Customer Service Heroes: Abraham Lincoln

Contrary to our images of pastoral innocence, the America of Lincoln's youth was a brutish place, and business was governed by the maxim caveat emptor - let the buyer beware. This is why country folk considered Lincoln's honesty exceptional. Lincoln saw that the foundation of good business practices is a devotion to fairness. And the responsibility for fairness rests on the shoulders of the business, not the customer. As Lincoln's honesty became the stuff of legend, it set the standard for ethical business behavior.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Ethics | Competitive Advantage

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:35 PM

The Lawn or The Porch?

This generally joyous season of giving is also a stressful shopping season for many. Great customer service can make the difference between cheerful "Noels" and grumpy "Bah! Humbugs!" In the best organizations, excellent customer service is an ingrained habit, not just a marketing initiative.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Entrepreneurialism

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 5:24 PM

Customer Service Heroes: UPS Driver Daryl Hansen

Few companies live to the ripe old age of 100, and fewer still are more vibrant at 102 than at any other time in their history. United Parcel Service (UPS) was founded by a couple of teenagers as the American Messenger Company in 1907.  This week, two events helped me understand why the company is going strong in 2009.

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Categories: Marketing | Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Competitive Advantage | Optimism

1 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 11:08 PM

Customer Service Heroes: AlienBees

Photographer Erik Pierce of Paparazzi Tonight thought the person on the phone did not understand him. Pierce had dropped one of his electronic flash units, breaking off a piece of the reflector. He called AlienBees, the manufacturer, to find out how much it would cost to fix or replace. They said they would send a free replacement.

"But I dropped it."

"No problem," said the AlienBees representative, "It should have been stronger."

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Categories: Marketing | Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Ethics | Competitive Advantage

3 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 6:15 AM

Customer Service Heroes: The Sprinting Waiter

In Good to Great (Harper Business, 2001), Jim Collins writes that "good is the enemy of great." That is certainly the case with customer service, as customers notice when someone has done something extra special just for them. We may not be able to surprise and delight every customer, but we should build a company culture of people who will jump at the chance to do so. 

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Creativity | Customer Service | Competitive Advantage

2 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 4:20 PM

Customer Service Heroes: Morton's The Steakhouse

On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., I called Morton's The Steakhouse to make a dinner reservation. "Oh yes," said the person who answered the phone, "Mr. Orfalea has dined with us before." My excellent customer service radar started to tingle. It's nice to be remembered.

When we arrived, restaurant manager Dan Festa greeted us. Dan personally welcomes all of his guests and lets everyone know that his job is to take care of us. Attentive service and excellent food rounded out my evening, and as a customer service enthusiast, I knew I had to learn more about Morton's company culture.

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Competitive Advantage

10 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 3:29 AM

How to Improve Every Business Document

According to an op-ed piece in The New York Times, the Rhode Island Health Insurance Commissioner's office received a complaint from a cancer patient who could not figure out why his insurance company denied his claim for chemotherapy charges. When the office inquired on behalf of the patient, the insurance company explained, "...they were still sorting through the policy; they believed Kevin's claim was not covered, but they needed more time to figure it out. ...Even the insurance company had trouble understanding its own contract."

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Categories: Corporate Culture | Customer Service | Education

4 comments - Posted by Paul Orfalea at 10:51 AM