Legendary Service: The Key is to Care

Have been a Ken Blanchard fan for many years dating back to the One Minute Manager. His collaborations with strong co-authors just work and we know it is as much about Ken himself seeking to learn new things as it is sharing that knowledge with others. This book brings the allegorical style of the One Minute Manager to Legendary Service. This means the message is in an easy to read and share format that makes for a compelling and fast read. That said, the message remains very powerful and easy to apply to any business.We applied the Legendary Service program to our business in late 2012 and early 2013 to help unify disparate cultures from multiple acquisitions. This was an all associate launch that started at the top with executives, continued with training for all our local leaders and then included everyone in our company. We had a very positive response to the program and have continued it with ongoing in-house new hire training and multiple levels of reinforcement in our associate meetings, intranet and performance review process. This book fit in beautifully as another level of reinforcement and we purchased a bunch of copies to share with our local leaders to help them continue on the path to Legendary Service.One of the things I love about Legendary Service is that it is at least as applicable to personal life and relationships as it is to business. I heartily recommend the program and the book to any reader interested in enhancing service, team spirit and business results and even your personal and family relationships. When we ALL consider one another as Customers, we all win.

well written. clean, fast story. easy read. Lots of subtle messages about supporting not only customers, but colleagues who are committed to bring their very best to work every day and want their organization's to win in the marketplace. Kathy and Vicki, and Ken, bring a fresh, energizing, memorable perspective to our next generation of leaders, managers and colleagues who truly want to make a difference, make work more meaningful and make more money for our organizations in the process. Has a powerful message and great advice about managing your career when things are not exactly the way you want them to be, as an added bonus. Even for great service providers, this is a timely and relevant book to reinforce what we do best and lays out a path to elevate our game --- to make it easy for anyone who wants to grow their business by serving and inspiring one another while giving real reasons for customers and clients to come back. I asked myself how many Kelsey's are there in our organization right now who are more prepared than we realize... to take our organizations to that next level of success? And how can I Care more about that!

Legendary Service is exactly what is advertised. This is a quick read, with multiple gems, where anyone in the new corporate paradigm can glean relevant, productive, perspective for engaging people where they are and growing a service culture. I am a huge Ken and Margie Blanchard fan. Ken brings his "your going to make an A" ethos into this captivating journey of a beginning service champion. Vicki Halsey is the best "Legendary" teacher I have ever met. The ICARE model is user-friendly, immediately grasp, and easily transferable to any setting where a team needs a place to start. I have recently moved to a new company and new position. I have shared the book with key player from the top to mid management. The ICARE model will be our template for the future. This book has been the tool used to move us forward toward a new culture of service. I would advise anyone hoping to engage customers, create sales, and maintain sustainable relationship, to grab this book quickly and share it often. Service is the key to this generation of productivity, sustainability, and competitive advantage! 5 Star, Classic KBC

This book is cheesy. Once you get past all the cheddar though, its pretty gouda. Jokes aside, this is a great book about caring for your customers and clients. I was already a fairly customer service focused individual, and I took a lot away from this book. The only terrible thing is that it reads like a motivational seminar, hence the cheese. (Also, I just read another Blanchard associated book "Who moved my cheese" which is even more cheesy, but does a good job at helping people see the upside of change in their surroundings)

Cuff & Halsey skillfully tell the story that service matters using likeable characters in situations that many of us can relate too. We decided to use "Legendary Service" and the lessons taught in this book to get 1,000 health care workers in 49 different locations on the same page with what service looks and sounds like. It also preaches and inspires personal accountability to improve oneself and one's situation. If you are prepared to turn your pyramid upside down and are truly committed to serving and supporting the people who serve your customers, look no further than the CARE Model of Legendary Service!

Overall, the book offers simple and basic observations to customer service but fails to address the potential issues that employees and companies face in the real world. The style in which the author chosed to illustrate their points is tiresome and creates unnecessary reading. The points are presented within a story of a college study who is taking a class at University while becoming increasingly disillusioned wtih her job.It encapsulates each scenario within a perfect world and doesn't consider challenges that occur outside of the written gameplan. The author follows a direct formula of "Problem X" occurs --> "Use Solution X" --> "Everything Works Out". The resulting lesson becomes nearly worthless due to the insincerity and shallowness of its presentation. At one point in one of the earlier chapters, the book states "It's the situation, not the customer, that is the problem". This is just a repackaging of the generic and overused phrase "The Customer's Always Right". Of course, the customer isn't always right and how do we handle those situations? The book offers no answers.

Great book, give you a lot of advises and help to understand how to care.

Got even less from this !!

After reading reviews before purchasing I found the book to be informative. Yes, as some reviews state it is in story form, and a quick read. I found the suggestions easy to remember and often use the techniques at work in retail.