Books

The Frictionless Organization 

Deliver Great Customer Experiences with Less Effort (2022)

Bill Price (Author), David Jaffe (Author)

Based on original interviews and secondary research with organizations around the world well known for simplifying their entire product and service suite, that is, becoming “frictionless”, including AGL, Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Appliances Online, ATO, Bla Bla Car, Blizzard Entertainment, CableOne, Carsales.com, E.On, N26, Nike, Nordstrom, OLX, RedHat, Starbucks, Tesla, T-Mobile USA, Trek Bikes, Uber, United Airlines, Vodafone, Winnings, Xero, and Zoom.

Listen to the Podcast
Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken featuring Bill Price

  • Learn how frictionless organizations cut costs, grow revenue, and create loyal fans by creating products and services that work so well, their customers never have to contact them for the wrong reasons.

    This book will help any customer-facing organization deliver better customer experiences, save money, and increase revenue. Veteran customer service experts Bill Price and David Jaffe, coauthors of the bestseller The Best Service Is No Service, explain how organizations can design products, sales, and support so that customer effort is reduced or, better still, removed. This simplicity for the customer is what Price and Jaffe call frictionless.

    The book defines a straightforward methodology, drawing on more than thirty practical examples from leading companies across four continents. The approach provides a radically different way for the whole business to focus on the customer experience. It explains how any organization can look at all customer interactions as potential opportunities for improvement and question whether they are helpful or represent symptoms of friction.

    Lower friction innovators are disrupting established businesses in every industry. This detailed guide shows how any business—from start-ups to major multinational corporations—can remove friction. Being frictionless has become a strategic necessity, and now this strategy is available to any organization.

Available in English (Hardback, Kindle, Audio).

Your Customer Rules! 

Delivering the Me2B Experiences That Today’s Customers Demand  (2015)

Bill Price (Author), David Jaffe (Author)

Based on original interviews and secondary research with recognized customer experience leaders including AGL, Amazon, Apple, BUPA, Costco, Hilti, Nike, Nordstrom, Shoes of Prey, Starbucks, Vente-Privee, and Yamato Transport. In the end we discovered, and these companies agreed, that these Needs (and 39 Sub-Needs) apply to employees, too.

View Interview
David Jaffe talks about his book "Your Customer Rules!”

  • What you need to know about your customers

    Now more than ever, every interaction you have with customers is critical. Customers today have unlimited information at their fingertips―and can influence the purchase decisions and behaviors of millions of others. With this comes a shift in the balance of power, and every company must come to terms with the fact that the customer is in control. Interacting with customers in the way they want is an essential business strategy and in many industries, the key to business success.

    Executives still refer to B2B and B2C business models, as though companies control demand by going to customers with products and services. But as Bill Price and David Jaffe (authors of The Best Service is No Service) show, a new business model is emerging in which the customer directs the relationship. It is becoming a world of "Me2B"―one in which the customer, not the business, dictates the terms of engagement. In order for your business to thrive, you must create positive experiences to fulfill a range of customer needs.

    Though the mediums for customer engagement continuously evolve, Price and Jaffe show that customer needs remain unchanging. In Your Customer Rules!, they define a critical hierarchy of seven needs that your company can meet and apply as a methodology.

    Throughout this practical guidebook, Price and Jaffe share examples of companies who succeed by meeting these seven needs, including Amazon, Apple, IKEA, Nordstrom, USAA, Shoes of Prey, Vente-Privee, and Yamato Transport, as well as those that didn't. Your Customer Rules! offers tailored advice for companies at every stage, from nimble startups to legacy firms with established customer service practices―and everyone in between.

    With a simple, elegant solution for driving lasting value for customers, Your Customer Rules! is a clear guide for strengthening customer relationships and competing on more than price. It is essential reading for executives at all levels―business owners, marketing managers, and anyone who works directly with customers.

Available in English (Hardback, Kindle, Audio), French (Softback), and Spanish (PDF).

The Best Service is No Service

How to Liberate Your Customers from Customer Service, Keep Them Happy, and Control Costs (2008)

Bill Price (Author), David Jaffe (Author)

With my co-author who is from Melbourne, Australia. Based partly on my experiences as Amazon’s first Worldwide VP of Customer Service with stories from 20 companies including Alaska Airlines, Danaher/Fluke, Dell, Cable & Wireless, Kingfisher Airlines, McDonald’s, Telstra, USAA Insurance, and Yarra Valley Water.

View Interview
Learn more about “Customer Service Strategies: The Best Service is No Service” with OpenView labs.

  • In this groundbreaking book, Bill Price and David Jaffe offer a new, game-changing approach, showing how managers are taking the wrong path and are using the wrong metrics to measure customer service. Customer service, they assert, is only needed when a company does something wrong―eliminating the need for service is the best way to satisfy customers. To be successful, companies need to treat service as a data point of dysfunction and figure what they need to do to eliminate the demand. The Best Service Is No Service outlines these seven principles to deliver the best service that ultimately leads to "no service":

    Eliminate dumb contacts

    Create engaging self-service

    Be proactive

    Make it easy to contact your company

    Own the actions across the company

    Listen and act

    Deliver great service experiences

Available in English (Hardback, Kindle, Audio), Chinese (Softback), Korean (Softback), and Russian (Softback)