Top 10 Most Popular Business Books of 2023
Just in time for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the gift-giving holiday, I'd like to share with you my favorites from the 40-plus business books I read this year. I'm usually in the customer service and experience lane, but this year you'll also find books on marketing and sales.
1. rough diamond Written by Steven Van Belleghem (Lanu Campus) — Let's start this year's “Top 10” with one of my favorite authors. Van Bereghem always gives a great performance. Most companies want to create a customer-centric culture, but even if it's possible, many struggle. This is what the author calls rough diamond. In addition to clearly articulated concepts, it includes over 100 tips and examples to help you build a culture that attracts and retains customers.
2. Never Lose an Employee Again: The Easy Way to Achieve Amazing Retention Rates Written by Joey Coleman (Portfolio)—In this follow-up Never lose a customer again, Coleman expresses the importance of using similar customer experience concepts with employees. I've been preaching for years that a great employee experience, known as EX, drives great customer experience, abbreviated as CX. The authors use examples and research to provide a framework that provides what you need to retain top talent.
3. Complaints are gifts: How to learn from critical feedback and restore customer loyalty By Janelle Barlow (Barrett-Kohler Publishers) — When this was first published in 1997, it was one of my favorites. This is the third edition, and the book has been revised and updated with more modern examples and strategies to help you deal with complaints and deal with difficult and angry customers.
Four. Creating Super Fans: How to Turn Customers into Lifetime Advocates by Brittany Hodak (Page 2) – I met Hodak in 2020 when she gave a keynote speech at a virtual event for entrepreneurs. She shared her model for creating the best customer experience. I was hooked and couldn't have been more excited when she put her words into print. This book is full of examples and stories that anyone and any business can relate to. This is an easy and fun book to read, full of simple yet grand ideas.
Five. Brand Attribution: Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy By Mark Schaefer (Schaefer Marketing Solutions) — A powerful concept in marketing is giving customers a sense of belonging to a brand community. This how-to book explains the multiple ways to leverage brand communities, how to measure and understand their value, and why you shouldn't miss out on what the author calls an “unassailable competitive advantage” that creates a sense of belonging. Introducing. .
6. The power of scarcity: Harnessing urgency and demand to influence customer decisions By Dr. Mindy Weinstein (McGraw Hill)—This book leverages the author's deep understanding of marketing and psychology to share powerful strategies to help customers choose to do business with you. .
7. The unsold mindset: Redefining what it means to sell By Colin Coggins and Garrett Brown (Harper Business)—Sales is more than just selling to customers and clients. The authors present an approach that is useful for both business and life. Surveys and interviews with the most successful people, not just salespeople, define their counterintuitive ideas and views, which makes this book more interesting than your average sales book.
8. The spirit of hospitality: Creating raving fans through the guest experience By Josh Liebman (Morgan James) — I've been saying for years that any company in any industry can have a hospitality mindset. It's not just hotels, restaurants, and tourism. This is Liebman's first book and is notable because it provides an easy-to-follow guide on how to treat customers as if they were guests.
9. Positive Chaos: Turning Crisis into Clarity and Advantage By Dan Salmon (page 2) — Have you ever felt stressed or out of control? In the midst of chaos, you can either fear it or embrace it. In addition to being a smart businessman and a great keynote speaker, Salmon is a world-class juggler who understands what it's like to “have a lot of balls in the air.” This is a metaphor that defines his idea that what seems out of control (chaos) can bring clarity, inspiration, and competitive advantage.
Ten. Experience Mindset: Changing the way you think about growth By Tiffany Bova (Portfolio) — Introducing another book that highlights how employee experience impacts customer experience. Bova says that a balance between EX and CX “can increase revenue and profits by up to 50%.” She uses her Ritz-Carlton, Salesforce case study to make her case.
CRM
PFE
And here's the bonus. This is a “sort of” book.it's definitely worth taking time Reading (just kidding).
Time to win: How to exceed customer needs for speed by Jay Baer (MiniBuk) – There’s an old expression: “Good things come in small packages.” Baer has compiled extensive research on the importance of time and business into his 54-page “mini-book,” which takes about 30 minutes to read. Baer's philosophy is simple. If you give your customers time, they will give you their money. It costs the customer time and costs you money. Don't be fooled by how small this book is. It's the idea that matters, and the execution of it will bring great benefits.
Finally, you can't afford to miss this opportunity. I would like to introduce one of his publications for free. If you haven't already gotten your copy of my Customer Service and Experience Survey, click here. You'll find tons of statistics, facts, and research that will inspire you to think of new strategies to engage your customers and keep them coming back.
That concludes this year's Top 10 list. Visit your favorite bookstore or click a link to give a friend, colleague, boss, or yourself a gift they'll value and appreciate. Have a great vacation!
