The Power of Service

Bringing Service to Life From the Author of the original “McDonald’s Hands on Business Training Program” comes a down-to-earth, sensible and engaging guide to Service Excellence. An amazing book! Totally unique! This is a must read for anyone who wants to learn what customer service is really about. You will find “The Power of Service” to be unlike any other book on the subject. It is not a ‘how-to’ lecturing type of book but rather it takes the reader on a journey. This Book is also full of ideas on how to truly impress Customers and it explores the far-reaching effects of Service—beyond what you may have ever imagined. You see, this book looks at service directly through the eyes of the Customer. The story is true to life. I promise you this---you will not be bored! Enjoy the journey!

J. E. Karp, the author of the original “McDonald’s Hands–On Business Training Program” has done it again! Embedded within the original McDonald’s training program Karp developed the concept of “promote from within” - this time, through an engaging storyline, she moves to a whole new level getting to the core of what it takes to build successful personal and professional relationships. Through the dynamic friendship of the main characters Josh and Monica, and their escapades as they decide to go back to college to get a business degree, we learn practical ways to build those personal and professional relationships essential for our success in life. This time Karp deals with the power of developing relationships and how a simple transaction in a store, or a multi-million dollar deal, hinges on the trust developed in the relationships developed between the people involved – regardless of the interaction. Whether we are dealing with friends, lovers, clients or family, we have to be conscious of the relationship and keep working on it. For example, Chapter 20 begins with a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou, "I've learned”, the quote begins, “… that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. Whether we are with Josh and Monica at a restaurant, dealing with a mechanic or a Government worker, witnessing deep personal emotions, or visiting a drug store, Karp’s genius helps us understand the in’s and out’s of developing personal and business relationships and how our success is dependent on those relationships. Never before has the subject of service been defined and analyzed with such depth and perceptiveness, giving the reader much food for thought and tools for instilling and achieving a new level of success personally and professionally.

Joy Karp was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. She attended Carleton University, in Ottawa graduating in 1971. Joy and her husband moved to Kingston Ontario so that her husband could attend Queen’s University. Joy held a number of different positions, from teaching at St. Lawrence College in both the Business and Communications Departments, to working for the City of Kingston. Recognizing Joy’s outstanding work for the City and her service and communication skills, several local business people fought to steal her away from the City. In what was to become a life changing decision, Joy chose to work for the Owner-Operator of the local McDonald’s Franchise. At the time he had two stores; Joy helped him expand to five restaurants. During the late 1970’s McDonald’s suffered from high staff turnover. The challenge came to Joy to alleviate the turnover in her area. Joy created the “McDonald’s Hands-On Business Training Program”, which not only reduced the turnover in the area, but also contributed significantly to the McDonald’s system worldwide. It was within that program that the concept of Promote From Within evolved. As well, during this time Joy studied Interpersonal Process Recall at Michigan State University. Her understanding of how people interact, how they learn and what they need to grow in their jobs had a profound influence on her career. As well, during this time her understanding that service goes beyond serving customers, but comes to the core of human interactions, was fueled. During her 10 years in the Kingston and area McDonald’s system, Joy designed and taught several courses related toService and Customer Satisfaction including, Human Relations, Leadership, and Listening & Communication. She also worked one-on-one with Managers, helping them in theirpersonal and professional development. Joy worked in a thriving and creative environment, where the Owner-Operator encouraged her to use all of her talents to help build a strong operation. She was also responsible for Marketing as well as building staff through Training and Development, and contributed to amazing sales growth, and staff retention. In 1984 Joy and her Husband were accepted over hundreds of other applicants to become McDonald’s Owner-Operators. Joy and her husband accepted an offer by McDonald’s in 1985 and moved to Whitehorse, Yukon to introduce McDonald’s to the North. During her close to 14 years as an Owner-Operator Joy won many Service and Customer Satisfaction awards, including several “Thinking Like a Customer” Awards, “Outstanding Store Awards” plus the prestigious Gold Hat Award--a tribute to her own communication and human relations skills. Additionally, she was awarded the highly recognized Ronald Award, as one of the three top Owner-Operators in Canada. As well, local organizations awarded Joy the Employer of the year award and she and her husband Rick, have won recognition for their dedication to service and to their employees. To this day Joy receives “thank you” recognition from previous employees who still seek her advice due to the positive influence she has had on their lives. In 2005 Joy responded to an advertisement from the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce seeking expertise to write and teach a Service and Customer Satisfaction course in preparation for the Canada Winter Games of 2007. Joy won the competition, wrote the in-depth course, 10 modules, and taught it for the next year and a half to more than 40 businesses and hundreds of employees. The feedback was extremely positive. By the time Joy began writing her book in January of 2013, she not only had a wealth of first-hand service experience, she also had collected a journal full of service experiences which her students had recounted in her many classes. Despite several traumatic events,Joy has triumphed in her life! She has made significant, impactful contributions to many individuals and businesses and still fights hard to raise the bar on service, and change old, outdated methods and attitudes. She has been called “a warrior”. Her fight for service excellence continues through her new book, THE POWER OF SERVICE. Her unconventional approach to the subject carries insights, which surpass the old adages about the importance of service excellence.