Three things happened to bring this to mind.

First, I had reason to contact CrystalTech (my host) and had another great experience. In spite of being acquired over the years (twice, I think) tech support has always been fabulous. The reps spend as much time as necessary on the phone with me until this tech dummy understands.

Second, my buddy Phil Gerbyshak, who writes The Management Expert (which includes all his writings from Slacker Manager) along with a namesake blog said in his Monday post, “I was looking up what customer service meant to me, and what it means to others;” he listed several definitions and asked his readers to add theirs.

Third, I came across an old video that, along with being hilarious, is a graphic answer to what customer service is NOT.

So if CrystalTech is the gold standard and the video is lead where does your company fit?

Image credit: glumbert

If today has any unifying theme it’s a focus on management being smart, instead of the opposite.

Let’s start with my favorite customer service example, and one I’ve written about often, Zappos. CEO Tony Hsieh has a fierce focus on his customers that he fosters with a culture of fun for his people.

What he doesn’t do is use customer relationship software in place of the human touch, but a lot of CEOs think you can accomplish the same thing with a bunch of bits.

Michigan’s Dan Mulhern focuses on the importance of good corporate culture, especially in a downturn. He says that now is not the time to ignore culture even with the extra-challenging circumstances that Michigan faces.

Can a large corporation learn from its mistakes? Many don’t, but BMW did. It botched it’s acquisition of Land Rover by trying to impose it’s own culture on a totally different product, but avoided making the same mistake with the Mini Cooper.

Finally, can the people who built mint.com find happiness inside the large corporation that acquired them? They seem to think so.

Image credit:  MykReeve on flickr

Let’s skip all the guru talk and in vogue words and go straight to the crux of the matter.

You want a

• productive, creative, committed workforce; and
• loyal customers.

That pretty much covers it, but buying a bunch of new apps won’t really cut it (as yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday so elegantly pointed out).

Changing how you communicate isn’t quite as simple as throwing software at the problem, but it works better and is a lot cheaper.

Here is a simple way to start.

• Internally, develop a strong sensitivity to people, all people, not just stars and acknowledge that hiring all stars (even if it was possible) won’t guarantee your company’s success.
• Externally, treat all your customers the same as you would your favorite relative.

Steve Harrison, author of The Manager’s Book of Decencies: How Small Gestures Build Great Companies., says “…decent leaders all have one common trait: humility. Unlike star CEOs who seek the limelight, these low-key leaders are ambitious for their companies, not for themselves. They avoid executive pomposity like the plague. All that stuff about pretentious perks and rank having its privileges – for them, that’s not what leadership is about” and cites Colgate-Palmolive Co. chairman Reuben Mark; Nucor Corp.’s former CEO Kenneth Iverson (who died in 2002); Campbell Soup Co. president and CEO Douglas R. Conant; Southwest Airlines Co. chairman Herbert Kelleher; and Dial Corp.’s former president and CEO, Herbert Baum as executives who get it, but there are many more.

What better, simpler, cheaper approach can you find?

Think about it.

All you have to do is be considerate and respectful of others and practice the kind of manners and politeness that seem to be out of date.

In other words, learn to think them, them, them, instead of me, me, me.

Image credit: Warning Label Generator

Restaurants have much in common with other businesses, especially when it comes to innovation. Like lemmings they copy each other, trying to keep both customers and the Center For Science In The Public Interest happy. Not an easy task.

However, anyone who ever watched Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Channel knows that not all toe the line; there are plenty that focus on pleasing the former and say to hell with the latter.

It’s called thinking way outside the box and the Heart Attack Grill in Chandler, AZ is the leader of the ‘to hell with’ pack.

Heart Attack Grill is a great example of how an innovative combination of delicious, socially unacceptable food and a culture of exceptional customer care turned a restaurant into a destination and a major hit with people who aren’t intimidated by the food police.

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Robert Nardelli, best know for almost killing Home Depot by trashing its customers and ignoring its culture and poster boy for the platinum parachute, is back in the news.

For those of you vacationing on Mars (the only way you could have missed it) last August, Cerberus hired him to run Chrysler.

A year later, in a marriage between surreal and oxymoron, Nardelli is teaching executives how to create a a quality-based customer-centric culture.

It’s a sweeping change in MAP, but apparently he read a book and was converted.

Wow! As Kevin Meyer said over at Evolving Excellence, “I guess I better get a copy of that ice cream book. It must really be something.”

But before you get too excited, let it be noted that Nardelli hasn’t actually talked to any dealers or showroom customers—probably too mundane and not measurable enough.

How committed do you think Robert Nardelli is to customer service?

Image credit: Zappos.com

Don’t miss Robert Reiss’ interview with Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh.

Hsieh believes that Zappos incredible customer service is the number one driver for sales growth that skyrocketed from $1.6 million in 2000 to more than $1 billion in eight short years, while powering straight through the dot com bust.

Hsieh believes that to be successful you “need to be truly passionate about whatever you’re in the business of doing—it should not just be about making money.”

Zappos.com’s incredible customer service is embedded in its culture and Hsieh explains in depth that the culture is protected by a unique “two-step” hiring process that in its second-step concentrates on Zappos’ corporate culture and its core values. Hsieh says, “We make sure the people we hire have similar values. We won’t hire them if they are not a “culture-fit even if they are technically strong.”

The company focus is obvious—listening to its customers to hear their requests and understand their needs.

Hsieh’s says, “We place a lot of value on the interaction with customers. We want and take the time to talk to our customers.”

The man’s on to something. In an age when most customers are left with the feeling that the company is doing them a favor by taking their money for the product/service and their desire for decent (not even great) customer service is at best an annoyance listening to Hsieh is not only refreshing, but offers tangible proof that a focus on company culture and superb customer service pays.

You tell me—it great customer service common sense or rocket science?

Image credit: laughlin

There’s a lot content out there right now on how to recession-proof your company. Most of the advice is good and much of it is similar, but…

Yeah, you knew there’d be a ‘but’.

It all revolves around stuff that should have been happening all along under the categories of good business practices, long-term strategy and positive corporate culture and driven in part by the historically taught lessons that business is cyclical and what goes up must come down.

Companies are being told to focus on innovation and superb customer service, among others, but neither is a turnkey system that can be ordered and installed.

When done suddenly, these actions may come over as panicky when you need them to reek of authenticity.

I’m not saying don’t do them, but be aware that if you just slap them on the surface with no preparation and expect them to work they’re unlikely to produce the results you want.

So this week I thought we’d talk about how to implement the ones most likely to move you forward—that way your company will do more than just survive, it’ll thrive.