You can be the leader in your industry, already well known for providing the best customer service. It is possible that he is experiencing the meaning of the truism: “He is alone at the top.” When your company is looking for a role model, inspiration to go even further, who can you turn to? One solution is to look at leaders in other industries, analyze their philosophy, and test what has made them successful.

One such industry leader is Nordstrom, the company that grew from a shoe store in downtown Seattle to a national specialty fashion chain with renowned services, extensive size ranges, and an excellent selection of clothing, shoes and accessories for the whole family.

According to its website, the company’s philosophy has remained unchanged for more than 100 years since its establishment by John W. Nordstrom in 1901: to provide the customer with the best possible service, selection, quality, and price. Perhaps that is why Nordstrom has been the subject of intense interest from others in the retail industry and beyond.

In fact, authors Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthy have written a national bestseller titled, The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America’s #1 Customer Service Company (New York: Wiley & Sons, 1995). McCarthy enjoyed a successful career as one of Nordstrom’s top salespeople. Consider this series of summary statements from Spector and McCarthy’s book, followed in each case by commentary. You may be pleasantly surprised.

• The best people at Nordstrom will do just about everything they can to ensure that a shopper leaves the store a satisfied customer.

  This is what great customer service means. Remember what Zig Ziglar says: “It is your attitude rather than your aptitude that determines your altitude.” Of course, this “Whatever It Takes” attitude applies to both your internal customers and your external customers.

• Motivated employees perform “heroics”—acts of excellent customer service, which are part of the Nordstrom technique.

  Encourage people to report heroics they see their co-workers doing. These heroics can come in all shapes and sizes: from going out of their way to locate a product, to making amazing deliveries, to responding kindly, to providing satisfaction when a customer is extremely upset, whatever it takes for our customer to say, ” Wow! They exceeded my expectations and my expectations were already high!”

• Employees are instructed to always make a decision that favors the customer over the company. They are never criticized for doing too much for a client; they are criticized for doing too little.

  Your performance is always measured by what you can or cannot offer your customers. Like Nordstrom, you must put your needs before your own interests.

• Nordstrom would rather hire nice people and teach them to sell than hire salespeople and teach them to be nice. Nordstrom, it is said, “hires the smile and trains the skill.”

  I heard an almost identical statement from managers at my company discussing their hiring practices. This is especially true in customer-facing departments like sales, customer service, and shipping.

• If you treat customers like royalty and let them know you’ll take care of them, they’ll usually come back to you.

  It is always easier and cheaper to retain a customer than to find a new one. Invest time and attention in the customers you already have to ensure that they will be loyal to you even when a competitor lowers their price. They will know that it is a comparison between apple and passion fruit.

• When customers walk into an apartment, salespeople always make sure they are recognized. They are relaxed and unhurried to help the customer feel the same.

  Here sometimes you have to learn to walk a fine line. However, the principle is true that if your employees seem frantic, the customer will adopt the same attitude. They must learn to exude a quiet confidence, even when extremely busy or under pressure to meet a difficult deadline.

• Keeping current good workers in the company is just as important as attracting new ones.

  What is the average tenure of your employees? Six months? Four years? Twelve years, or more? Just listen to what people say over and over again at their retirement party: At our company, they say, “I’ve worked here for X years, and I want to tell new people: This is a great company to work for.” . I always felt like I was treated like family here at the company.”

• Nordstrom’s underlying culture and philosophy is not difficult to pass down to the next generation because it’s simple: provide great customer service.

  The “Customer Focus” has to be one of the fundamental values ​​of your company; you can’t just pay lip service to it. It must be central to who you are and what you do.

Search for leaders in other industries and discover their philosophy of customer service. You’ll find inspiration for yourself and your employees to provide world-class service and products, resulting in excellent customer retention, longer employee tenure, and better results.