Book review: The customer comes second
The title of this book is a deliberate provocation. After endless messages about putting the customer first, Hal Rosenbluth, CEO of Rosenbluth International, says you should “put your people first and watch’em kick butt”. (Rosenbluth International is a world leader in corporate travel management, with over 5.000 people in more than 50 countries).
The same principle works so well for Southwest Airlines, as described in the book “Nuts!“. And indeed there seems to be many similarities between the approaches taken by Southwest and Rosenbluth, and the results they achieve.
Both companies enjoy huge financial success. They both lead their markets in quality of service and customer satisfaction. They both have a motivated, caring work force, willing to go very far for their customers, each other and the community. They both care deeply about people, and strive to make work a place where people learn, have fun and grow. They both hire people who have the right personality, and then train them to have the right skill.
The book differs from the Southwest book in it’s structure, and has more of a how-to format. There are chapters on eg. hiring people, on learning, on service and on partnerships. At the end of each chapter, the salient points are summarized. Many of Rosenbluths policies and methods probably work only for them, but many others could be lifted straight into most companies, where they would create instant benefits for both people and the bottom line.
The book has very moving epilogue, that tells the story of how Rosenbluth handled events after the world trade center attack. Their business literally disappeared overnight. Nobody was travelling anywhere. Decisive action was needed, and they had to fire 100’s of people.
In my opinion, a companies commitment to its values are tested mostly in adversity. And Rosenbluth certainly demonstrated the strength of its peoples commitment to each other and to the company. When the layoffs (or furloughs) were announced, people reacted by voluntarily offering to work for less money. People who could afford it asked to be furloughed in stead of colleagues who couldn’t afford it. Leaders took pay cuts, so less of their people would have to be fired.
And those who were furloughed came by Hal Rosenbluths office in large numbers - to thank him and the company for the good times. I have seen other companies in trouble, and believe me, this sort of behaviour is not common.
The epilogue contains several letters written by Hal Rosenbluth to his associates (as employees are called in that company), and the dedication to the company and love for his people evident in those letters is truly moving. (There it is again - love. It’s an important ingredient in both Southwest’s and Rosenbluth’s culture).
Rosenbluth recovered, and was soon able to bring back most of the people furloughed. Which is what people had been working extra hard to achieve.
I think there’s a lot to learn from Rosenbluth Internation, and the way they do business, and this book makes it easy to learn from them. I recommend it highly!
Positive Sharing » Make your business happy and rich Said,
March 24, 2006 @ 9:12 am
[...] Rosenbluth International Book: The Customer Comes Second by Hal Rosenbluth [...]
Positive Sharing » Let’s go vampire slaying Said,
May 15, 2006 @ 1:02 pm
[...] This is one of the most inhumane, cynical and just plain stupid ideas I’ve ever heard about. Who on earth still believes that this is a good way to do business and to get the best performance from employees. This idea keeps employees constantly afraid, but if that’s what you want, go for it. The exact opposite view is described here and trust me, it works much better. [...]
Positive Sharing » “The customer is always right” is wrong Said,
July 17, 2006 @ 9:33 am
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
Positive Sharing » Jerks at work - and how to lose them Said,
July 20, 2006 @ 10:58 pm
[...] In his excellent book The Customer Comes Second, CEO Hal Rosenbluth explains how his company was once about to hire an executive with all the right skills, the right personality and the perfect CV. His interviews went swimmingly but though he’d said all the right things, something about him still made them nervous, though noone could put their finger on what it was. [...]
Gillian Said,
March 25, 2007 @ 7:46 pm
I think I love you. I’m about to present the “5 reasons why the customer isn’t right” to my boss, and this stuff about “The Secret” to my mum who is worrying about m brother who is raving about this book.
Thanks.
The top 5 problems with corporate team building Said,
October 26, 2007 @ 10:46 am
[...] (From Hal Rosenbluth’s excellent book The Customer Comes Second). [...]
Crazy Guide to the Internet » Top 5 reasons why “The Customer Is Always Right” is wrong Said,
February 3, 2008 @ 9:13 pm
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
Top 5 reasons why “The customer is Always Right” is wrong Said,
March 10, 2008 @ 12:08 pm
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
planetheidi Said,
March 18, 2008 @ 1:22 am
If there was only a very large company that embraced this idea.
Oh wait there is. And I work there.
http://www.hcl.in/
5 razones que explican por qué el concepto “el cliente siempre tiene la razón” no funciona | eleZeta - Lucas Zallio Said,
March 19, 2008 @ 11:48 pm
[...] (pon a los cliente en segundo lugar, pone a tu personal en primer lugar y míralos patear traseros) del libro del CEO Hal Rosenbluth.. Todos los extremos son malos, pero algo está claro, si se le dice al empleado, agacha la cabeza y [...]
The Leveraged Life: New Perspectives and Unique Tools For No-Limit Living » A TRUTH That’s Often Hard To Swallow Said,
April 16, 2008 @ 8:20 pm
[...] Hal Rosenbluth - CEO of Rosenbluth International (a corporate travel agency) - took this truth to heart and wrote an excellent book about it called: Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
The Customer is Always Right? Wrong. « Caravan Park Manager Said,
April 26, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
Jdocih’s Weblog Said,
July 18, 2008 @ 7:53 am
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]
sherrie1st » Blog Archive » Customer Is Always Right? Said,
September 20, 2008 @ 8:25 am
[...] Rosenbluth International, a corporate travel agency, took it even further. CEO Hal Rosenbluth wrote an excellent book about their approach called Put The Customer Second - Put your people first and watch’em kick butt. [...]