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LEGENDARY SERVICE: The Key is to Care
Blanchard provides business leaders and employees with the one book they need to raise customer service to a world-class levelthe key to building a more solid, profitable company
176 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2014
About the author
Kenneth H. Blanchard
345 books1,881 followersKen Blanchard, one of the most influential leadership experts in the world, is the coauthor of the iconic bestseller, The One Minute Manager, and 60 other books whose combined sales total more than 21 million copies. His groundbreaking works have been translated into more than 27 languages and in 2005 he was inducted into Amazon’s Hall of Fame as one of the top 25 bestselling authors of all time.
Ken is also the cofounder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California.
When he’s not writing or speaking, Ken also spends time teaching students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego. Ken can be found at www.kenblanchard.com.
Ken is also the cofounder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, an international management training and consulting firm that he and his wife, Margie Blanchard, began in 1979 in San Diego, California.
When he’s not writing or speaking, Ken also spends time teaching students in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership Program at the University of San Diego. Ken can be found at www.kenblanchard.com.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
February 15, 2018
I completely agree with the importance of taking care of clients, with ideas included in "Legendary service" as well, but they take only 10% of this book. The rest is sweet unnecessary stories.
Stories help learn new things but here a disproportion between knowledge and stories is huge.
Stories help learn new things but here a disproportion between knowledge and stories is huge.
September 16, 2019
The concept is good but I just cannot finish reading those books that make me feel I need to be saint to survive not as a mortal .
August 25, 2022
After several fiction novels and audiobooks I decided to jump into a nonfiction book that has been on my to be read (TBR) pile for a while now. Truthfully, it was on my TBR pile because it is also a "book club" selection at my work. So, kind of a two for one me. Let's jump into the review!
"Legendary Service" is really all about basic concepts that anyone who has ever been in a role where you provide service should likely be fully aware and know as well as practice. However, we all know that isn't always the case (probably why we have a book for it and courses), but I digress. The key concepts of the book are well founded and solid. If you've ever heard of "One Minute Manager" you are probably familiar with Ken Blanchard's work and style -- simply written text that is at the same time thought provoking and profound.
The authors do a wonderful job telling the fictional story of Kelsey Young who is a college student about to graduate with a business degree and also works at a department store and one of her last courses is one Legendary Service. She attends Professor Hartley's course with enthusiasm and is able to learn a great deal from the course and put it into practice in her workplace. Along the way Kelsey has some downs and some ups with putting into practice what she has learned.
Kelsey's story is told very well and "Legendary Service" was an easy and good read. As I mentioned above, if you have ever been in role where you provide service, most of these concepts will not be foreign to you. What I did like about the book was that it showed approaches at the organizational level. That is where many service concepts and practices really need to be supported but also championed. In my adult working life I have seen successes and pitfalls that truly hinge on the organization side of things.
Definitely worth my time to read this book and revisit these concepts.
"Legendary Service" is really all about basic concepts that anyone who has ever been in a role where you provide service should likely be fully aware and know as well as practice. However, we all know that isn't always the case (probably why we have a book for it and courses), but I digress. The key concepts of the book are well founded and solid. If you've ever heard of "One Minute Manager" you are probably familiar with Ken Blanchard's work and style -- simply written text that is at the same time thought provoking and profound.
The authors do a wonderful job telling the fictional story of Kelsey Young who is a college student about to graduate with a business degree and also works at a department store and one of her last courses is one Legendary Service. She attends Professor Hartley's course with enthusiasm and is able to learn a great deal from the course and put it into practice in her workplace. Along the way Kelsey has some downs and some ups with putting into practice what she has learned.
Kelsey's story is told very well and "Legendary Service" was an easy and good read. As I mentioned above, if you have ever been in role where you provide service, most of these concepts will not be foreign to you. What I did like about the book was that it showed approaches at the organizational level. That is where many service concepts and practices really need to be supported but also championed. In my adult working life I have seen successes and pitfalls that truly hinge on the organization side of things.
Definitely worth my time to read this book and revisit these concepts.
May 10, 2020
Servicio Legendario
Las cinco guías que este libro nos presenta son una base sólida para implementar una Cultura de Servicio. Excelente relato de como es posible transformar una compañía teniendo al cliente siempre en la mente.
Las cinco guías que este libro nos presenta son una base sólida para implementar una Cultura de Servicio. Excelente relato de como es posible transformar una compañía teniendo al cliente siempre en la mente.
September 23, 2020
That book will help you understand basic rules of customer service presented in a nice way of the story about girl. She did some changes in her attitude to people to increase sales in a shop. Good book for one day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 3, 2025
A typical Blanchard – straightforward and to the point. There are no advanced strategies here, just simplicity. Some may find the book too simple, but for me it hits the nail on the head in terms of what should be taught in every customer service department.
June 28, 2026
One of the best books I've ever read. It's one of those books that u have nothing to do with yet the moment you start reading it absorbs you entirely. It's one of the few first books I read and I just loved it!
October 2, 2018
Mandatory reading
November 16, 2020
Awesome read!
October 12, 2022
Steven is a terrible manager and Ferguson’s should have fired him years ago. He just gets Kelsey to do all of the work. I’m #teamshopsmart
Currently Reading
January 5, 2026Began reading the sample in Apple Books, and purchased.
July 1, 2026
Some good nuggets in there. Turning a book on customer service into a narrative was pretty weird though.
September 26, 2014
Probably everybody believes that providing great customer service is a good idea. Even if we accept that the customer is definitely not always right. Every business needs customers after all! Repeat customers are even more valuable.
So-called Legendary Service can be easily provided to a customer with a bit of effort and a change in core thinking. The blurb claims that this book will "...deliver a groundbreaking method for developing the kind of customer-service programme that launches companies to the top of their industry."
Despite the quality of the information, the format just didn't work for this reviewer. Written in a sort of rambling, talkative narrative or story-style the book sets out to underline how you should care for your customers, whether you are serving internal customers or those whose patronage pays the bills. If you can get on with the style of the book undoubtedly you will find something of interest. It might not necessarily be rocket science when you examine the advice on offer - it should be common sense after all - yet many companies just don't "get it" and continue to make the same mistakes time after time after time.
You can sense the focus and intensity of the authors and their passion for delivering the best-possible service to customers. There is nothing inherently bad with this book but it is just the manner in which the information is delivered that left this reviewer feeling underwhelmed. The information didn't need to be written into a narrative to be sold.
If you fear that you might share this reviewer's personal dislike of this book's style you'd still be recommended to check it out at a bookstore and see if you can get on with it. Fortunately the book is competitively priced so you could easily "buy it blind" and take a gamble. It has the potential to pay for itself time after time after time - it is more a question as to whether you would persevere to read it from cover-to-cover to pull the nuggets out.
Legendary Service, by Ken Blanchard, Victoria Halsey & Kathy Cuff and published by McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071819046, 176 pages. YYY.
So-called Legendary Service can be easily provided to a customer with a bit of effort and a change in core thinking. The blurb claims that this book will "...deliver a groundbreaking method for developing the kind of customer-service programme that launches companies to the top of their industry."
Despite the quality of the information, the format just didn't work for this reviewer. Written in a sort of rambling, talkative narrative or story-style the book sets out to underline how you should care for your customers, whether you are serving internal customers or those whose patronage pays the bills. If you can get on with the style of the book undoubtedly you will find something of interest. It might not necessarily be rocket science when you examine the advice on offer - it should be common sense after all - yet many companies just don't "get it" and continue to make the same mistakes time after time after time.
You can sense the focus and intensity of the authors and their passion for delivering the best-possible service to customers. There is nothing inherently bad with this book but it is just the manner in which the information is delivered that left this reviewer feeling underwhelmed. The information didn't need to be written into a narrative to be sold.
If you fear that you might share this reviewer's personal dislike of this book's style you'd still be recommended to check it out at a bookstore and see if you can get on with it. Fortunately the book is competitively priced so you could easily "buy it blind" and take a gamble. It has the potential to pay for itself time after time after time - it is more a question as to whether you would persevere to read it from cover-to-cover to pull the nuggets out.
Legendary Service, by Ken Blanchard, Victoria Halsey & Kathy Cuff and published by McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071819046, 176 pages. YYY.
May 10, 2015
'Legendary Service: The Key is to Care' is another winner from Ken Blanchard. His co-writers are Vicoria Halsey and Kathy Cuff.
The concepts are told in story form. Young Kelsey is taking a business course on customer service. At the same time, she is working for a retail store named Ferguson's that is facing stiff competition when an aggressive competitor is moving into the area. Kelsey gets to see what makes good customer service on the job and also as a customer at her grandmother's physical therapy clinic. She tries to make changes at work, but the management is determined not to make service a focus. Will Kelsey win the day or be forced to go her own way?
The lessons are laid out in a model called ICARE. The way the story is told builds on each step of the model. This would be a good book for service teams to read. As someone who supports internal customers and wants to give great service, I think the concepts are solid and the delivery is pretty digestible. Recommended for anyone who wants to up their game in service.
I received a review copy of this ebook from McGraw-Hill Professional and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
The concepts are told in story form. Young Kelsey is taking a business course on customer service. At the same time, she is working for a retail store named Ferguson's that is facing stiff competition when an aggressive competitor is moving into the area. Kelsey gets to see what makes good customer service on the job and also as a customer at her grandmother's physical therapy clinic. She tries to make changes at work, but the management is determined not to make service a focus. Will Kelsey win the day or be forced to go her own way?
The lessons are laid out in a model called ICARE. The way the story is told builds on each step of the model. This would be a good book for service teams to read. As someone who supports internal customers and wants to give great service, I think the concepts are solid and the delivery is pretty digestible. Recommended for anyone who wants to up their game in service.
I received a review copy of this ebook from McGraw-Hill Professional and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
September 10, 2014
The writing in Legendary Service does not measure up to Ken Blanchard's classic One Minute Manager, but the message is just as powerful and beneficial. The actual story that conveys the message is corny (at best), but that silly story does it's job: The story convinces the reader that outstanding service is hard work, but, at the same time, eminently doable in ANY company. And it is not complicated. I guarantee that after reading this book you will walk away with a new enthusiasm and desire to improve the service in your company....not marginally but by "legendary" proportions. Get ready for a corny story that is still a MUST read for any business owner or manager.
April 29, 2014
Though oftentimes remedial, the message of the book is valuable. The idea of legendary service is told through a story as opposed to direct instructional learning. This provides the reader with an opportunity to identify the actions in motion instead of having to pause to drum up examples. The most meaningful takeaway is the reminder that internal customers (employees, coworkers, etc) are just as deserving of impeccable service as external customers.
May 31, 2014
Blanchard continues in his tradition of writing practical and meaningful books on management. This time he tackles customer service using a story how a student applies principles learned in class to try to transform her company's service image. Though the story is simple, Blanchard and his co-writers present sound principles that can be applied in any setting.
This book should be read by all those involved with providing excellent service.
This book should be read by all those involved with providing excellent service.
March 5, 2016
Excellent story about a store clerk taking a "Legendary Service" course at college and applying the principles to her company. ICARE was the model used. I - Ideal Service, C - Culture of Service, A - Attentiveness, R - Responsiveness, E- Empowerment. Highly recommended for all business leaders and their staff.
July 15, 2014
Been a Blanchard fan for years after reading gung-ho. Another simple and fast read and a few good takeaway for building a culture focusing on customer service. Great for either retail or service industries.
February 26, 2017
One of my favorite authors. The book has an amazing lesson on customer service. Given to us in a very interesting story. The books gets you hooked from the start. The lessons are easy to apply and very important. A should read for better customer service.
July 1, 2014
Work read. Not overly complicated, good read on customer service. Read and discussed with my managers and many of them rolled it out to their teams.
July 14, 2014
Some very good points in this book, very inspiring.
September 24, 2014
great easy read on customer service!
May 6, 2015
concept was great, not feeling super inspired by it though.
January 29, 2016
A must read for anyone in the service industry.
January 29, 2017
Overall a good reminder of the important role service plays in our work lives!
September 7, 2017
Good points although rather simplistic.
October 15, 2018
Excellent book! It read like a novel but imparted such marvelous advice! I'm actively working to implement these ideas as my work. Highly recommended.
October 7, 2021
work read
November 15, 2021
I read it for work! I feel very weird rating it against books I read for fun! I’m just going to copy/paste this into all of those books! I need it to count towards my annual read count!!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews