The Key Is to Care
Written by Ken Blanchard, Vicki Halsey, and Kathy Cuff
Why do customers return again and again to a favorite store or business? It’s not just about product quality. Research shows customers keep coming back because of the way the organization’s frontline employees make them feel.
Sounds simple enough—let your customers know you care.
So, if demonstrating care for customers is so important and so simple, why isn’t every organization doing it?
To address this longstanding dilemma, The Ken Blanchard Companies created the Legendary Service® customer service training program. Thousands of people and organizations, not to mention millions of their customers, have benefited over the years from applying the concepts introduced in this program.
We are happy to announce the long-awaited companion book to this outstanding training program: Legendary Service: The Key is to Care.
“Ken Blanchard has done it again and delivered the right book at the right time.
Legendary Service: The Key is to Care provides the simple to understand
and highly effective message of caring for whomever you are serving.”
John Caparella, President & COO, The Venetian The Palazzo & Sands Expo
In characteristic Blanchard style, Legendary Service: The Key is to Care is a parable—a quick and entertaining read. But its lessons, when applied, can have a profound impact on the service experience your customers will receive.
The book uses the ICARE model, designed and developed by Ken’s coauthors Vicki Halsey and Kathy Cuff, to teach Legendary Service concepts:
- Ideal Service—meeting the customer’s needs on a day-to-day basis by acting on the belief that service is important
- Culture of Service—fostering an environment that focuses on serving the customer
- Attentiveness—knowing customers and their preferences
- Responsiveness—demonstrating a genuine willingness to serve others as you fulfill their individual needs
- Empowerment—taking the initiative to implement the
service vision
Readers will meet Kelsey Young—a determined, optimistic young woman who is finishing her business degree while working part-time at Ferguson’s, a discount store where happy customers are in short supply. Kelsey learns through her Legendary Service course at the local university that caring for customers is a fundamental part of business success. Longing to prove she has a future with Ferguson’s and can help them face the threat of an intimidating competitor, Kelsey works with her department manager to change things for the better. Through some surprising turns, Kelsey discovers how Legendary Service, or the lack of it, can shape an organization’s future in a significant way—and how one person really can make a difference.
How We Lead 