Would You Do That to Your Mother? — Start Here
Jeanne Bliss's core argument is that a simple, human test, would you treat a customer the way you'd want your own mother treated, cuts through complicated service policies and reveals immediately whether a business practice is actually respectful or just convenient for the business. Her approach reframes customer experience as a matter of basic human decency and dignity rather than a technical discipline, arguing that policies which would embarrass you if applied to someone you love are the ones most in need of redesign.
The whole book, in one line
Jeanne Bliss's core argument is that a simple, human test, would you treat a customer the way you'd want your own mother treated, cuts through complicated service policies and reveals immediately whether a business practice is actually respectful or just convenient for the business. Her approach reframes customer experience as a matter of basic human decency and dignity rather than a technical discipline, arguing that policies which would embarrass you if applied to someone you love are the ones most in need of redesign.
How the mechanism works
- Applying a simple human test (would this be acceptable for someone I love) to reveal disrespectful or inconvenient policies.
- Identifying which existing policies exist for the business's convenience rather than the customer's genuine benefit.
- Redesigning policies and interactions around basic dignity and respect once they've been identified.
- Building an organizational habit of applying this human test regularly, not just once.
Who this was written for
A business owner or manager who suspects some of their own policies would look bad if they imagined a loved one on the receiving end, looking for a simple, memorable way to audit and improve those policies.
ACT tier. Jeanne Bliss is a living consultant with an active consulting business. Safeguards for every persona edition: the author's real consulting business and any named client company must be excluded entirely; no real case studies reproduced from the book; no fabricated statistics; keep the "mother" framing as a general test of dignity and care, not a literal instruction to treat every customer as an elderly parent, and be mindful that not every reader's relationship with their mother is warm, so frame the test as "someone you love" as an accessible alternative within each edition.
Cross-book note
Distinct from Uncommon Service, The Effortless Experience, Setting the Table, and Hug Your Haters (all more systems- or research-driven). This book's throughline is the simplest, most human gut-check in the category, closing out the category from the dignity-and-respect angle.