They’re Not All Happy

Before we go too far, let me restate the obvious fact that we don’t live in a sea of deliriously happy customers. During the interviews I conducted for this book, it was much easier to get the terrible stories than the good ones! It seems that people like to tell the bad stories, but not with nearly the passion as when they tell the good ones. (I do, however, have to mention the story of kindness that one elderly lady told me about a BellSouth operator who called an ambulance and stayed on the line with her when she had fallen and broken her hip. She swore that she was alive today because of that one call. I wouldn’t want to be the telemarketing rep with a BellSouth competitor when they call to solicit her business!) But the bad stories that were told to me surpassed the good stories by at least three to one! People love to talk about their bad customer service experiences, and if you treat them indifferently, they will love to talk about your company.

The companies I discovered while writing this book all have one thing in common . . . a common thread that runs deep through the soul of the company. The thread is invisible, but measurable. It is detectable. Customer service icon Tom Peters has compared outstanding customer service to the aroma of bread baking in the oven. What he means is that it can be sensed as soon as you walk in the door or have someone answer the telephone at a company that provides exceptional customer service. I have indeed sensed this feeling. I have come to the conclusion that this feeling, this “aroma of bread baking,” represents the values of the companies we’ll discuss. I have observed that wonderful things happen when values replace indifference in customer service.

What values am I taking about here? They’re simple:

• Dignity

• Respect

• Courtesy

• Kindness

The companies that own their customers practice these values from top to bottom in their organizations. These values are a part of their culture, engrained in the company. They have learned somewhere, somehow, one of the most valuable lessons of customer service that exists today. That lesson is this: The way you treat your employees will be the way they treat your customers. I have found this to be a universal truth; it never fails.

During my quest for top service providers, I also noticed another attribute that is common to the companies who own their customers. It is true of all the companies that provide excellence in service. It is as if they have all read the same book, read the same manual, watched the same videos. They practice kindness in dealing with both employees and customers.