The best customer service books

10 authors have picked their favorite books about customer service and why they recommend each book.

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The Experience Economy

By B Joseph Pine II, James H Gilmore,

Book cover of The Experience Economy: Competing for Customer Time, Attention, and Money

Economists Gilmore and Pine, trace economic value through the agrarian, industrial and service age and pioneer thinking on the importance of “staging” experiences. This book created a tectonic shift from transactional “customer service” to emotionally engaging “customer experiences.” In a world where customer satisfaction is table stakes, The Experience Economy shows readers how to drive emotional engagement and repeat business.

The Experience Economy

By B Joseph Pine II, James H Gilmore,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Experience Economy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Time is limited. Attention is scarce. Are you engaging your customers?

Apple Stores, Disney, LEGO, Starbucks. Do these names conjure up images of mere goods and services, or do they evoke something more--something visceral?

Welcome to the Experience Economy, where businesses must form unique connections in order to secure their customers' affections--and ensure their own economic vitality.

This seminal book on experience innovation by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore explores how savvy companies excel by offering compelling experiences for their customers, resulting not only in increased customer allegiance but also in a more profitable bottom line. Translated into thirteen languages,…


Who am I?

I am a New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 10 customer experience and leadership books. When I am not reading and writing, I help leaders and entrepreneurs drive employee engagement, customer loyalty, and referrals. 


I wrote...

The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

By Joseph A. Michelli,

Book cover of The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

What is my book about?

When it comes to refined service and exquisite hospitality, one name stands high above the rest: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. With ceaseless attention to every luxurious detail, the company has set the bar for creating memorable customer experiences in world-class settings. Now, for the first time, the leadership secrets behind the company's extraordinary success are revealed.

Pour Your Heart Into It

By Howard Schultz,

Book cover of Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

This book is by the founder of a company that has successfully navigated the stages of growth from a start-up to a sustainably successful organization and become a global champion or recognized leader in its space. Accordingly, the book is from the “horse’s mouth.” Schultz and his coauthor take the reader on the journey of the development of one of the classic entrepreneurial successes of our time. He details the challenges, his thinking, and the responses that were made to create the Starbucks of today. The book provided s the reader with a rare opportunity to participate in the Starbucks journey from a vision to the reality of building a great company. 

Pour Your Heart Into It

By Howard Schultz,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Pour Your Heart Into It as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Pour Your Heart Into It, former CEO and now chairman emeritus Howard Schultz illustrates the principles that have shaped the Starbucks phenomenon, sharing the wisdom he has gained from his quest to make great coffee part of the American experience.

The success of Starbucks Coffee Company is one of the most amazing business stories in decades. What started as a single store on Seattle's waterfront has grown into the largest coffee chain on the planet. Just as remarkable as this incredible growth is the fact that Starbucks has managed to maintain its renowned commitment to product excellence and employee…


Who am I?

I'm Professor Emeritus at UCLA and have also been on the faculty of Columbia University and The University of Michigan, where I received my PhD degree. I founded Management Systems Consulting, which works with entrepreneurial firms in the US and globally to scale up, in 1978. I've served on the board of a firm (99 Cents Only Stores) that scaled up and was a NYSE listed firm. I've advised CEOs who have created global champion firms and been recognized as leaders in their space. I've authored or co-authored several books including Creating Family Business Champions; Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Advantage; Changing the Game; and Leading Strategic Change.


I wrote...

Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations

By Eric G. Flamholtz, Yvonne Randle,

Book cover of Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations

What is my book about?

This book is about managing the stages of growth successfully from a start-up to a sustainably successful organization and/or even becoming a global champion or recognized leader in your space like Starbucks, which was one of the author’s clients during its early years from 1994-97. The book provides a framework and template to create a road map for organizational development and a set of methodologies to help scale up and become a sustainably successful organization and/or even become a global champion. It presents a framework of the key stages of organizational growth and identifies the set of variables that must be managed as well as their relative importance at each stage. The book provides advice for the CEO and founder of entrepreneurial companies undergoing the process of scaling up.

Raving Fans

By Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles,

Book cover of Raving Fans

This is another book that uses the business fable motif. But within the storyline, you'll find a boatload of insights as to what a leader and a team needs to understand regarding the difference between producing a superior product and producing raving fans - - which is something that I've found most leaders and teams fail to intuitively grasp.

Raving Fans

By Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Raving Fans as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

With a new foreword by Ken Blanchard

A straightforward and snappy guide to successful customer service from the author of the bestselling The One Minute Manager.

Raving Fans, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day - in an extraordinary business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organisation or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom-line results.

Raving Fans is written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager and uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what…


Who am I?

Dr. Larry Osborne is a leadership mentor and practitioner with a rare mix of both theological and leadership expertise. He's been a mentor and major influencer for many of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the US while providing leadership to North Coast Church as it grew from 125 to over 13,000 in weekend attendance.


I wrote...

Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page

By Larry Osborne,

Book cover of Sticky Teams: Keeping Your Leadership Team and Staff on the Same Page

What is my book about?

Most books on leadership focus on the principles of team building without offering concrete and transferable strategies for removing the landmines and roadblocks that sabotage healthy teams. In many ways, it’s simply the book I wish I'd had in my early and formative days of leadership and team building to help me avoid paying my own dumb taxes.

Excellence Wins

By Horst Schulze, Dean Merrill,

Book cover of Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise

Horst Schulze started as a bellboy and became the best hotelier in the world. He is the one who created the leading hotel chain Ritz Carlton. He won the Baldridge Quality Award twice. No one else has achieved that. But what's really interesting about this book is not the result, but the way he got there: how did he achieve this great goal? 

Anyone involved in service can learn extremely valuable lessons from this book. And in the process, you will also get to know Horst Schulze as a person. Because at the core of him lies the secret of success; he is a role model and leader.

Excellence Wins

By Horst Schulze, Dean Merrill,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Excellence Wins as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Horst Schulze knows what it takes to win. In Excellence Wins, the cofounder and former president of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company lays out a blueprint for becoming the very best in a world of compromise. In his characteristic no-nonsense approach, Schulze shares the visionary and disruptive principles that have led to immense global success over the course of his still-prolific fifty-year career in the hospitality industry.

For over twenty years, Schulze fearlessly led the company to unprecedented multibillion dollar growth, setting the business vision and people-focused standards that made the Ritz-Carlton brand world renowned. In Excellence Wins, Schulze shares his…


Who am I?

Hermann Simon grew up on a small, remote farm and became a world-renowned marketing professor, including stints at MIT, Stanford, and Harvard. But academic fame didn’t satisfy him. He had the ambition to achieve an impact on practice and founded Simon-Kucher & Partners, today with 41 offices and 1600 employees the world's leading price consultancy. He also detected the secrets of the "hidden champions", unknown mid-sized global market leaders (more than 1.5 million Google entries). In China a business school is named in his honor.


I wrote...

Many Worlds, One Life: A Remarkable Journey from Farmhouse to the Global Stage

By Hermann Simon,

Book cover of Many Worlds, One Life: A Remarkable Journey from Farmhouse to the Global Stage

What is my book about?

The CEO of Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, says: “This book tells Hermann Simon’s amazing story in a compelling way.” And the former CEO of Samsung Electronics adds: “I bought the book and finished it on the spot.” This book shows how a farmboy from virtually the “middle ages” can become a global player – an enormous encouragement for ambitious young people independent of what their background is.

The Innovator's Solution

By Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor,

Book cover of The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth

After Positioning, this is the most influential book in brand innovation. The authors show how scrappy startups can disrupt incumbents with products and services that seem “not good enough” at first, but end up reordering an entire industry. They also show how incumbents can defend against such aggressive moves. A seminal work.

The Innovator's Solution

By Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Innovator's Solution as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An innovation classic. From Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos, Clay Christensen's work continues to underpin today's most innovative leaders and organizations. A seminal work on disruption--for everyone confronting the growth paradox. For readers of the bestselling The Innovator's Dilemma--and beyond--this definitive work will help anyone trying to transform their business right now. In The Innovator's Solution, Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor expand on the idea of disruption, explaining how companies can and should become disruptors themselves. This classic work shows just how timely and relevant these ideas continue to be in today's hyper-accelerated business environment. Christensen and Raynor give advice…


Who am I?

In my younger days I was a graphic designer and copywriter, approaching brands largely from a creative viewpoint. Over the years I’ve discovered that creative work is much more powerful when harnessed to business strategy, and business strategy is much more powerful when combined with exceptional creative work. I’ve characterized the gulf between strategy and creativity as the “brand gap,” which has led to eight books on branding and a school for professional mastery called Level C.


I wrote...

The Brand Gap

By Marty Neumeier,

Book cover of The Brand Gap

What is my book about?

My goal was to write a book that busy professionals could finish on a short plane ride, but still go deeper with every re-read. I used the visual language of the boardroom—charts, diagrams, illustrations, and the fewest number of words—to present the first unified theory of brand. Here you’ll learn the five critical disciplines for bridging the gap between business strategy and customer experience. Over 25 million people have read the book so far, and it’s now the basis of a popular certificate program called Level C.

The Innovator's Dilemma

By Clayton M. Christensen,

Book cover of The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

I hate the way people toss around the term, disruption, to describe everything under the sun, neutering the value of the term in describing why disruption matters. Christensen’s book relies on empirical research, not hyperbole, to describe what makes innovations disruptive and why many companies fail to respond to disruptive innovations. I use the book and a series of Harvard Business Review articles co-authored by Christensen in one of my classes as a way to help my students understand the unique challenges of marketing disruptive innovations. Inevitably, the students who resist the concepts the most are the ones who write several years after graduation about how they are seeing Christensen’s concepts playing out in their markets. 

The Innovator's Dilemma

By Clayton M. Christensen,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Innovator's Dilemma as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Named one of 100 Leadership & Success Books to Read in a Lifetime by Amazon Editors A Wall Street Journal and Businessweek bestseller. Named by Fast Company as one of the most influential leadership books in its Leadership Hall of Fame. An innovation classic. From Steve Jobs to Jeff Bezos, Clay Christensen's work continues to underpin today's most innovative leaders and organizations. The bestselling classic on disruptive innovation, by renowned author Clayton M. Christensen. His work is cited by the world's best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller--one of the most influential business books…


Who am I?

Responding to disruption and uncertainty has increasingly dominated my thinking. Ten years ago, while a senior partner at a global professional services firm, I sponsored a major research project on digital transformation. The most surprising finding was that the organizations that are effective in responding to disruption figure out how to learn fast and scale fast. In my encore career of university teaching, I have dived deeper into how organizations and functions (such as marketing) respond to disruption. An improbable consequences of COVID-19 is an abundance of real-time examples of how organizations cope with acute disruptions vs. the chronic disruptions resulting from new technologies. 


I wrote...

The Transformation Myth: Leading Your Organization Through Uncertain Times

By Gerald C. Kane, Rich Nanda, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Jonathan R. Copulsky

Book cover of The Transformation Myth: Leading Your Organization Through Uncertain Times

What is my book about?

When COVID-19 hit, businesses had to respond almost instantaneously—shifting employees to remote work, repairing broken supply chains, keeping pace with dramatically fluctuating customer demand. They were forced to adapt to a confluence of multiple disruptions inextricably linked to a longer-term, ongoing digital disruption. This book demonstrates that companies that use disruption as an opportunity for innovation emerge from it stronger. 

Drawing on five years of research into digital disruption, the book offers a framework for understanding disruption and tools for navigating it. The book outlines the leadership traits, business principles, technological infrastructure, and organizational building blocks essential for adapting in an era of continuous disruption.

I'll Be Back

By Shep Hyken,

Book cover of I'll Be Back

If you’re looking for a book on customer service or customer experience, you have to read one of Shep Hyken’s books! Shep is the world’s top customer service expert, a hall-of-fame speaker, and one of my biggest mentors (you could say I’m his superfan!). His most recent book, I’ll Be Back is my personal favorite of his because of its focus on the organizational culture that’s needed to drive a customer-centric brand. 

I'll Be Back

By Shep Hyken,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked I'll Be Back as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

How do you build a business that thrives during good times and bad? Is there a strategy that can set up  your company up for success, no matter what curveballs the world may throw your way? There is: Turn customers into repeat customers, and turn repeat customers into loyal customers.
 
Renowned customer service and experience expert Shep Hyken maintains that delivering an amazing customer service experience that keeps customers coming back for more is everyone’s job. Customer service is not a department. It’s not just for people on the front lines. It’s the responsibility of everyone in the organization, from…


Who am I?

I’m passionate about customer experience because it’s the number-one reason businesses succeed or fail. Regardless of the size (or budget!) of your company, you can set yourself apart—and create superfan customers!—by focusing on being exceptional in the areas that really matter. I grew up watching my dad prioritize customer service, first as a fast-food restaurant manager and then at a car dealership, and I know firsthand that how you treat your employees and your customers makes all the difference! 


I wrote...

Creating Superfans: How To Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates

By Brittany Hodak,

Book cover of Creating Superfans: How To Turn Your Customers Into Lifelong Advocates

What is my book about?

In Creating Superfans, award-winning entrepreneur and keynote speaker Brittany Hodak shares a powerful framework for transforming your business from a commodity into a category of one. Brittany has helmed fan-engagement campaigns for brands including Walmart, Disney, Amazon, and dozens of other global brands. Creating Superfans combines sharp business insights with entertaining stories from work with stars like Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and Mötley Crüe. Memorable case studies from businesses of all sizes illustrate that customer experience, or CX, is the battlefield for winning—and keeping—customers. Brittany’s game-changing CX system, the SUPER Model, is simple to learn, deploy, and measure across every organization.

Whether you’re launching a new business or running a hundred-year-old brand, Creating Superfans gives the entire team a shared playbook for tapping into the unmatched power of superfandom.

Reaching the Goal

By John Arthur Ricketts,

Book cover of Reaching the Goal: How Managers Improve a Services Business Using Goldratt's Theory of Constraints

Of course, when I started to apply the insights from "Critical Chain" over and over again in different companies, not everything always went smoothly. That was frustrating—for me and the people I worked with. Every company—or rather, every business—has its own idiosyncrasies. Understanding that and being able to take it into account when accelerating an entire project portfolio was crucial. Reading Reaching the Goal helped me a lot in this. Ricketts writes from his many years of experience at IBM.

Reaching the Goal

By John Arthur Ricketts,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Reaching the Goal as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"There is no doubt that this is a truly original and groundbreaking work in applying the Theory of Constraints. I run a services company and learned some things about the services business. Anyone involved in large services companies needs to look at what John is proposing. I will definitely quote this material frequently."

ChadSmith, Managing Partner, Constraints Management Group

"The information presented in this book is badly needed by service providers who struggle to balance supply and demand with their resources."

Carol A. Ptak, CFPIM, CIRM

"The techniques that John brings to light in this book are the bridge from…


Who am I?

Business development and projects have fascinated me since my studies and my first experiences in companies. Time and again, I think I have understood what it's really all about... and shortly thereafter, completely new insights emerge that challenge previously perceived assumptions and thus enable leaps in performance. This is sometimes exhausting, but I wouldn't want to miss this path of development! Today I help management teams to improve their business results quickly and sustainably by guiding them to question assumptions, find new perspectives and thereby enable performance leaps.


I wrote...

Projects That Flow: More Projects in Less Time

By Uwe Techt,

Book cover of Projects That Flow: More Projects in Less Time

What is my book about?

Projects can go over budget, exceed deadlines, or deliver compromised quality and scope. This results in economic damage for companies and their clients. The difficulties arise at source. Established measurements and management methods slow down projects by creating conflicts in operations and decision-making.

A radically new approach is needed; one that features simple, constraint-oriented management; clear, robust priorities; company-wide rather than locally focused optimization; a focus on speed, on ProjectsFlow. Discover how you can: complete more projects with the same number of resources; reliably deliver all projects; significantly shorten project lead times.

The Fred Factor

By Mark Sanborn,

Book cover of The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary Into the Extraordinary

If only my mail carrier were like Fred… but that’s the point. All of us can “up our game” when it comes to caring for and about others. Mark Sanborn crafted a highly accessible and engaging book that shows how everyone can “be a Fred.” The line between ordinary and extraordinary is less about resources and more about focus and effort.

The Fred Factor

By Mark Sanborn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Fred Factor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Mark Sanborn met his postman, Fred, just after he moved to Denver. Fred knocked on his door, introduced himself and welcomed him to the neighbourhood. He also asked Sanborn abou8t himself and how he wanted his mail handled while he was away. Needless to say, Sanborn was shocked. He asked Fred more about his job and how he approached it. Fred's answers inspired him to develop motivational seminars promoting Fred's attitude and approach to life. To embody the Fred philosophy is to realise and practise that:--Everyone can make a difference--Success is built on good relationships--You must continually create value for…


Who am I?

I am a New York Times #1 bestselling author of more than 10 customer experience and leadership books. When I am not reading and writing, I help leaders and entrepreneurs drive employee engagement, customer loyalty, and referrals. 


I wrote...

The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

By Joseph A. Michelli,

Book cover of The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

What is my book about?

When it comes to refined service and exquisite hospitality, one name stands high above the rest: The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. With ceaseless attention to every luxurious detail, the company has set the bar for creating memorable customer experiences in world-class settings. Now, for the first time, the leadership secrets behind the company's extraordinary success are revealed.

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