It's the Customer, Stupid!: 34 Wake-up Calls to Help You Stay Client-Focused

Chapter 9. Prophet versus Profit . . . Why Not Both?

Providing high-quality service can save your business money. The same things that contribute to customer happiness also lead to increased employee productivity.

The quality of the service you render is one of the few variables that will distinguish you from your competition. True enough, but it's the consumer who defines the quality of that service, not you.

In today's "What-have-you-done-for-me-lately?" corporate world, many businesses are more interested in the bottom line than they are the line they feed their customers in their so-called mission statement regarding the quality of the service they say they are committed to render. The cuff doesn't match the collar. Their actions don't match their promises.

They profess to be prophets of good service and yet they are more interested in profit than in their prophecy. Make no mistake; one must be profitable to stay in business. However, ethics and values must be part of the process. Providing high-quality service can not only save your business money, but it can also make you more profitable.

One of the most interesting by-products of a happy customer base is that the people who work with you, for you, and around you in your organization serving those same customers are also happier. The entire organization profits from this prophecy.

Can an organization be profitable and still be ethical? Perhaps the more important question might be "How can an organization be profitable without being ...