Although 70% of the customer's decision to buy is based on how they are treated as people, few ornganizations have recognized its importance as well as understanding how to implement the "human touch" art as a science. John McKean provides a practical guide to implementing this art as consistent, business-wide, technology-enabled science drawn form proven approaches from world-class human touch practitioners.

WINNER: CMI Management Book of the Year Awards 2016 - Commuter's Read Category In an age when customers have access to vast amounts of data about a company, its product and its competitors, customer experience becomes increasingly important as a sustainable source of competitive advantage. But success doesn't just rely on digital engagement and excellence, but also on combining a digital-first attitude with a human touch. In When Digital Becomes Human, Steven Van Belleghem explores and explains the new digital relationships. Packed with global examples from organizations that have successfully transformed their customer relationships, such as Amazon, Toyota, ING, Coolblue, Nike and Starbucks, When Digital Becomes Human presents a clear model that companies can easily implement to integrate an emotional layer into their digital strategy. This guide to combining two of a business's most important assets - its people and its digital strengths - covers the latest issues in digital marketing and customer experience management, including omnichannel and multichannel experiences, big data and predictive analytics, privacy concerns, customer collaboration (ie crowdsourcing) and more.

Workplace safety is failing. Despite better procedures now in place on the job, people are still getting hurt. The problem lies in our thinking. We must shift the focus from rules to relationships. In PeopleWork, author and safety management consultant Kevin Burns presents his M4 Method of people-centered management for safety in the workplace. He lays out the practical, how-to steps that frontline supervisors and safety people can master. This promotes a relationship-based culture focused on mentoring, coaching, and inspiring teams. It's an approach that ultimately improves employee productivity and allows everyone to achieve their personal goals and the goals of their company. With PeopleWork, you can raise workplace safety to a level where it actually works.

Strong interpersonal skills are a fundamental requirement in all work environments. This book provides expert guidance for IT and other professionals on key skills including: building rapport; team working; leadership; negotiation; written communication; managing conflict; presentation skills; coaching and mentoring; problem solving.

AI is radically transforming business. Are you ready? Look around you. Artificial intelligence is no longer just a futuristic notion. It's here right now--in software that senses what we need, supply chains that "think" in real time, and robots that respond to changes in their environment. Twenty-first-century pioneer companies are already using AI to innovate and grow fast. The bottom line is this: Businesses that understand how to harness AI can surge ahead. Those that neglect it will fall behind. Which side are you on? In Human + Machine, Accenture leaders Paul R. Daugherty and H. James (Jim) Wilson show that the essence of the AI paradigm shift is the transformation of all business processes within an organization--whether related to breakthrough innovation, everyday customer service, or personal productivity habits. As humans and smart machines collaborate ever more closely, work processes become more fluid and adaptive, enabling companies to change them on the fly--or to completely reimagine them. AI is changing all the rules of how companies operate. Based on the authors' experience and research with 1,500 organizations, the book reveals how companies are using the new rules of AI to leap ahead on innovation and profitability, as well as what you can do to achieve similar results. It describes six entirely new types of hybrid human + machine roles that every company must develop, and it includes a "leader’s guide" with the five crucial principles required to become an AI-fueled business. Human + Machine provides the missing and much-needed management playbook for success in our new age of AI. BOOK PROCEEDS FOR THE AI GENERATION The authors' goal in publishing Human + Machine is to help executives, workers, students and others navigate the changes that AI is making to business and the economy. They believe AI will bring innovations that truly improve the way the world works and lives. However, AI will cause disruption, and many people will need education, training and support to prepare for the newly created jobs. To support this need, the authors are donating the royalties received from the sale of this book to fund education and retraining programs focused on developing fusion skills for the age of artificial intelligence.

Why we choose companies and brands in the same way that we unconsciously perceive, judge, and behave toward one another People everywhere describe their relationships with brands in a deeply personal way—we hate our banks, love our smartphones, and think the cable company is out to get us. What's actually going on in our brains when we make these judgments? Through original research, customer loyalty expert Chris Malone and top social psychologist Susan Fiske discovered that our perceptions arise from spontaneous judgments on warmth and competence, the same two factors that also determine our impressions of people. We see companies and brands the same way we automatically perceive, judge, and behave toward one another. As a result, to achieve sustained success, companies must forge genuine relationships with customers. And as customers, we have a right to expect relational accountability from the companies and brands we support. Applies the social psychology concepts of "warmth" (what intentions others have toward us) and "competence" (how capable they are of carrying out those intentions) to the way we perceive and relate to companies and brands Features in-depth analyses of companies such as Hershey's, Domino's, Lululemon, Zappos, Amazon, Chobani, Sprint, and more Draws from original research, evaluating over 45 companies over the course of 10 separate studies The Human Brand is essential reading for understanding how and why we make the choices we do, as well as what it takes for companies and brands to earn and keep our loyalty in the digital age.

For marketing and customer services researchers and professionals who are interested in customer contacts, customer satisfaction and loyalty issues. Contact centers are playing a pivotal role in customer services of the 21st century. Nevertheless, despite their growing importance and presence, contact centers are increasingly becoming the center for customer frustration, and frequently associated with negative comments in the media. Therefore, this research explores the Emotional, Cognitive, General, and Transactional dimensions of customer satisfaction and loyalty process in the customer contact environment. As customer contacts can be a source of negative emotions and it is desirable to increase positive emotions in the contact center environment, this research focuses on the emotional aspects of customer satisfaction and on the Emotional Satisfaction of Customer Contacts (ESCC) in particular. Taking the ESCC as a starting point, this research demonstrates that frontline employees are able to observe and register customer satisfaction during service encounters, and suggests that the ESCC information can be employed for recovering service failures, increasing sales productivity and organizational learning for more customer satisfaction and loyalty.