Michael A Aun - Its the Customer, Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help You Stay Client-Focused

Contents

Praise for Its the Customer, Stupid!

Theres no need to buy a dozen books on customer service. Just buy onethis one! Michael Aun gets to the heart of what it takes to win and keep todays demanding customer.

Joe Calloway author of Becoming a Category of One

Michael Aun is terrific on and off the platform... entertaining and educating! Hes excelled himself in this magnificent book.

Ed Foreman, U. S. Congressman (Retired), Texas and New Mexico

Success in business is all about loyal and happy customers. Michael Aun is a genius when it comes to customer relationships. Use his ideas and you will find success.

Jeff Slutsky, author of Street Fighter Marketing Solutions

Michael Aun is right aun target with this ausome book, and the one thing aul businesses forgetto auways focus aun the customer. Right aun , Aun!

Ronald P. Culberson, MSW, CSP, Humorist and author of Is Your Glass Laugh Full and My Kneecap Seems Too Loose

Michael Aun describes why your most important goals are your customers goals; how sold customers can become your most abused customers; and why keeping current customers is easier than developing new ones.

Dr. Larry Baker, CSP; Internationally Known Management Consultant, Coach, Speaker, Author, and Publisher

Michael Aun is the king of customer service! Master the fine art of impeccable customer service that leads to loyalty and trust through his masterful ideas. This book is packed with ideas, concepts, and testaments that will transform the way you operate your business.

Dr. Nido Qubein, President, High Point University; Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Co.

Astounding customer service is the best strategy for competing in todays marketplace. Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game, astounding customer service wins the game. Its the Customer, Stupid! is the blueprint for exceeding customer expectations and creating lifetime customers who are raving fans.

Dr. Tony Alessandra, author of The NEW Art of Managing People and The Platinum Rule

Michael Auns newest book gets to the point very quickly: Focus on your customers needs. Listen, listen, listen, and then listen some more. Great wisdom can be mined in 34 chapters. Buy this book! Read this book! And apply the time-valued rules. Its a winner!

Dr. Peter Legge, OBC, CSP, CPAE; Author, Businessman, and Professional Speaker

Michael Auns Its the Customer, Stupid! will inspire you to find opportunities to build your business with the wisdom from a man who knows how to do it. Be smart and read this book!

Giovanni Livera, President, TimeCompass, Inc.; author of Live A Thousand Years

Michael Aun provides extraordinarily wise counsel for everyone smart enough to follow his advice for positively impacting customers. Anyone who desires to remove the bag filled with stupid customer activities will be wise to embrace Michael Auns proven strategies of providing lifetime service to all customers and clients. Based on his successful career of attracting, serving, and keeping customers, Michael Aun offers 34 profound ways to engage his customer based success. As we say, Listening Pays in Many Ways!, and the wise will listen to Michael Aun.

Dr. Lyman K. Manny Steil, CEO, International Listening Leadership Institute; author of Listening Leaders: The Ten Golden Rules to Listen, Lead and Succeed

Copyright 2011 by Michael Aun. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Aun, Michael, 1949

Its the customer, stupid! : 34 wake-up calls to help you stay client-focused/Michael Aun.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-90739-9 (cloth)

ISBN 978-1-118-00126-4 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-00127-1 (ebk)

ISBN 978-1-118-00128-8 (ebk)

1. Customer services. 2. Customer relationsManagement. I. Title.

HF5415.5.A96 2011

658.812dc22

2010034667

Foreword

Michael Shares His Wealth

In todays Whats in it for me right now? world, Michael Aun stands as a successful person who recognizes that right now is not as powerful as day-by-day. Consistency wins the race. And consistency is only one of Michaels success attributes. Family man, high ethics, and dogmatic to achieve and be positive from the first minute of the morning until his head hits the pillow at night, are some others.

His engaging online publication, Behind the Mike, is a misnomer. Michael Aun is always out in front. Its the reason he has achieved so much in his career, and its the reason he will continue to achieve. I always read it from beginning to end. Its loaded with insight, humor, and wisdom.

In this book, Its the Customer, Stupid! , Michael goes to great lengths to explain the validity and the monetary value of customers, repeat customers, loyal customers, and referred customers. Because everyone is looking to make sales, build business, increase profits, and become successful now , this book addresses the gold in your own backyard that you are not mining. Your customers. Better stated, your loyal customers.

Michael has succeeded in the insurance business, which in my opinion is the most difficult business to achieve over the long term. In a market segment where no one wants to meet with the seller, Michael was always able to meet with the buyer, and he didnt just make sales, he established relationships and over the years has kept a fiercely loyal customer base. Not just renewals, but also referrals.