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Zombie Loyalists: Using Great Service to Create Rabid Fans
Marketing and PR expert Peter Shankman has been working with the biggest companies in the world to create what he calls “Zombie Loyalists,” fervent fans that help companies massively increase their customer base, brand awareness, and most importantly, revenue. After all, why should you have to tell the world how amazing you are if you can have your existing customers do it for you? Imagine an army of customers who will do your PR, marketing and advertising, without being asked, each and every time they give you their money. These are Zombie Loyalists. They are ready to buy what you sell, respond to your email offers and demand that their friends to do the same.
So how do you get this rabid following? There’s been a lot of lip service given to customer loyalty over the past few years, but most companies still don’t realize that a points program or a slew of untargeted emails simply won’t do it. With so many products and platforms to choose from, amazing customer service is the only differentiator that will truly put you ahead of your competition. Looking at exceptional companies like the Ritz Carlton, Amazon, and Starwood Hotels, as well as smaller businesses to turn their customers into Zombie Loyalists, he shows how you can create your own customer army.
So how do you get this rabid following? There’s been a lot of lip service given to customer loyalty over the past few years, but most companies still don’t realize that a points program or a slew of untargeted emails simply won’t do it. With so many products and platforms to choose from, amazing customer service is the only differentiator that will truly put you ahead of your competition. Looking at exceptional companies like the Ritz Carlton, Amazon, and Starwood Hotels, as well as smaller businesses to turn their customers into Zombie Loyalists, he shows how you can create your own customer army.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 27, 2015
26 people are currently reading
535 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 15, 2015
Must Read for anyone in the Customer Service field/CRM field/Sales field, hell any field! This has real world examples, not fluff and how to if I ran your company stuff. Real world examples of good and bad from real people, not just the author is why I think this hits home on so many levels. Obviously you want raving customers, but how to get them, maintain them and continue to gain more, this book has it all.
If you don't really care to read books about business, well this one is certainly not boring and is really fun to read. I LOVE his BRAINS play on words (Bring Random Amazement into Normal Situations), just brilliant and if you don't remember it, you will at least remember to do something a little extra, take that extra minute or 5 to "listen" to your customer.
I am going to try my best to implement as many ideas from this book into my work life, I feel we could do more and this really kicks it up a notch to try and the tangible reason to do so.
Do yourself a favor and get this book, it's worth it.
If you don't really care to read books about business, well this one is certainly not boring and is really fun to read. I LOVE his BRAINS play on words (Bring Random Amazement into Normal Situations), just brilliant and if you don't remember it, you will at least remember to do something a little extra, take that extra minute or 5 to "listen" to your customer.
I am going to try my best to implement as many ideas from this book into my work life, I feel we could do more and this really kicks it up a notch to try and the tangible reason to do so.
Do yourself a favor and get this book, it's worth it.
April 13, 2015
This was a book that never should have been written. Why? Because everything in it is pretty much common sense. Peter does an excellent job in reminding us how to be better at customer service. Here's the thing - customer service isn't for the workplace anymore. I use these techniques as a rogue author, a husband, a son, a father, a friend... and an employee.
This is a must-read for those assholes in your organization - you know the ones - they usually have MBAs and run the place. They're the ones that need to read this book - now - before they fuck it all up. Thank you, Peter, for reminding me to be fucking nice.
This is a must-read for those assholes in your organization - you know the ones - they usually have MBAs and run the place. They're the ones that need to read this book - now - before they fuck it all up. Thank you, Peter, for reminding me to be fucking nice.
May 26, 2015
If you own any kind of business, BUY THIS BOOK. Great advice on how to cultivate loyal customers who will be happy to promote your business for you--for free. I don't even own a business, but I found Zombie Loyalists really entertaining.
April 21, 2015
Could have been one (long) article. The central idea is interesting but stretched over a whole book it ended up pretty thin.
March 14, 2015
I work in marketing, so naturally I was intrigued by this book's central concept: that consumers have become so inured to horrible service that any consideration at all for their needs and feelings will result in devotion to your company/brand. Think about it: everybody knows someone who's crazy about one particular product/company and will talk it up to their friends. Why not make that work for you?
Shankman's style is fun and distinctive, and "Zombie Loyalists" is a great read. If you work in marketing, customer service, advertising, or if you know Shankman's blog or other work, you're sure to enjoy this book!
Shankman's style is fun and distinctive, and "Zombie Loyalists" is a great read. If you work in marketing, customer service, advertising, or if you know Shankman's blog or other work, you're sure to enjoy this book!
February 24, 2016
I'm a big Peter Shankman fan and have seen him speak twice. He did not disappoint with this book. He makes marketing fun and provides stories to help the reader relate to their own experiences. I realize I am a zombie loyalist of Cocoon Innovations, Contigo, Standstand, Guasaca and Wegmans. Too many to list.
June 15, 2015
Peter Shankman has done it again. More wonderful information about creating loyal customers for your business.
June 28, 2017
It’s not too hard to create loyal fans. Start with some small acts of kindness and some favors to get your customers spreading the word. Encourage your employees to make an extra effort and create unique, surprising and special customer experiences. Finally, treat your customers with the honesty and respect they deserve. Soon, you’ll have some Zombie Loyalists who’ll bring nothing but good for your brand!
June 26, 2015
I am scared to write a poor review because Mr. Shankman is everywhere. I was recently playing golf and found a ball marker left on the green what did the ball marker say? call Peter Shankman! The book is mostly common sense however, he uses real world examples to illustrate some very good reminders and some very good things that all companies should do.
April 10, 2015
Fun read.
Decent insights, too: customers and the people who work with them are the best source of power for a business. Viewing customer service as marketing, and empowering service people to do well in the eyes of customers is a winning strategy.
Decent insights, too: customers and the people who work with them are the best source of power for a business. Viewing customer service as marketing, and empowering service people to do well in the eyes of customers is a winning strategy.
June 19, 2015
This book might very well change my life. I just finished it and I want to start all over again. It's that good. I am now a Peter Shankman Zombie Loyalist.
The most impressive part of this book is that he lets you see the man behind the curtain, and he still looks like a wizard.
The most impressive part of this book is that he lets you see the man behind the curtain, and he still looks like a wizard.
August 20, 2015
It's okay, but contains most of the same advice found in all the other books of this genre. It has some really good examples and overall was worth the time. The zombie element didn't really help or hurt the narrative.
September 27, 2015
Best parts are those about the connection between empowered employees and great customer service. Kind of a lot of spiel about Shankman's favorite companies he gets to spend his bazillions of dollars with.
September 20, 2015
Relevance, Customer Service. Loyalty, breed Zombies. Great book, will be my bible for a while.
May 17, 2015
Skimmable. Read the headings and move on.
August 6, 2015
The best customer service/business advice book I have read. Provides great inspiration.
March 15, 2025
I mean. It’s a business book. It’s a good business book, and his main idea that customer service is what sets businesses apart is sound. It’s geared at businesses bigger than my sole proprietorship, but I suppose a girl has to start somewhere.
It loses points because at one point I felt like if he used the words “zombie loyalists” one more time I might punch a hole in a wall, and for his horrifying vision of the 100% privacy-free online future. I’m in IT. My restaurant and bar and airline habits being publicly available to all my friends without my intervention is just ripe for criminals to come in and exploit that data. I foresee a future where criminals hack your feed and extort you to prevent false information about your whereabouts going public under your name. Don’t get me started on domestic abusers.
So I spent the last ten to twenty minutes of the audiobook with my skin trying to crawl off my body. Worse than the worst bits of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires! Can I please go back to hiding under a pile of moldy clothing with a homicidal maniac hunting me and a roach crawling deep into my ear canal? 😉
(Joke that’s funny because it’s true:
Smart projects enthusiast: IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE ALIVE! My smart trash can scans my garbage and puts in orders to Instacart for replacements! I can start my barbecue grill from my car on the way home from work! My smart litter box not only scoops for me and texts me when it’s full, it analyzes Mr. Bootie’s leavings for disease and texts the vet if it finds something!
IT person: The newest tech I own is a printer from 1999 and I keep a loaded gun next to it in case it starts acting hinky.)
But horror about the vision of the future aside, pretty good. Be nice to your customers. Treat them like people, not dollar bills.
P.S. If you’re reading this, Mr. Shankman, I recommend Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Wuffie is similar to your system, but because it’s a science fiction novel it’s presented less rapturously.
Edited to add: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/...
It loses points because at one point I felt like if he used the words “zombie loyalists” one more time I might punch a hole in a wall, and for his horrifying vision of the 100% privacy-free online future. I’m in IT. My restaurant and bar and airline habits being publicly available to all my friends without my intervention is just ripe for criminals to come in and exploit that data. I foresee a future where criminals hack your feed and extort you to prevent false information about your whereabouts going public under your name. Don’t get me started on domestic abusers.
So I spent the last ten to twenty minutes of the audiobook with my skin trying to crawl off my body. Worse than the worst bits of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires! Can I please go back to hiding under a pile of moldy clothing with a homicidal maniac hunting me and a roach crawling deep into my ear canal? 😉
(Joke that’s funny because it’s true:
Smart projects enthusiast: IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE ALIVE! My smart trash can scans my garbage and puts in orders to Instacart for replacements! I can start my barbecue grill from my car on the way home from work! My smart litter box not only scoops for me and texts me when it’s full, it analyzes Mr. Bootie’s leavings for disease and texts the vet if it finds something!
IT person: The newest tech I own is a printer from 1999 and I keep a loaded gun next to it in case it starts acting hinky.)
But horror about the vision of the future aside, pretty good. Be nice to your customers. Treat them like people, not dollar bills.
P.S. If you’re reading this, Mr. Shankman, I recommend Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Wuffie is similar to your system, but because it’s a science fiction novel it’s presented less rapturously.
Edited to add: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/...
January 31, 2017
Great book about creating loyal customers. Essentially, a Zombie Loyalist is a rabid fan of a company. They are so passionate about it that they "bite and infect" their friends (turning them into Zombie Loyalist for your company as well) by boasting about how awesome your product is).
It was interesting to learn that 80 percent of businesses believe they deliver “superior” customer service, but only 8 percent of those businesses’ customers agree.
Whoa! Major disconnect!
It really helps reinforce the concept that customers come first. Yea we hear it all the time, and we "know" that, but our actions tend to show otherwise.
The book also discussed the importance of everyone in your company being onboard with customer service being the #1 priority; because it drives revenue, growth, and positive brand awareness; and that can't be accomplished without the entire company being onboard and creating that experience for the customers.
I also learned the acronym BRAINS
Bring
Random
Amazement
Into
Normal
Situations
According to the author, we should always be feeding our Zombies BRAINS lol.
It was interesting to learn that 80 percent of businesses believe they deliver “superior” customer service, but only 8 percent of those businesses’ customers agree.
Whoa! Major disconnect!
It really helps reinforce the concept that customers come first. Yea we hear it all the time, and we "know" that, but our actions tend to show otherwise.
The book also discussed the importance of everyone in your company being onboard with customer service being the #1 priority; because it drives revenue, growth, and positive brand awareness; and that can't be accomplished without the entire company being onboard and creating that experience for the customers.
I also learned the acronym BRAINS
Bring
Random
Amazement
Into
Normal
Situations
According to the author, we should always be feeding our Zombies BRAINS lol.
December 20, 2019
It felt like I was reading a list of yelp reviews. I can see how his method works, but a lot of the examples he gave are totally and completely out of touch. People are much more willing to do all the freebies for him because he’s an author and successful businessman. The likelihood of any company ever sending me a onesie is slim to none.
Also, I sensed a bit of entitlement as well in his writing style. He appeared threatening to the employees of whichever company he was currently patronizing. For example, not bringing a dog into a Chase bank? That’s normal. Theres all kinds of liability issues there. Other customers might be allergic, he could bite someone and cause a huge lawsuit. You aren’t the only customer in there! There’s no need to throw a fit and beg for your dog to go inside. I realize that wasn’t the point of the story, but he’s a bit of a jerk.
Also, I sensed a bit of entitlement as well in his writing style. He appeared threatening to the employees of whichever company he was currently patronizing. For example, not bringing a dog into a Chase bank? That’s normal. Theres all kinds of liability issues there. Other customers might be allergic, he could bite someone and cause a huge lawsuit. You aren’t the only customer in there! There’s no need to throw a fit and beg for your dog to go inside. I realize that wasn’t the point of the story, but he’s a bit of a jerk.
June 14, 2016
This book is an excellent read for examples of great customer service. Shankman is a comical writer and uses relatable jokes throughout the book. As a person who doesn't get the zombie phenomenon, I was apprehensive to pick up a book that would no-doubt use many zombie comparisons, but Shankman doesn't go overboard. The zombie metaphor is used as a helpful tool. Shankman also uses many examples from both his own life and the lives of friends, colleagues and others with simply great customer service stories to learn from. Some of the examples may seem to get a little repetitive towards the end of the book, but they do help Shankman hammer his points home.
February 21, 2022
I find the zombie loyalist metaphor distasteful and insulting to customers. The stories stand on their own to illustrate the importance of how treating customers well will win their loyalty and amplification of your brand. The zombie theme is degrading- and is in contrast with the concept of "bringing random amazement into everyday situations". Dehumanizing customers by characterizing them as mindless zombies belittles them, and in trying to be funny and dramatic, instead diffuses the strength of message Shankman may otherwise have had.
October 23, 2017
Fantastic, highly readable business book. Lots of insights, examples and practical info. Lots of personality.
I would’ve liked to have seen analysis on service and price, as in how good does service have to be to counteract significant price differences between comparable products? Or, is customer loyalty more often observed within a particular demographic or is it truly across every socioeconomic population?
Definitely worth reading, discussing and sharing.
I would’ve liked to have seen analysis on service and price, as in how good does service have to be to counteract significant price differences between comparable products? Or, is customer loyalty more often observed within a particular demographic or is it truly across every socioeconomic population?
Definitely worth reading, discussing and sharing.
April 12, 2015
Great book with actionable points about how to breed "Zombie Loyalists" for your business to help it grow.
I could have done without the Yelp bashing in the final chapters though. Yelp's actually the company I'm a zombie loyalist to. The reviews I see ARE from people I know!
I could have done without the Yelp bashing in the final chapters though. Yelp's actually the company I'm a zombie loyalist to. The reviews I see ARE from people I know!
January 7, 2017
Best book on customer service I've ever read. Really helped me understand the deep meaning and purpose of serving + developing a company culture that enables your team to do the same. Required reading. Add it to the first 10 books all beginners should be reading at the beginning of the journey.
February 21, 2017
Marketers, writers, and entrepreneurs should definitely read this book! It provides helpful tips and guidance on how to create an awesome service experience for your customers. Definitely add this valuable tool to your library and refer to it often.
December 28, 2015
A good read, and reminder about what's important, for anyone in the client service industry.
February 28, 2016
A must read!
March 23, 2017
basic ideas but unfortunately not used often enough.
April 30, 2024
This book really exists only for people who have never experienced anything, ever. So maybe a 10yo? If you’ve ever gone to a store, or a restaurant, or any type of business really, you’ve been treated a certain way that made you either 1) want to come back, 2) never want to come back, or 3) left you indifferent. The places that fall in to category 1 had the best customer experience. That’s just common sense. I’m not sure there needs to be a 250 page book that tells you to treat people well if you want them to return.
January 9, 2022
It’s been a while since I binged a book in one day. This one as a re-read for me, and it is even more relevant post-pandemic as businesses connect with customers in new ways. There are so many great examples of small things that take a customer relationship from good/neutral to great. Highly recommend!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews