“Real knowledge of the customer is absolutely essential. Without it, you cannot serve your market in a way that is superior to the competition.”

“profit is the applause you get for creating a motivating environment for your people so that they will take care of your customers.”

“Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen”

“Horst has always seen his employees as business partners.”

“Very few people come to work to be negative or to do a lousy job. People come to contribute to a purpose. When we invite them to join us, to take on positions that befit them, their talents can blossom.

If you’re in the general business arena, as I am, you will speak most naturally about customers or “ guests. I’ll be doing this throughout the coming chapters. If you’re a consultant, adviser, or counselor, you’ll probably call them “clients.” If you work for a government entity, you’ll say “citizens” or “taxpayers.”

“If you’re selling hot dogs at the ballpark, obviously the fans want hot dogs—at the lowest possible price. If you’re running a school, parents want their kids to be educated—while paying the lowest possible taxes and fees”

Its important as a entrepreneur to get meaningful information from a wide pool of individuals. One way to get them without spending a fortune is to pay attention to ongoing surveys of customer satisfaction This feedback can be gathered in various ways: comment cards, follow-up phone interviews or online questionnaires

I learned that deep down inside, hotel guests want to feel assured that everything is under control, and that any problem will be resolved right away. They don’t want to wait three hours. They want to unload their feelings on the closest person they see.

No matter what field you’re in, I can guarantee that the people you serve want three main things. First, they want a product or service or other output with no defects. When I talk about defects, I’m thinking not just of physical defects say, a sticky door or a noisy toilet. I’m also including process or system defects

Finally, they want the person with whom they’re dealing to be nice to them. They want to sense a caring attitude. In fact, this third desire is greater than the first two combined. It can atone for other shortfalls.

Two more customer desires have arisen in recent years. No matter what your standard product may be, people these days seem to be more and more interested in individualization and personalization.

Customers’ preferences keep changing. If you think you know them well today, you will still need to keep learning next year and the next and the next. Organizations and their leaders have to keep adjusting.

understanding what means most to the public we serve is essential, even if it is not always easy.

Customer service starts the instant you make contact with an individual. Customer service starts at the front door or with the first ring of the phone. The first step of service is ➡️offering a great welcome⬅️.

Many of the smallest things we do have an impact on customers. They listen to how we talk When an organization builds a reputation for quality service, it creates a unique reputation.

I have taught my hotel staff that this welcome needs to happen as soon as the person gets within ten feet of them.

I learned that if a customer’s first four contacts with our hotel go well (for example, the phone reservation clerk, the doorman, the bellman, and the front desk), there will be virtually no complaints thereafter.

The second step is complying with the customers wishes. The focus here is not on your agenda but theirs. Yes, you want to make a sale. But what is most important is what is on their mind. That is why you say “How may I help you? I’m happy to do so” And then you listen—really listen to see what is front-of-mind for them

We’ve had the great welcome and have complied with the customer’s wishes. Now comes the final part of customer service, which is saying good-bye. It’s always important to say, “Thank you for coming in today,” or “Thank you for allowing us to serve you.

Customer service isn’t just for those who face the public. It also extends to people inside an organization who deal with each other. Every employee in every department needs to figure out who their internal customer is.

There are two warning signals from the staff of troubled companies. The first warning signal is the overuse of the pronoun they. This telegraphe a rupture between departments or between upper and lower echelons. “Well, they won’t let us do such and such,” or “They messed up,” or “They just don’t get it.”

I’m not a big fan of desks with signs reading “Customer Service.” It sends a silent message to the rest of the employees that they don’t have to mess with such problems or serve customers because “Customer Service” will take care of it. No!

Service always implies caring. Make customer service a reality, not just a label, we have to hire the right kind of people and orient them thoroughly at the start, and then we have to repeat our values again and again. Every last employee contributes to creating loyalty among customers.

Sometimes a customer service problem or any defect, for that matter is rooted as much as five steps away from where it shows itself. One solitary person at a counter somewhere can’t solve it alone. It needs the best thinking of everyone connected to the process..

2% of customers simply cannot be pleased. They’re clearly irrational. They want things you can’t afford. Or they want things that will irritate the other 98% But even these people do not give us an excuse to stop being ladies and gentlemen. That is who we are and must continue to be whether others appreciate it or not

The real task is not to rid life of ethics but to rid ethics of its ideological content.

When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live.

Positive Anything Is Better Than Negative Nothing.

Listen to advice, but follow your heart.

You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.

I hate horror movies! I avoid them like the plague. I don't like getting scared.

Actors used to carry films because people would have to actually go to the movies to see them. It was the only place. But now there's none of that mystique, and so there's less of a reason to buy a ticket.

I disagree with the concept that somehow or another we're going to pack up 10, to 12, to 15 million people and ship them back to the country of origin. That's not going to happen.

When men are oppressed its a tragedy when women are oppressed its a tradition.

On 'Love Actually', I met Hugh Grant, who is a relative: our great-grandmothers were sisters. He'd call me cousin and ruffle my hair.

I think both running and science reflect certain character traits. I have endurance, patience, and ambition. I'm willing to work hard toward a goal, to push myself and overcome limits. Running and science both let me express these traits.

The one who falls and gets up is stronger than the one who never tried. Do not fear failure but rather fear not trying.

I feel if some kid has sat down and felt I'm important enough to write two pages of words to and take up a lot of his valuable time, then he deserves a few words back, or even a phone call as I have done on a few occasions.

I, personally, think there is a really danger of taking food too seriously. Food should be part of the bigger picture.

I dont focus on what Im up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.

I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample underfoot.

Oftentimes, when you have a huge studio film and you have big names attached, they like to keep attaching big names.

The past not merely is not fugitive it remains present.

Its good to receive compliments and its even better to give them.

It's one day at a time, that's all there is to it, and so I don't have to worry about it. All I do is, okay, I do not have to drink. And if I feel like it, I postpone it for ten minutes, and that way I find something else to do in the meantime.

Hunger, inadequate medical care, poor housing, and inferior schools are enemies of the sense of wonder. It is easier and less expensive in the long run to prevent a loss of imagination by providing adequate nutrition, housing, medical care, and schooling than it is to try to restore that loss.

How very little can be done under the spirit of fear.

I like to be firm. But it is easier to be nice than to be nasty.