Wednesday we kicked off the launch campaign for my new book The Customer Service Survival Kit with a webinar sponsored by Citrix GoToAssist and industry portal site (and longtime partner-in-crime) SupportIndustry.com. The energy level was incredible: we had over 1700 people signed up, almost 800 attending live, and enough questions to keep us running well past the top of the hour. And a truly amazing number of them went out and purchased the book afterward.
All of this tells me that people have a real hunger to learn how to handle their most difficult customers - especially today. Life is more stressful and fast-paced than ever, customers are more demanding, and sadly many people live in fear of being on the receiving end of a meltdown. But the good news is that by learning the same kinds of skills used by hostage negotiators, crisis counselors, and others, people can learn to completely blow away this fear and walk confidently into any customer situation. I wrote this book to take what I've learned as a former customer support executive - and practicing psychotherapist - and create an actionable game plan for mastering your very worst situations.
Some of you may know that this is actually my second #1 customer service book on Amazon.com, the first being my 2008 book What to Say to a Porcupine. (And I will never forget that taste of electricity in my mouth when it first hit #1.) But this new book had a very different vibe. First, Porcupine hit number 1 several months after its release, and its webinars drew barely half the audience of this new one. Second, it benefited from a good run in the bookstores and excellent press coverage, including being a finalist for 800-CEO-READ's business book of the year. By comparison, The Customer Service Survival Kit shot to the top right out of the starting gate, on the strength of a very timely topic.
This book also succeeded on the wings of a truly generous community of fellow authors, speakers, and thought leaders who helped me out in ways too numerous to mention. New York Times bestselling author and CNBC host Carol Roth, for whom I am a contributing blogger, not only wrote a great foreword but even offered up her cousin, an airline manager whose touching story of grief counseling after the 9/11 tragedy helped lead off the book. (Check out a great interview we just did on her midday show on Chicago superstation WGN, right here.) Countless others posted, tweeted, wrote reviews, offered launch gifts or cheered me on in ways I will always appreciate and cherish.
Above all, I want to thank you! The rave reviews and support I have received this week from the public has been overwhelming. If you haven't checked the book and its free gifts out yet, visit us here. Together, we are making the world a little nicer and a little safer from our very worst customer situations.
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