Book Title

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Author

Stephen R. Covey

Book Review

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is considered by many to be one of the most influential books ever written. In his book, Stephen R. Covey, presents a comprehensive approach for becoming a better person by integrating seven principles into your life.

The seven principles presented in this book outline seven “habits” that help readers understand themselves (independence), how they interact with others (interdependence), and how they can continually improve their spheres of influence – both personal influence and interpersonal influence.

The book is long, and may be quite confusing, so prepare to spend a lot of time reading, re-reading, digesting, and understanding the principles and ideas presented. The seven principles presented in the book include:

  1. Being proactive in your roles and relationships
  2. Beginning with the end in mind
  3. Prioritizing activities by putting first things first
  4. Thinking to achieve a win-win outcome
  5. Seeking first to understand, then to be understood
  6. Combining strengths of others through positive teamwork
  7. And, sharpening the saw, or always seeking to improve yourself

Why this is a good book about customer service

Customer service is about building a relationship between customers and brands. Sometimes that relationship is long-term, other times that relationship is short-term. Sometimes that relationship is started in a good or positive manner, and other times a customer service relationship is built in response to a negative situation.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is a good customer service book because it teaches us how to build mutually beneficial relationships with other people. The 7 Habits book also teaches us how to be more effective in completing tasks, listening and communicating, and working better with others.

Many of the ideas and situations discussed in this book are applicable to the customer-business or customer-service provider relationships that any customer service team seeks to build and maintain.