Filled with case studies and anecdotes, How to Talk to Customers demystifies the most critical aspect of customer service: conversations employees have every day with customers. In this must-have resource, Diane Berenbaum and Tom Larkin outline a proven system based on their MAGIC customer service training program. MAGIC, which stands for Make A Great Impression on the Customer, can help anyone become the type of communicator that makes their customers feel special. For more on this book, ...

Between the outbreak of the Second World War and the end of the century, life changed dramatically for the working-class people of the Black Country. Having survived the hardships of war, they found themselves facing a slew of social issues, all the while playing a vital role in manufacturing to stabilise the country's struggling economy. Innovations such as the wireless, television and cinema also brought huge societal changes that would move them closer to the present da...

Faultless - Football365As EURO 2000 approached, attention once again focused on the potential threat posed by the activities of football hooligans. Not just those from England, but also from Holland, Belgium, Germany,Italy, France and even Turkey.Yet as this last year has proven, whilst the hooligans in other nations cause as much, if not more, trouble than their English counterparts, it is the activities of the fans from this country which always seems to attract the great...

Since the Victorian era, London's Underground has had played a vital role in the daily life of generations of Londoners. In The Subterranean Railway, Christian Wolmar celebrates the vision and determination of the nineteenth-century pioneers who made the world's first, and still the largest, underground passenger railway: one of the most impressive engineering achievements in history.From the early days of steam to electrification, via the Underground's contribution to twe...

Hugh Dennis' hilarious and insightful exploration of the changing image of Britain and Britishness will enthral those who love Outnumbered, The Now Show, Mock the Week and quintessentially British humour.'Utterly readable and laugh-out-loud funny' - Stephen FryHugh Dennis has secretly been worrying about what being "British" meant for nearly a decade, ever since his friend Ardal O'Hanlon had told him in passing that he was the most British person h...

Mark Thomas has been touring the country for months, getting audiences to come up with policies aimed at sorting out the country's political chaos and taking back the power for the people. Sick to death of bailing out bankers and subsidising MPs homes, the audience vote on the best policy of the night to be included in the brand new People's Manifesto.From the inspiring to the downright hilarious, you'll wonder why these fantastic ideas aren't part of the constitution already. For ...

TOWER BLOCKS. FLYOVERS. STREETS IN THE SKY. ONCE, THIS WAS THE FUTURE. Was Britain's postwar rebuilding the height of midcentury chic or the concrete embodiment of Crap Towns? John Grindrod decided to find out how blitzed, slum-ridden and crumbling 'austerity Britain' became, in a few short years, a space-age world of concrete, steel and glass. On his journey he visits the sleepy Norfolk birthplace of Brutalism, the once-Blitzed city centre of Plymouth, the futuristic New Town of Cumbernau...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE GORDON BURN PRIZEFEATURED IN THE OBSERVER'S SPORTS WRITERS' BOOKS OF THE YEAROn 15 April 1989, 96 people were fatally injured on a football terrace at an FA Cup semi-final in Sheffield. The Hillsborough disaster was broadcast live on the BBC; it left millions of people traumatised, and English football in ruins.And the Sun Shines Now is not a book about Hillsborough. It is a book about what arrived in the wake of unquestionably the most ...

The First World War profoundly changed British society. The armed forces' need for mass recruitment saw the workforce severely depleted, with women stepping up to shoulder the burden; but nobody could ignore the social upheaval or the strains put upon daily life. With poverty a major issue at the outbreak of war, the extra wages put more food on the table for many families, in spite of rationing and shortages, and away from the front the nation prospered. The war intervened in all aspects ...

‘Harry Wallop is one of the sharpest and funniest journalists writing in Britain today. He has an instinct for the killer detail that truly brings a story to life.' – Jay RaynerThis is the story of how we became defined by what we consume.Discover what the thickness of froth on your morning coffee or where you buy your jeans really says about you, and the role of retailers and big business in this new class system.In this revealing account, award-winning journalist ...

Football is at the heart of British culture – yet never has it been in greater turmoil.Once, football stood for passion, community, honour, even beauty. The game is in danger of losing its lifeblood - and its soul.In The Beautiful Game? David Conn, the game's most respected investigative journalist, sets out on a journey through the heart of our national game, exploring how the sport has failed - and who is to blame. This is a book for those who ke...

Peter Crookston's book offers a beautifully written journalist's account of a Durham mining village and the Great Northern Coalfield woven around the life of Robert Saint, the composer of Gresford, a brass band composition commemorating an earlier mining disaster in which 256 workers died. Crookston brings his formidable observational qualities and writing skills as a journalist to produce a gripping narrative with utterly compelling characters and a heart-rending culmination in the demise...