The Cult of the Customer: Create an Amazing Customer Experience That Turns Satisfied Customers into Customer Evangelists

The book is an easy and fun read, rich with examples and suggestions on how to implement these “cults.” At the end, there is a section with many exercises, templates and check lists which help the reader to understand what “cult” they are in and where changes are needed. The author even refers readers to his site for additional or updated templates and exercises.

While the title refers to “creating an amazing customer experience,” it would be more accurate to categorize this book in the area of organizational change within the context of motivating employees and then customers. It becomes evident once reading that this is not about customer experience and the author likely has not read much material or theory on the subject. For additional reading, please see the Senteo reviews for Outside In and The Experience Economy.

In today’s competitive business climate, you can’t just satisfy your customers. You have to be better than that, giving them experiences that they won’t forget. Author Shep Hyken has spent twenty-five years studying great companies and the evangelists they create. In The Cult of the Customer, Hyken shows how to design a strategy that leads both customers and employees through five distinct cultural phases – from “uncertainty” to “amazement.” By presenting dozens of case studies that show how great companies made this journey, Hyken identifies the critical internal and external changes that allowed them to build a Cult of the Customer – and shows how you can do it too.

Hyken’s message is both powerful and timely: the happier your customers and employees are, the more successful your company will be. The Cult of the Customer is your guide to creating a customer-focused culture that turns satisfied customers into customer evangelists.

This book is an entertaining and easy read (the author is a CSP – Certified Speaking Professional) which anyone who has employees or customers will find of interest. There are tools in the back for evaluating your company’s  “5 Cults” and provides steps for implementing them, rich with examples.