About the Authors

Janelle Barlow, PhD, has long given up the notion that complaints will disappear as soon as companies learn to produce perfect products and services. That’s not going to happen! She has come to believe that complaints will never go away; instead, they can keep customers close to you.

She has decades of experience as a global speaker, virtual presenter, and author. Her main speaking and consulting goal is to engage people to see how complaints are gifts and, with the right mindset, do not have to be overwhelming for those who listen to customer dissatisfaction.

The A Complaint Is a Gift mindset has been adopted by dozens of corporations and associations in seventy-three countries (see acomplaintisagift.com/Janelle). Many of them use her service recovery map while working to make their organizations complaint friendly.

She loves writing and designing innovative curriculum projects, and she has authored several books, including Branded Customer Service, Emotional Value, Smart Videoconferencing, and A Complaint Is a Gift, all published by Berrett-Koehler. She also wrote The Stress Manager, edited the book Shift, and created the online learning experience Creativity: Unbind Your Mind, with the European-based company Uninet AS.

She can be reached at [email protected].