I facilitate a biz book club for a women's organization and we chose "Hug Your Customer". We were also fortunate to have Jack speak at a luncheon as we are located near his stores. In person, Jack was professional and enthusiastic. The book club loved the book and felt that after reading the book we went about our daily lives expecting hugs and not getting many. In any extremely competitive business, I think it's the hugs that will make you stand out and you won't have to ask for the business, customers will automatically spread the good word. The storytelling in the book put tactics to life and easy to understand.
Sharon Lucca
M & T Bank
Entrepreneurial Womans Network Business Book Club
Westport, CT

All this Mitchell character did was make claims and then back them up by their own philosophies. I truly gave it a chance but page after page was about themselves pumping their own grandeur.
I study the art of sales and customer loyalty with respect to customer retention - but this just seemed like one big solicitation. I wasn't impressed. I actually received the book from American Express as a new year's gift and was delighted that the company sent it to me but not so much when I actually got through half of it.

This is a book about the principles of passionate customer service. Written by USA retailer, Jack Mitchell, it is full of homespun philosophies and amusing anecdotes that give a glimpse of why his two store business is so successful. Here are two examples of what Jack Mitchell means by a `hug':

"A hug can be a thoughtful remedy for an annoyance. When the postal service raised the price of a stamp to 37cents from 34 cents, my first thought was, `Oh great, now I've got to stand in line to get 3-cent stamps so I can use that mound of 34-cent stamps I bought...I hate waiting in lines, so I sent out a personal note to 500 of our good customers, thinking they might be in the same boat, and included some 3-cent stamps. I wrote, `In an effort to make your life less hectic, I have enclosed a handful of 3-cent stamps.' It was a hug out of nowhere, and they loved it."

"Whenever I notice customers shopping with young children, I like to go over and kneel down so I'm at child height and say, `Hi there, I just wanted to thank you for bringing your mom and dad into the store today."

Rather like John Timpson, at Timpson Ltd in the UK, Jack Mitchell believes in rewarding high performers.

"We say to our great sellers, `we want to invest in you. We would rather pay you more, than pay to put additional ads in the Westport News or the New York Times.' Most retail stores traditionally spend 3 to 5 per cent of their sales in marketing. Years ago, we did too. But then we realised that we could spend a lot less and invest it in great people. It was a tremendous win for everyone."

"Hug Your Customers, love the results" is an easy read that is unlikely to give you new insights but it will get you thinking about how you can hug more of your customers more often and reap the rewards. As Jack Mitchell says, "You have to be consistent with all your customers. Inconsistent businesses have inconsistent profits."

This is a book about the principles of passionate customer service. Written by USA retailer, Jack Mitchell, it is full of homespun philosophies and amusing anecdotes that give a glimpse of why his two store business is so successful. Here are two examples of what Jack Mitchell means by a `hug':

"A hug can be a thoughtful remedy for an annoyance. When the postal service raised the price of a stamp to 37cents from 34 cents, my first thought was, `Oh great, now I've got to stand in line to get 3-cent stamps so I can use that mound of 34-cent stamps I bought...I hate waiting in lines, so I sent out a personal note to 500 of our good customers, thinking they might be in the same boat, and included some 3-cent stamps. I wrote, `In an effort to make your life less hectic, I have enclosed a handful of 3-cent stamps.' It was a hug out of nowhere, and they loved it."

"Whenever I notice customers shopping with young children, I like to go over and kneel down so I'm at child height and say, `Hi there, I just wanted to thank you for bringing your mom and dad into the store today."

Rather like John Timpson, at Timpson Ltd in the UK, Jack Mitchell believes in rewarding high performers.

"We say to our great sellers, `we want to invest in you. We would rather pay you more, than pay to put additional ads in the Westport News or the New York Times.' Most retail stores traditionally spend 3 to 5 per cent of their sales in marketing. Years ago, we did too. But then we realised that we could spend a lot less and invest it in great people. It was a tremendous win for everyone."

"Hug Your Customers, love the results" is an easy read that is unlikely to give you new insights but it will get you thinking about how you can hug more of your customers more often and reap the rewards. As Jack Mitchell says, "You have to be consistent with all your customers. Inconsistent businesses have inconsistent profits."

Overall, this is an excellent book for leaders of customer-centric organizations. While the book lacks organization and is heavy on personal examples, it is effective at providing numerous methods to improve customer loyalty. Hug Your Customers is an easy read and most examples can be implemented in almost any business. The positives so far outweighed the negatives mentioned above that I am giving this book five stars.

This book is an inspiration! Jack Mitchell writes with such enthusiasm it would make anyone want to hug. It is general enough to apply to any type of business and not at all boring.

If companies would aspire to doing even a fraction of the hugging he is writes about, the world would be a happier and healthier place. I will recommend this read for ANYONE in customer service or those who may think service is dead. I plan a trip to Mitchell's, just to check it out. Thanks Jack Mitchell. Service is NOT DEAD.

A great philosophy for anyone to adopt. I have made it a mandatory read for all senior managers in my company.

This book has nuggets that anyone in business should read. As a country where technology has removed the human touch at times, this speaks to the necessity of true customer service and what we as consumers long to feel.

Great book. Transcends the clothing biz to pass on ideas that affect any business that needs to provide great customer service.

Jack Mitchell hits the nail on the head in this book. Two messages: Customer service is not always about what you 'give' your customers; its about building relationships with them and creating ways to do things they will appreciate. Second message: there are no limits to how far you should go for your customers as long as you use common sense and sincerity. Thank you Jack Mitchell for sharing the successful ways your organization approaches customer service; you validate my personal beliefs on the subject. If you are interested in providing excellent customer service; start with this book. Hugging is good.

I own a retail software company that installs POS software for customer and sales tracking. The book was fantastic and we in fact added a customer profile section to our software as a result of the great ideas in the book. I also visited Mitchells in CT and the store is even more impressive than the book. The book is a must read for anyone seriously building their business one customer at a time. No matter what your previous thoughts on customer service, Jack Mitchell has put together the ultimate sumary of what real customer service should be.

Mr. Mitchell's level and scale of customer service is unusual in the retail world. He truly loves his customers and they know it. He articulates his ideas well in his book and at his stores he constantly communicates them to his employees (I know, I worked for him). He uses real stories to illustrate his points and that gives the book the same warm, welcoming "hug" feeling that you would get if you were talking to Mr. Mitchell in person.

I purchased a copy of this book for each of my employees because the feeling of the book is so fantastic. Even if it's not practical to use all of his ideas, we have found that small improvements in our customer relations have brought big results.

This book hits the nail on the head with regards to CUSTOMER SERVICE! I have bought 40 copies to use in the consulting business. A must read for anyone selling anything.

My family shopped at Mitchells for many, many years, beginning in the 1960s. We were loyal customers - spent a lot of money at Mitchells (which once was called Ed Mitchells) - and loved shopping there.

THEN, this customer-hugging family business owner changed his inventory and GREATLY raised his prices. Effectively snubbing his loyal customers of many years. It has become a joke for anyone who is not a CEO at Fortune 500 company to shop there.

Granted, I have not read the book but my feeling is it is really ironic that this man would have the gall to write a book like this. Ironic and insulting.

I have enjoyed reading Hug Your Customers. It serves as a reminder to all retailers - especially specialty retailers - of what we need to be doing for our customers on a daily basis. The message goes beyond retail, grasping what is at the heart of what will make every organization successful.

If your organization has become uncreative, or operationally cumbersome, I suggest this read.

A business owner who'll do anything for his customers--even fly across the world to deliver a suit! He turns clothing shopping from commodity to magical experience--and he is very well-compensated. I read this all the way through in about two sittings.

This terrific book wastes no words and no time, but delivers the goods. Jack Mitchell, CEO of two high-end clothing stores in Connecticut, offers solid (if not all new) principles of customer service and relationship management in a personal, lively, entertaining way. The book is immediately applicable to retail and small businesses, and sheds much-needed light on managing a family business. The book draws a straight line from customer service to business success. The author, whose warmth and candor is totally endearing, may be faulted for denying that location matters. After all, his stores sit in one of the most affluent regions in the U.S., so he would probably enjoy some measure of success even with mediocre customer service. And, his customer service is great, intense to the point of being instructive. If he is overenthusiastic about his formula, that's to be expected of a salesman. We find a lot of useful material here for anyone in a customer-contact business and, as a bonus, this familial saga is really fun to read. Highly recommended.

Everyone that deals with people should read this book. I would love to give it to the geeks that invented the computerized customer service reps.. those shameful beings. Hugs become extra important for someone who basically deals with clients through a computer.. like me :) The one thing I would change about this book is that certain sections tend to get really vague.

I've always been irked by rude customer transactions and the apathetic, useless people that facilitate in the transaction. Why is bad service the new norm and why are we all fine with that? Jack Mitchell added "hug" to my vocabulary. This book has helped me to identify the obvious "hug less" transactions, but more importantly, he helped me to identify the "hugging" ones, so I can reward them with my patronage and loyalty. I give this book as a gift to my fashion and garment industry friends as "hugs". This book should be mandatory reading for all consumers. Customer service people, all sales people, all managers, all new hires, all employees in every company should read this book. If read, this book may very well reduce malevolent business practices and unpleasant consumer transactions and could make "hugs" contagious. This book has opened my eyes for it made me appreciate every good transaction and even the bad ones, for relativity.

I have read over 50 books on Customer Service. This is by far the best of all of them. It goes into great detail on what things you need to do, not just the fact that you need to do them. I have sent them two emails, and they responded in less than a day-That's better than 90% of the companies out there...If you are going to read a book this year, this should be the one. It is insperational, and motivational for anyone dealing with the public, even Governmental agencies could learn a thing or two, or three or...

great book on the best way to take care of your customers. has a great message that any business should try to follow.

Highly recommend to any businessperson as a "how-to" guide to differentiating yourself through service and overall attention to the customer. Much of what is written here seems like common sense (the Golden Rule: "Do unto others...") yet is rarely practiced by businesses. Although the book may be somewhat redundant (the reason I gave it 4 starts rather than 5), this weakness is offset by the fact that it remains a quick read, largely due to the numerous great anecdotes illustrating Mitchell's business principles. I will have all my employees read it and intend to make it one of the books that I try to re-read annually.