10 Things They Hate About YOU

Fix the Experience - Keep the Customer

In today's hyper-connected, AI-enabled world, customers aren't just leaving your company-they're leaving loud. And they're not walking away because of price or product. They're walking away because of friction-filled experiences, broken processes, billing nightmares, deceptive policies, and customer service that feels more like a punishment than a partnership.

10 Things They Hate About You is a sharp, no-nonsense playbook for executives, CX leaders, and anyone serious about keeping the customers they've worked so hard to win. Drawing from more than 30 years of leading global customer experience and operations teams across Fortune 100 companies, Lance W. Gruner takes readers inside the real reasons customers churn and why most businesses don't see it coming until it's too late.

Through data-driven insights, vivid real-world stories, and clear strategic guidance, the book breaks down the ten most common ways companies erode trust and drive customers away unintentionally. Each chapter dissects a specific point of failure from long wait times and broken billing to overpromising, bad escalation paths, and policies that feel like traps.

In Part Two, Gruner shifts from diagnosis to action, offering leaders a blueprint for fixing what's broken and a set of tools and strategies to transform how their organization listens, responds, and leads from the customer's point of view. With visual data and practical frameworks, readers learn how to measure what really matters, advocate effectively inside the company, and build systems that scale both trust and growth.

Gruner's voice is experienced, direct, and deeply credible. He's not selling theory-he's lived this work in over 30 countries and 74 languages. And his message is clear: If you don't fix the experience, you will lose the customer. This book is for leaders who are ready to confront the hard truths, walk the property, and build a customer experience worthy of their brand's promises.