Time's Up!

21From Zero Defects to Zero Defections

There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company, from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.

—Sam Walton (1918–1992)

I recall obtaining a new customer—during my days practicing public accounting—who was the owner of a successful travel agency. Her husband had passed away the prior year and she never had to deal with the tax and accounting aspects of her business. Her husband had been using the same CPA for over 20 years, and when I asked (as I made a habit of doing) why she left her CPA, her answer was very laconic and poignant and one I will always remember: “He showed no compassion.”

From what I could determine, the CPA's work was technically proficient. My customer had no complaints about his price or the quality of his work. She even trusted him. When I called him to ask for copies of certain documents, he was shocked he had been replaced. It wasn't the technical quality, but the service quality, that made all the difference to her, not what she got, but how she got it.

During the 1980s, total quality management (TQM) swept the business literature, and many companies rushed to institute a TQM program. TQM is a body of knowledge that dates back to the late 1800s, as part of the agricultural revolution. Yet applying TQM to a knowledge firm is no easy task, since it is a standards‐based approach. The same is true for Six Sigma and Lean programs. From a customer value perspective, ...