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Rating: 
Summary: Quick read, enjoyable, instructive
Review: Every one of us has encountered horrible customer service. We've each had those experiences where we'd like to just grab some executive by the shirt collar and scream, "Do you have any idea what you're doing? Don't you want me to be your customer??"Hal Becker has been down that same road of lousy service, but he's said something about it. "Lip Service" is a monument to lousy customer service, written by a man who has enjoyed a career as an award-winning salesman, sales trainer, business owner, and professional speaker. What a bully platform! And Becker uses it. I'd like to say Becker pulls no punches in this book, but that's not quite true. Many of his examples make it obvious, without identifying the company, who he's talking about. Other references are more obscure. As an angry customer myself, on too many occasions, I'd like to be much more aggressive in naming names, dates, and specifics. I can just imagine this author sitting in a law library in his attorney's office while his legal advisors read the original manuscript. "No, you can't say that. You're asking for a heavy lawsuit" "That's bordering on libel; I can't let you say that." And Becker's protesting against his attorney's protective advice. "But, I wanna . . . ." The "Don't" prevailed, but quite a bit of really juicy stuff still crept in. Becker's consultant hat is on in this book. He tells the story (while the reader cheers), then provides a response of what should have been done. Again the reader will shout "Right on!" So, it's a fun read from this perspective, like enjoying one of those hard-hitting investigative television news shows. But this book has even more value as a customer service textbook. Everyone in a role of serving customers, especially in those high-contact retail environments, should read this book. Customer service is more than lip service, and Lip Service makes that clear. You'll get a kick out of the writing style in this book. In the fifty humorous stories, Becker sounds like a combination of an impatient New Yorker, Seinfeld, and Mr. Everyman. The book closes with strong, instructive interviews with ten (profitable, naturally) companies that do customer service the right way. Hal Becker is speaking for us. Have fun with this book, then give it to your favorite customer service specialist who needs some serious help.
Rating: 
Summary: Good reading, low on information
Review: The book was well written and made for entertaining reading. However, the materials were more like a pep talk on good customer service. I needed, and expected, more straight-forward tips of how to implement an improved service program.
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