelligent Questions 68
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iv CONTENTS
15 Winning Words and Soothing Phrases 73
16 Facts for Face-to-Face 78
17 Tips for Telephone Talk 82
18 It’s a Small World: Culturally
Sensitive Service 91
19 The Generational Divide: Serving
Age-Diverse Customers 97
Part Three: Communicating Knock Your
Socks Off Service 103
20 Co-Workers as Partners:
Communicating Across Functions 105
21 Exceptional Service Is in the Details 110
22 Good Selling Is Good Service—Good
Service Is Good Selling 114
23 Communicating with Customers
in the Digital Age 119
24 Putting Your Best E-Mail Foot Forward 126
25 Responding Positively to Negative
Feedback 134
26 Never Underestimate the Value
of a Sincere Thank-You 139
Part Four: The Problem-Solving Side of Knock
Your Socks Off Service 145
27 Be a Fantastic Fixer 147
28 The Axioms of Service Recovery 153
29 Use the Well-Placed “I’m Sorry” 160
30 Fix the Person 164
31 Fair-Fix the Problem 169
32 Service Recovery in the Digital Age 174
33 Recovery: Social Media Style 180
34 Customers from Hell® Are
Customers, Too 185
35 The Customers from Hell® Hall
of Shame 191
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CONTENTS v
Part Five: Knock Your Socks Off Service Fitness:
Taking Care of You 197
36 Master the Art of Calm 199
37 Keep It Professional 204
38 The Competence Principle:
Always Be Learning 208
39 Party Hearty 213
Activities Connections 217
“The Knock Your Socks Off” Library 220
Index 221
About Performance Research
Associates, Inc. 225
About the Editors 226
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Foreword
When I thought about writing a forward for the 20thanniversary
edition of Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, I didn’t know
what I could possibly say that hadn’t been covered already.
When Ron first suggested the idea that service mattered it
seemed like a blinding flash of the obvious—treat customers
well, be successful, we all have a good day. As we traveled
together, went to restaurants, got the cars repaired and the dry
cleaning done, and consumed all manner of services great and
small it became apparent that this was not obvious at all.
Ever the optimist, though, Ron persevered. He truly
believed that people really did want to provide excellent ser-
vice and treat each other well; they just needed to know how.
In the ensuing years, he enlisted wonderful coauthors in writ-
ing a series of books to show the way.
With Chip Bell he helped managers understand how to
train, support, and motivate the people on the front lines of
great service every day with Managing Knock Your Socks Off
Service. Knowing that things don’t always go as planned, he
and Chip wrote Knock Your Socks Off Service Recovery,
a book discussing what to do when things go completely awry.
With Kristin Anderson, Ron helped managers learn to
coach and develop their people, and provided answers for
even the most challenging and, frankly, wacky questions cus-
tomers can ask. Coaching Knock Your Socks Off Service and
Knock Your Socks Off Answerscontinued Ron’s quest for and
belief that wonderful service experiences are always possible.
While all this was good, Ron and Tom Connellan recog-
nized that high quality service, delivered consistently over
time was the key to long-term customer delight and retention.
They collaborated on Sustaining Knock Your Socks Off
Service, providing businesses with ways to build outstanding
service into the fabric of their cultures.
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viii FOREWORD
With 101 Activities for Delivering Knock Your Socks Off
Service,Ann Thomas and Jill Applegate have continued to re-
inforce Ron’s belief that people want to deliver great service
and that great service is possible and profitable; they just need
some help sometimes.
Here we are 20 years later. This 20thanniversary edition of
DKYSOScelebrates Ron’s legacy of service, optimism, faith in
others’ good intentions, and belief that we can all have and
deliver Knock Your Socks Off Service.
Susan Zemke
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Our Thanks
Wow! Who would have ever thought that what began as a sim-
ple, fun, easy-to-read front-line customer service book in 1990
would still have such an impact 20 years later! Yet here we are
penning this special anniversary edition. And, as is the case with
every book Performance Research Associates has undertaken,
it’s never done alone!
On this unique occasion, we want to pay special attention
to those who are no longer with us. Without question, none of
this would have been possible without the extraordinary vi-
sion of Ron Zemke. The “father” of the Knock Your Socks Off
Service series, Ron’s presence is still felt in each and every one
of the book’s pages. What a tribute to Ron this 20thanniversary
edition is—without him, there would never have been a chap-
ter written, let alone a 9-book series and multiple revisions.
We love you, Ron and still miss you every day.
John Bush made such a huge contribution to this series.
Like Ron, we lost John far too soon. His illustrations still make
us laugh all these years later, and we continue to marvel at his
creativity and the ease with which he could draw the perfect
cartoon. He was sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious—
but he was always on target and always left us wanting more.
We miss not having any new art to share in this edition but are
grateful that the images that John left with us will live on.
A very special thank you to Susan Zemke for writing the
foreword for this edition. We knew there was only one person
who could do it justice, and Susan definitely lived up to the
challenge. We are grateful for her friendship, her ongoing sup-
port, and her commitment to ensuring that Ron’s work and
legacy continues as an inspiration to others.
Ellen Kadin and the team at AMACOM have been our
partners in this endeavor for more than two decades. It is a
trusted relationship that we value tremendously. Thank you
for your ongoing support, Ellen.
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