ED HORRELL

 Re-energizing a company’s customer service -- and inspiring greater customer loyalty --using the power of kindness.

Despite years of focus on the importance of customer service, most businesses still have a lot to learn. Too many merely tweak a script, roll out a new offer, then disappear from the scene, leaving their frontline staff -- often underpaid and badly overworked -- to expertly, cheerfully handle all the real-life encounters with real-life customers who can make or break a company.

That’s no way to run a business, says customer service expert Ed Horrell. If you treat your frontline employees with indifference or disregard, you can expect them to treat your customers with indifference -- and you can then expect to have indifferent customers who will drop you for the next best thing without a murmur of regret.

Combining extensive research with inspiring real-life examples from companies known for their outstanding customer service -- such as L.L.Bean, Chick-fil-A, Nordstrom, Mrs. Fields, St. Jude Children’s Research Center, The Ritz-Carlton, FedEx, and more -- Horrell explains in The Kindness Revolution that providing exceptional, compassionate customer service can only happen when you build a deep and lasting relationship with your employees. And it is kindness, says Horrell, that most characterizes that relationship.

The Kindness Revolution traces the culture characteristics of the standout companies, including their strong conviction that:

Each employee has an important job to do.

Their corporate entity has a meaningful purpose…to serve the customer in a way that delivers value.

Each employee should be empowered to make decisions.

They attract the best employees and customers by running an organization based on sincerity and consideration.

There is value in dignity and respect and courtesy -- and kindness.

For organizations large and small, of any size or industry, The Kindness Revolution is a resounding wake-up call to change the way your company thinks about its employees, and to practice the basic values of dignity, respect, courtesy, and kindness from top to bottom throughout your organization.

The way you treat your employees will be the way they treat your customers. Follow the wise advice and insightful examples in The Kindness Revolution, and experience the enormous payback in loyal customers, a more prosperous company -- and a better way of life.

Ed Horrell has been writing and consulting on customer service issues for over 20 years. He is the host of the syndicated Talk About Service radio show and podcast. A popular speaker, he addresses more than 120 audiences a year. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee.