If you're stumped for a holiday present for your employer, colleague, or friend, nothing is a better option than an excellent book. Put a personal remark in the front of the book if you want to make it more special. Explain why you think it's the right book for the person to whom you're giving it. As good as the book is, it's possible that the note meant even more.

Winning On Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers by Fred Reichheld

Harvard Business Review Press

Winning On Purpose: The Unbeatable Strategy of Loving Customers by Fred Reichheld. Photo: Harvard Business Review Press

If you're a huge supporter of Fred Reichheld's work and have pushed for businesses to adopt the NPS (Net Promoter Score) to measure customer pleasure and loyalty, this is the book for you. Winning On Purpose is about NPS 3.0, Reichheld's interpretation of the golden rule: serve consumers as you would a loved one. When clients sense your affection, they return to do more business with you, bringing their friends and family with them. Of course, he backs this up with statistics, facts, and practical evidence that companies with high NPS scores outperform those with low NPS scores.

Lead with We: The Business Revolution That Will Save Our Future by Simon Mainwaring

Matt Holt

Lead with We: The Business Revolution That Will Save Our Future by Simon Mainwaring. Photo: Matt Holt

Part of the customer experience now is beyond using the product or interacting with a company. It includes what a company stands for. Customers and employees want to do business with companies that are aligned with their purpose and values. Today’s economic, business and environmental crises have shown us that it is now even more important for businesses to communicate where they stand on the issues that matter in the world. Lead with We provides concrete steps leaders and employees can take to thrive in today’s marketplace, where taking a stand on something important to your customers can become a competitive differentiator.

Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irrelevance by Howard Tiersky

Cranberry Press, LLC

Winning Digital Customers: The Antidote to Irrelevance by Howard Tiersky. Photo: Cranberry Press, LLC

Customers want businesses with which they do business to provide a seamless digital experience. Companies that follow this strategy are thriving. Meanwhile, those who are falling behind are losing ground to their rivals. Tiersky, who was selected one of the Top 10 Digital Transformation Influencers to Follow, provides a practical, five-step technique to help businesses transition and compete in today's digital world.

Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact by Jenn Lim

Grand Central Publishing

Beyond Happiness: How Authentic Leaders Prioritize Purpose and People for Growth and Impact by Jenn Lim. Photo: Grand Central Publishing

We are living in the "Great Resignation" age. In the U.S. alone, more than 34 million employees quit their jobs as of September. Employees and executives have been forced to evaluate what actually important to them and how they can connect their lives, both within and outside of work, with it as a result of recent events. Lim demonstrates in Beyond Happiness how businesses may assist employees, particularly leaders, in aligning their purpose with the company's mission. Leaders must be authentic and focused on both people and profit now more than ever.

The Experience Maker: How to Create Remarkable Experiences that Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share by Dan Gingiss

Morgan James Publishing

The Experience Maker: How to Create Remarkable Experiences that Your Customers Can’t Wait to Share by Dan Gingiss. Photo: Morgan James Publishing

Creating experiences that your customers talk about to their colleagues and friends can be your best marketing, and that’s exactly what Gingiss teaches us how to do, turning existing customers into the best marketers for your business. Gingiss comes from the marketing world, having worked with some of the largest brands. His background, great storytelling ability and practical advice make this an important addition to your CX library.

The Guaranteed Customer Experience: How to Win Customers by Keeping Your Promisesby Jeff Toister

Toister Performance Solutions

The Guaranteed Customer Experience: How to Win Customers by Keeping Your Promises by Jeff Toister. Photo: Toister Performance Solutions

This is not a book about a "money-back guarantee" for product problems. This is about a good company's implied pledge to always deliver on its promises. You can repair or replace a defective product, but it's more vital to honor and guarantee an implied contract with your customers to perform what's required of you.

Human-Centered Communication: A Business Case Against Digital Pollutionby Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli

Fast Company Press

Human-Centered Communication: A Business Case Against Digital Pollutionby Ethan Beute and Stephen Pacinelli. Photo: Fast Company Press

Customer service in the future will be tech-enabled. Many businesses are so infatuated with digital solutions that they lose sight of the fact that human-to-human solutions and communication are still required. Beute and Pacinelli team up with 11 other industry leaders to teach clear, confident digital communication that stands out from the crowd and connects with clients on a human level.

Digital Customer Service: Transforming Customer Experience for an On-Screen World by Rick Delisi and Dan Michaeli

Wiley

Digital Customer Service: Transforming Customer Experience for an On-Screen World by Rick Delisi and Dan Michaeli (Wiley)

This book complements Beute’s and Pacinelli’s Human-Centered Communication. We now live in the age of digital customer service. Unfortunately, a lot of businesses have yet to transition to seamless, effortless and effective customer experiences on-screen. The authors believe that every interaction should happen on a customer’s mobile device or computer, even when there needs to be a human-to-human conversation. This is a guide to teaching how to use the “screen” to drive profitability and customer loyalty.

Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for Your Ideas, Business and Life Against All Odds by Mark W. Schaefer

Schaefer Marketing Solutions

Cumulative Advantage: How to Build Momentum for Your Ideas, Business and Life Against All Odds by Mark W. Schaefer (Schaefer Marketing Solutions)

This is one of my favorite marketing books of the year. I’m a big Mark Schaefer fan, and what always attracts me to his books is that they include many examples to make his concepts relatable. Using what’s working and building on it, creating momentum, is what can help propel you past your competition. Schaefer outlines a process that can work for any business, from a solo entrepreneur to a large enterprise.

Trusted Leader: 8 Pillars That Drive Results by David Horsager

Berrett-Koehler

For business owners, trust is part of a good customer experience. It’s necessary for customers to feel good about doing business with you. Horsager views trust as an asset, saying, “A lack of trust is your biggest expense.” Without it, you lose the confidence of your customers. The relationship is at best a transaction. But with trust, your relationships have the potential to flourish. Horsager takes the reader through the journey of a corporate leader and teaches the Eight Pillars of Trust that are based on his research and experiences with some of the largest businesses and top government agencies in the world.

The CX Leader’s Manual to Customer Excellence: Brilliant Basics and Luminous Lessons from Ten Top CX Leaders by Steven Van Belleghem

Published as a PDF

The only reason this book isn't on the top ten list is that it isn't available for purchase. Yes, it's completely free! In this special publication, the Steven Van Belleghem looks back on all of the content he's written over the last 18 months and provides the best of the best. Here you'll find inspiring success stories from some of the world's most well-known brands, like Amazon, Disney, and others. Now is the time to get it! It's a great idea to share it with your friends and coworkers.

Foreign Authors Write Books About Beauty of Vietnam Inspired either by Vietnamese art or the people themselves, foreign authors often find inspiration in the S-shaped nation.

Imprints of Vietnam at International Book Fairs Vietnamese publishers strive to bring valuable books, introduce Vietnamese literature and culture, and seek cooperation opportunities with foreign publishing companies.

NGOs Donate Textbooks, Masks to 106 Disadvantaged Students in Hue Aid to Children Without Parents (ACWP) and Operation Smile gave gifts to primary school students from poor households in Hue.