Table of Contents

Introduction. PART I: What Managers Can Do to Create Nordstrom-Style Service. 1. The Nordstrom Story: How a Century of Family Leadership Created a Culture of Entrepreneurship, Consensus, and Service. Exercise: What Is Our Company's History? 2. Spreading the Service Culture: Publicly Celebrate Your Heroes; Promote from Within. Exercise: Tell the Story of Your Company's Heroes. Exercise: What Do We Stand For? 3. Line Up and Cheer for Your Customer: Create an Inviting Place to Do Business. Exercise: You're the Customer. Exercise: Call Your Company. Exercise: Surf Your Company's Web Site. 4. How Can I Help You? Provide Your Customers with Lots of Choices. Exercise: Expand Your Customers' Choices. PART II: What Supervisors Can Do to Create Nordstrom-Style Service. 5. Nordstrom's #1 Customer Service Strategy: Hire the Smile. Exercise: Hiring Questionnaire. 6. That's My Job: Empower Employees to Act Like Entrepreneurs to Satisfy the Customer. Exercise: What Does Empowerment Mean? Exercise: Empowering Compensation. 7. Dump the Rules: Tear Down the Barriers to Exceptional Customer Service. Exercise: Examine Your Rules. 8. This Is How We Do It: Manage, Mentor, and Maintain Great Employees. Exercise: How Do We Develop Our Employees? 9. Recognition, Competition, and Praise: Create a Sustainable, Emotional Bond with Your Employees. Exercise: Praising Your Employees. Exercise: Organize Recognition Meetings. Exercise: Make Your Company Special. Exercise: Goal Setting. Exercise: Customer Feedback: Letters. PART III: What Employees Can Do to Create Nordstrom-Style Service. 10. Sell the Relationship: How Frontline Salespeople Create Lifetime Customers. Exercise: Measuring Both Feet. Exercise: Tracking Spheres of Influence. Exercise: Rewarding Vendors and Suppliers. 11. The Sale Is Never Over: Secrets of Nordstrom's All-Time Top-Performing Salesperson. Exercise: Create Your Own System. Exercise: Get Feedback from the Customer. 12. Play to Win: Encourage Teamwork and Team Competitions at Every Level of Your Organization. Exercise: Team Achievement. Exercise: Teamwork Requirements. Exercise: Ethical Behavior. Exercise: Ownership. Exercise: Heroics. Appendix Nordstrom Heroics: Inspirational Tales of Teamwork and Legendary Customer Service. Notes. Index.

About the Author

ROBERT SPECTOR is a bestselling business book author and international speaker on Nordstrom's principles of customer service. He has spoken to companies such as Cadillac, Dell, Wells Fargo, and the Red Cross. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Women's Wear Daily. To book Robert as a speaker, visit www.robertspector.com. PATRICK McCARTHY worked at Nordstrom for more than thirty years and was the company's all-time top-performing salesperson.