Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing the Customer Experience - Hardcover

Tisch, Jonathan M.; Weber, Karl

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470043555 ISBN 13: 9780470043554

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2007

Synopsis

Praise for Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough

"Jonathan recognizes that in today's Internet-fed, savvy-consumer world, it is the people-to-people connections, regardless of price point, that differentiate a customer's experience. Gimmicks come and go, but without sincere and caring people delivering the overall experience, from start to finish, well, it's true--chocolates on the pillow are not enough. A great read!"
—David Neeleman, founder and CEO, JetBlue Airways Corporation

"If you don't work for your customer, you're not doing your job. Who better to turn to for lessons in great customer experiences than Jonathan Tisch? He has long been one of the most respected leaders in travel and hospitality, and when it comes to treating all customers like guests, to put it simply, he gets it. And then some."
—Millard S. Drexler, Chairman and CEO, J. Crew Group

"What brings customers back to my restaurants? Why do viewers watch my TV show? It's more than Bam! It's delivering a kicked-up customer experience. Tisch is the guy who knows how to do this best. His book gives the inside scoop on how to excite your customers and bring 'em back for more."
—Emeril Lagasse

"Attention to detail, passion, and dedication are a few of the things that made me successful as an athlete. Jonathan knows that by doing the same in business, you maximize the customer's experience and outscore the competition."
—Tiki Barber

About this title

About the Author

JONATHAN M. TISCH is Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels, as well as co-Chairman of the Board and member of the Office of the President of Loews Corporation, the hotel chain's parent company and one of the largest diversified financial holding companies in the United States. Recognized as a preeminent leader of the nation's travel and tourism industry, Tisch is Chairman of the Travel Business Roundtable and NYC & Company, the city's official tourism marketing organization. In 2005, Tisch became the host of his own television show, Open Exchange: Beyond the Boardroom with Jonathan Tisch, a series of one-on-one interviews with America's preeminent CEOs and business luminaries. Tisch is also the author of the bestseller The Power of We (Wiley).

KARL WEBER is a freelance writer specializing in business and current affairs. He is coauthor, with Jonathan Tisch, of the bestseller The Power of We. Most recently, he collaborated with Andrew Savitz on The Triple Bottom Line (Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley), a book examining the issues surrounding sustainable business management.

"Jonathan recognizes that in today's Internet-fed, savvy-consumer world, it is the people-to-people connections, regardless of price point, that differentiate a customer's experience. Gimmicks come and go, but without sincere and caring people delivering the overall experience, from start to finish, well, it's true chocolates on the pillow are not enough. A great read!"
David Neeleman, founder and CEO, JetBlue Airways Corporation

"If you don't work for your customer, you're not doing your job. Who better to turn to for lessons in great customer experiences than Jonathan Tisch? He has long been one of the most respected leaders in travel and hospitality, and when it comes to treating all customers like guests, to put it simply, he gets it. And then some."
Millard S. Drexler, Chairman and CEO, J. Crew Group

"What brings customers back to my restaurants? Why do viewers watch my TV show? It's more than Bam! It's delivering a kicked-up customer experience. Tisch is the guy who knows how to do this best. His book gives the inside scoop on how to excite your customers and bring 'em back for more."
Emeril Lagasse

"Attention to detail, passion, and dedication are a few of the things that made me successful as an athlete. Jonathan knows that by doing the same in business, you maximize the customer's experience and outscore the competition."
Tiki Barber

From the Inside Flap

In today's world, organizations of every kind?from for-profit businesses to government agencies and nonprofit groups?are experiencing huge difficulties in attracting and retaining clients. With competition intensifying, consumers becoming more demanding, and old ways of creating loyalty losing their impact, it's no longer enough to offer just a good product or a useful service. Today's consumers are looking for something more?an experience that will truly enrich their lives.

As the Chairman and CEO of Loews Hotels and a global leader in the travel and tourism industry, Jonathan Tisch establishes strong and lasting connections with countless customers every day, by providing them with experiences that are unique, memorable, and deeply rewarding. And now, in Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough, he wants to help you do the same.

In an appealing and personal style, Tisch?with the help of business writer Karl Weber?distills the important customer relation lessons that he has learned from his successful career in the hospitality industry, and discusses how these lessons can make any organization more customer-centric. Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough will also show you how to improve every customer touch point; understand what customers really want and need; and design organizational structures to meet those needs. These ideas are brought to life through stories of triumphs achieved and challenges faced by organizations ranging from In-N-Out Burger, Commerce Bank, and Urban Outfitters to the Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Santa Fe's Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, and New York City's 311 system.

The proven insights that fill these pages will help you:

• Use technology to create intimate connections with customers?without losing the human touch
• Find ways to expand your organization's offerings beyond the basic product or service you're known for
• Recognize your customers' needs for physical and psychological safety, and develop innovative ways to meet those needs
• Perfect the "art of the welcome," in both physical and virtual spaces
• Balance the growing demand for transparency with realistic needs for security and confidentiality
• And much more

Blending thought-provoking ideas with down-to-earth advice, this engaging book reveals why creating an intimate, positive, and long-lasting connection with customers is the key to success for the twenty-first-century organization, and illustrates how leaders in any field can accomplish this goal. Entertaining and informative, Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough offers a detailed look at how the right customer experience can produce long-lasting success for any organization.

Reviews

According to Tisch, ever-increasing consumer expectations mean that service-based industries have to go beyond the realm of good service to provide an experience that's truly exceptional-and thus, truly memorable. It's a simple premise that needs a rigorous treatment; unfortunately, this effort from Loews Hotels chairman and CEO Tisch (along with business writer Weber) suffers from a lack of ideas and analytical muscle. Tisch (The Power of We) makes some obvious statements, largely pertaining to people's desire for comfort, choice and individualization in their consumer experiences, and then sets about repeating them. The idea that "people want to know that patronizing your business ... won't add to their stress and anxiety....and can offer some respite" gets hammered home early and often. Practical examples of his techniques come by way of a number of businesses, including Loews hotels; as such, anecdotes can read like press releases (on disregarding the rules: in "Loews Hotels ... every housekeeper, bellman, engineer, and desk clerk knows that he or she is permitted-no, expected-to go outside the standard procedures when necessary...to provide that guest with a moment of unexpected satisfaction and delight"). Tisch's latest has a solid subject and some genuinely useful techniques that get lost in a bloated, redundant text.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470043555
• ISBN 13: 9780470043554
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256