I had a few book reviews in a Google Doc from books I read mostly last year. I thought I would post them here:

Customers For Life by Carl Sewell and Paul Brown

Summary:

The book covers the gambit of running a “luxury class” business and how to be successful throughout. It has some Lean/Agile themes like continuous improvement and continually trying new things. It covers some aspects like measuring process capability and root cause analysis.

Like:

• Taking care of your employees is important as they take care of your customers.
• Don’t be afraid to try new things on a small scale and correct course if they don’t work out.
• Image/Care throughout the business is important.
• Transparency around people who perform well.
• Create systems that create shared positive outcomes across departments. He gives the example of the new car sales manager wanting high values on trade-ins and use car sales manager wanting low values on trade-ins.
• Leadership is in example. You can’t expect honesty from employees if the leadership is shady.
• Pick people based on fit and try them out. Strive to get the best people.
• Pay for performance.

Dislike:

• Expectations that employees shouldn't take all vacation and should work excessive hours.
• Author claims Wal-mart has excellent customer service, but Sears has terrible customer service. Maybe Wal-mart is different in Texas
• The author clings to the fact that his was the first dealership to give a free loaner car to EVERY customer, but then later on he says that wasn’t cost effective for his GMC customers so he stopped.
• The book continually is aimed that “top-tier” customers and how to provide them service rather than just everyday customers. It doesn’t translate very well when your customers have very little money to spend.
• I don’t think the book directly or adequately deals with it’s subtitle “How to turn that one-time buyer into a lifetime customer.” It gives a lot of hints at providing service, but it doesn’t talk much about how you take that first sale or service appointment and turn it into a lasting relationship. That doesn’t really matter to be, but it surprised me.