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Knowledge Cafe |
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Raving Fans
A Revolutionary Approach
To Customer Service
by Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager and Sheldon Bowles, with Foreword by Harvey Mackay
From the dust jacket: "Your customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing better. Just having satisfied customers isn't good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create Raving Fans."
This, in a nutshell, is the advice given to a new Area Manager on his first day--in an extraordinary new business book that will help everyone, in every kind of organization or business, deliver stunning customer service and achieve miraculous bottom line results.
Raving Fans is written in the parable style of The One Minute Manager and uses a brilliantly simple and charming story to teach how to define a vision, learn what a customer really wants, institute effective systems, and make Raving Fan Service a constant feature--not just another program of the month.
America is in the midst of a service crisis that has left a wake of disillusioned customers from coast to coast. Raving Fans includes startling new tips and innovative techniques that can help anyone create a revolution in any workplace--and turn their customers into raving, spending fans.
Ken Blanchard lives in San Diego, California, and is chairman of the board of Blanchard Training and Development, Inc. He is the co-author of The One Minute Manager and ten other best-selling books. His books have combined sales of over 7 million copies in more than 20 languages.
Sheldon Bowles is president of Ode to Joy Limited, a diversified holding and management company, and founding president of Domo Gasoline Corporation, which he built into a $75 million company, widely acknowledged as a customer-service legend. He lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
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This book was first published in 1993 and just the other day when cruising through my local Barnes & Noble looking at the latest management and business books, I see Raving Fans right in the middle of them in plain view. I mean, come on, the book was written in 1993, so why is it still sitting there in hardback as if it were current?
There's a good reason for that. Customer service sucks generally. It seems like only a very small number of business owners have read this book. I'm sure if they had read it, they would be giving awesome service, but I'm not finding it. How about you? Are you finding great Raving Fan service? Are you giving great Raving Fan service?
This book is so easy to read, you can read it in an hour or so, and it is worth reading a few times and making lots of notes on the pages where there is a lot of room to write them.
Whether you are giving service as an employee or as a business owner, or as an individual, the short lessons in this great book can be of help.
Having just reread the book again, I have found some gems that will be of great value to me. I am confident that you will do the same if you've read it in the past.
I believe that great customer service is the holy grail of business and having Raving Fans is the reward. There will always be plenty who don't give great customer service, so those who do will always be on the leading edge. That's an awesome place to be!
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There's no time like the present. Here is a link to get it right away. You will be so glad you did:
Book:
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K.C. Archive |
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Here is a list of books and audio's that have been recommended in the Knowledge Cafe.
Raving Fans
by Ken Blanchard
and Sheldon Bowles
All Marketers Are Liars
by Seth Godin
Failing Forward
by John C Maxwell
Leadership Is An Art and Leadership Jazz by Max DePree
The Spirituality of Success by Vincent M Roazzi
Power In Praise by Merlin Carothers
The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & Hohn David Mann
The Gratitude Effect by John DeMartini
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, MD
The Power To Have It All Audio Package by Bob Proctor
The Secret - Book and Audiobook by Rhonda Byrne
Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell
Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
The Power of Focus by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt
How To Talk To Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere by Larry King
Lead the Field Audio by Earl Nightingale
Your Invisible Power by Genevieve Behrend
and
The Spirit of Opulence by Thomas Troward
You Were Born Rich by Bob Proctor
Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, MD
You2 by Price Pritchett
The Magic of Believing by Claude M Bristol
Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins
Success Magazine
and
How To Lose Friends and Alienate People by Irving Tressler
and
How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
The Psychology of Selling by Brian Tracy
and
How To Sell Anything To Anybody by Joe Girard
How I Raised Myself From Failure To Success In Selling by Frank Bettger
The Success Principle by Jack Canfield
Jeffrey Gitomer Little Books Collectors Edition: 5-pack of books plus CD
Enterprise One To One
and
The One To One Fieldbook by Don Peppers and Martha Rogers
Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer
Customers For Life by Carl Sewell |
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CTS Blog |
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Subscribe to our daily Commercial Truck Success Blog!
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Have A Great Day! |
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Smile. It's the easiest gift you can give someone. Better yet, tell someone something positive and uplifting today. It will make their day--and, it will make yours! |
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Show Your Favorites |
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Do you have some special favorite bodies or body companies? Or, perhaps you have photos of overloaded trucks.
Send us photos and a short story of your experiences and we will put them in the CTS IdeaLetter.
Send to:
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CTS is proud to be associated with the National Ford Truck Club
If you're part of a Ford dealer, we highly recommend you subscribe to the FordPros Magazine. It's FREE! Click on one of the links below to sign up and get access to their new website.
This is a great organization!
NEW WEBSITE
For the
National Ford Truck Club
or
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2010 NTEA
Work Truck Show |
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The National Truck & Equipment Association's huge annual event is coming up very soon. The Work Truck Show is an awesome event and a great chance to see truck bodies and accessories from all over the United States and the world.
The hotels fill up fast, so get registered right away. Last year's event in Chicago was off the charts great and Knapheide's party at the Navy Pier was a smash hit. Plan to attend and bring a friend!
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Tony Anderson of Harbor Truck Bodies shows off one of the new Masterack packages. Harbor is a Masterack distributor and can take care of your van interior needs.
Call Tony at 800-433-9452 and visit their website at www.htbi.net.
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Free
CTS Daily Inspirations
Email
We all need a little pump up to start our day, including myself. We now offer a Daily Inspirations email to give you some food for thought and a little encouragement. We began this new feature in Sep '09, and feedback is very positive.
To subscribe, click the link above "join our mailing list" logo. You will be sent an email to finalize your changes.
To see some samples, click here: Samples. If you prefer, an easy way is just to drop me an email (see link below) and put Daily Inspirations in the subject line. As always, you can unsubscribe easily at any time.
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Stratec Locks! |
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Recently, Strattec sent me 3 locks to try, one for GM, Ford and Dodge. I have to tell you that this is one sweet lock. The lock "codes" itself. You just take your ignition key, put it into the lock, turn it and unlock the lock. Now the lock is "coded" to that key only. Try another key and it doesn't work. It is just that easy.
Whether you use padlocks on your vehicle or storage facility or around your home, now you can have all the lock keyed to the ignition key of your GM, Ford or Dodge. You have got to try one of these locks to believe it. They aren't cheap, but they are heavy duty and they are an excellent value in my opinion. Try one and I know you will want more.
Learn more at:
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The Royal Touch |
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This design using removable plastic trays instead of metal dividers is such a simple idea and such a great idea. Customers love it. Bravo!
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AG Body Drawers |
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AG Body, Inc. is dedicated to designing and manufacturing a variety of specialized and standard tool storage products. By combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technology, we are able to offer a quality line of truck equipment products tailored to our customer's needs. The A G Body product line includes a selection of size-to-fit drawers, bolt bins, chests, cabinets, and boxes along with standard tool storage items.
Contact AG Body for your storage needs at
800-786-2639
and visit their website
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Welcome! |
Welcome to the Commercial Truck Success Idealetter!
Published every other week, the Idealetter is an informative thought starter and news source for busy commercial sales professionals and managers with numerous links to great products, the Commercial Truck Success website, Daily Blog and many other links to useful information, tools and inspiration!
Please feel free to offer comments and suggestions for future topics that are of interest to you. Also, please forward this to others you wish to share it with. There is a forward email link at the bottom of this page. I wish you success! Keep up the good work! And, never stop learning! - Terry Minion, Editor |
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Dodge 5500 19' Rollback For Wilers Tow |
After seeing this truck drop off a unit, I had to take some shots. I've seen some of the new Dodge wreckers, but not a rollback. Looks great!
This one is owned by Wilers Tow Service in Vallejo, a AAA Emergency Road Service Independent Contractor. It is a Dodge 5500 with the Cumins diesel and a Century rollback unit. You can call Wilers/Benicia Tow Inc. at 707-642-5108 and visit their website at www.wilerstow.com. |
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Fabick Dump Truck Liners |
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Fabick Truck Liners announces the most resilient, wear resistant, strongest, and far superior sprayed-on and poured-on line on the market today. Fabick's dump truck lining systems are designed to be tough enough for the most demanding applications. They have been designed to take the abuse from sand, gravel, rock, concrete, snow, and many others. Here are some of the features of this great product:
- Bonds directly to metal.
- Increases slide and reduce material build up.
- Repairable wear surface.
- For new or used dump beds.
- Ideal for resurfacing used dump beds.
- Minimal down time. Completed in 1-2 days.
Contact Fabick Liners of Madison, Wisconsin at 608-242-1100. Contact them via email at info@fabick.com and check out their website at www.fabick.com. |
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Ute Bed - Versatile Pickup Truck Bed |
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The UTE's are here! When I was in Australia a few years back, I saw a lot of interesting trucks and most were very light duty trucks as these shown here. There has long been a movement to smaller and much more fuel efficient and cost effective trucks outside of the United States. We've always had such cheap fuel in the past, and even though it is still cheap here by comparison with other countries, we persist in larger and larger trucks.
Sure there is a need for larger trucks, but there is also a need for lighter trucks. Having seen them in Australia, England, Bermuda and other locations I've been to, it is clear that it will be coming in time to the US in more quantity.
When I first saw these trucks--especially the Ute style trucks--I thought they looked strange because I could see the rear framework which is hidden by a pickup bed. The thing I see now is what a job they can do for their size and weight which is awesome. Welcome Ute bed!
There is also some very interesting and kind of exciting accessories available for these beds. The Ute Top shown above is sort of like a camper shell with three big doors. The low load height and the accessibility is great along with keeping items out of the weather and direct sun. The one shown also has a rear drawer and you can add some nice underbed boxes as well.
We will show more of these in other posts very soon. In the meantime, go to the Ute Bed website at www.utebed.com and check out more photos and information. |
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Knapheide/UTEM Bucket Service Truck |
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From Scott Stiles of Stiles Truck Body & Equipment, Inc. in Turlock, CA: "Attached are photos of our articulated bucket truck. We use UTEM aerial buckets and Knapheide service bodies. This is a 6132D54LPJ low profile Knapheide body, 11' long with a torsion box floor and over frame torsion bar, UTEM UTLN-41 Skytel (41' 9" working heights - 25' 9" side reach), Deweze clutch pump hydraulics, and proportional joystick controls. This unit is very competitively priced compared to its competition and the Knapheide body carries a 6-year warranty that is superior to any other California manufacturer." |
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Sprinter FedEx Van by American Cargo |
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Here's a great solution for delivery: The Sprinter delivery van. This is one of many built by American Cargo by Midway. It is made of 5/8" FRP, 15.5' long by 84" height by 96" width. It includes 2"x6" dense pine flooring, fiberglass wind faring at front of the body, tall walk through access door, 60"x 77.5" rear roll-up door, full width step bumper with pooched step, 36" curbside sliding door with 2-step aluminum step well and 2-Halogen interior dome lights. The decal and back-up camera were installed by the local delivering dealer.
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Guest Article:
HTS Half-Ton Western Snowplow |
Here's a great solution for Light Duty Plowing:
The Western Half Ton Snowplow
Featuring:
- Designed exclusively for 1/2-ton four-wheel drive trucks
- Two-spring trip blad protects your snowplow and truck when the snowplow strikes an obstruction. Elastomer trip pads further reduce excessive jarring and soften the blade return when tripping occurs
- Six verticl ribs and the exclusive WESTERN POWER BAR provide unmatched structural reinforcement
- Covered hydraulic system is protected from the elements
Guest article by Steve Taylor.
Steve is a consultant in the Truck Equipment business with over 30 years in the snowplow and truck body manufacturing business. Visit his website at www.truckarchitect.com. He specializes in the design and quality/reliability field and may be reached by email at steve@truckarchitect.com |
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SpitzLift DC Aluminum Cranes |
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This is a SpitzLift DC Aluminum Crane mounted in a Knapheide KUV enclosed service body. The DC cranes are rated up to 900 lbs, yet weigh only about 40 lbs. and also folds for easy storage. It comes with a 10 ft. hand held controller to give you maximum flexibility. The SpitzLift DC Crane comes standard with 15 ft. of abrasion resistant webbing (available up to 25') or cable up to 50 ft or synthetic rope up to 50 ft. SpitzLift Cranes are made from structural aluminum and are anodized for maximum corrosion resistance. All models are full range, dynamic static load tested and SpitzLift is OSHA and ANSI compliant. Units are also available with an AC motor. Check out all the offerings and applications at www.spitzlift.net. |
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Babco Engineering Aluminum Dump Bodies |
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Here is a few sweet aluminum dump bodies manufactured by Babco Engineering in Miami, Florida. Babco custom builds commercial landscape bodies, dump truck bodies, flatbeds, box trucks, refrigerated trucks, and several specialized commercial truck bodies. They can fabricate each body to your specific needs for the highest level of productivity and efficiency for your vehicle. Babco uses high quality aluminum and steel, great design and the strong welding for all of their commercial truck bodies.
To see more, check out Babco Engineering's website at www.babcoe.com. You can reach them by telephone at 305-216-7565. |
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Nice Stahl Grand Challenger on Ford |
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Here is a sweet looking rig. A Stahl Grand Challenger GTL-34 Low Profile curved side service body. This one is sporting a Rack-It Rack which looks great on this unit. In addition it is mounted on a Ford F250 with nice aluminum wheels. It is a great combination.
This unit is courtesy of Jack Schmidt of West Coast Truck Equipment in West Sacramento, CA. You can call Jack at 916-376-0690 and visit his website at www.westcoasttruckequipment.com.
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Sweet Custom Aluminum Body From H.P. |
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My first glance at this wonderful unit and I'm sold. Look at all the great storage spaces in this lightweight aluminum body. Just slightly taller than the cab of the truck, this gives a bit more space inside the body. The front compartment is full transverse compartment since you can see all the way through. Very nice for long objects. The connecting wheel skirt really makes the body look great on the chassis. I would add some gas shocks to the doors, but it is nice that the middle doors open all the way. Just think of all the things that can go inside the body. A nice RollerCoaster bedslide would be a great addition in there! No climbing in and out, just roll it out. Now, the compartment I like the best is the top compartment. You could park a Cadillac in there! It's huge! There are always those things that just don't fit in the regular spaces. It could also be for lightweight supplies that are used all the time, or parts that are commonly used in the field, etc. Great space! This is another awesome project from the Creative Ones at Highway Products! Check out their website at www.highwayproducts.com. | |
