I’ve lately been reading “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh, and it’s a great book. It’s so comforting to read since it embodies everything I believe about customer service and how it can positively impact employee retention and business success – it’s all about differentiating your product/service, and how we “touch” customers really makes the difference between a one-time customer and a returning customer. I am a believer and follower of the Apple® Customer Service Model (check this link for a good review by customerservicemanager.com on this) which demonstrates how pricing is not always the key to success – their product is typically more expensive than the competitor’s model, nevertheless Apple® has been the leader in the market for most of its products for a long time now. In the orthopedic devices market, this is evidenced in the RFP process – customer service and support can make or break a vendor’s chance when bidding for business with healthcare facilities.
The book goes at length about how to keep employees and customers happy, and that is something I truly believe in. Recently I helped lead the implementation of an SAP® system, and I have discussed in interviews how this has helped the company keep employees engaged and happy, which ultimately leads the company to success.
Ethos3.com talks about how the book dialogues with work conforming to a happy life, not the other way around, and how many companies have changed their paradigms and integrated this into their culture, positively affecting their bottom line.
For more on this, follow deliveringhappiness.com – I highly recommend it!
the world as I see it 