Evergreen: Cultivate the Enduring Customer Loyalty That Keeps Your Business Thriving

In the course of working with hundreds of clients, strategic marketing expert Fleming has seen a lot of misguided customer service. One common mistake is a focus on customer acquisition to the detriment of existing customers. With this book, he’s out to debunk customer service myths and wean businesses off of the damaging “new customer addiction.” In place of the so-called Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) model, Fleming presents the “Three C’s of an Evergreen organization—character, community, and content.” In his estimation, readers of every stripe—sales professionals, small businesspeople, managers and CEOs—should consider essential questions, such as “What’s the character of your company?” and “Who are your customers and what are their needs?” Citing companies that have done well at creating high value, strong community, and customer happiness—CrossFit figures prominently—Fleming gives cogent, helpful advice on fostering growth, responding to complaints, recovering customers, and, finally, on finding those much-desired new customers—once your base is firmly established, that is. While the titular arboreal metaphor gets tired (leaves, branches, what have you), the lessons are solid and thought-provoking and should prove a genuine eye-opener for many business owners and managers. Agent: Esmond Harmsworth, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth LLC. (Jan.)