Give 'em the Pickle

by Robert E. Farrell

INTERESTING AND CHARMING THOUGHTS

Genres: Business

157 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Miriam Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend recommended this book during a conversation about customer service.

It's an early book in the genre of business / self-help books comparable to Peter Sellers "In Search of Excellence" and even "The Invisible Employee," one of my favorites.

Farrell talks about his management style, his emphasis on customer service and "The customer is always right." It's a chatty book that describes how his business, Ice Cream Parlors, worked and survived in the 1990s. Is it out of date? I'd say no. What Farrell has to say is still current, still applicable to any business that wants to keep its customers, period, not matter the type of business you run or manage.

I can imagine his speech about "Give 'em the Pickle," a little extra, and they'll be back every time.

If you have an hour, you'll find there's plenty to learn and get a chuckle at the same time.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely from the 90s. The cheerfulness, the simplicity, it's very much a feel-good self-help kind of book. The overall message, if you can do something small t9 make your customer happy, is a good one.
30 years out though, many of his examples feel fairly cheesy and out of step with the customers.we see today. There is a focus on "the customer is always right" and that pendulum is swinging back to the original finish of that quote, "in matters of taste.

[Dana Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A half dozen ideas about customer service set in a sea of anecdotes, both personal and professional. Not a bad book, per se, but I feel most of the actual information could have been condensed down into a single chapter.

[Nathan Pyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of an old timey collection of customer service stories. It's fine, I guess, basically he tells you to do whatever you can to make the customer feel special, and to keep them coming back.

[Rana Bentley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Common Sense Customer Service. Easy, quick fun read

[Emma Woodbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book had a lot of great advice but sometimes the way it was communicated bugged me.

[S. Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short, fun book about customer service with personal experiences from the author. Includes good information on serving/helping people that is in dire need today. We are so used to social media, we sometimes forget how to be social "face-to-face".

[Jerry Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second time for reading this book; I'm giving a speech at Toastmasters relative to the book concerning customer service.

[Cody Dulock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Touches on the fundamental ideas behind customer service.

[James Pritchert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have read if you are involved in customer service. THe author lays out his experiences and delivers sound philosophy on customer service.