Lessons from the Nordstrom Way: How Companies are Emulating the #1 Customer Service Company [Hardcover]

Robert Spector (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471355941 | ISBN-13: 978-0471355946 | Publication Date: January 15, 2000 | Edition: 1

This book focuses on the customer service principles espoused by the Nordstrom department store chain, a legend in retailing and customer service. It shows how the Nordstrom customer service culture can work in any company or industry -- computer repair centers, bicycle shops, medical clinics, credit unions, and more. The book features case studies from many companies that have successfully adopted and adapted the lessons from The Nordstrom Way, the author's successful book about the founding of Nordstrom and the beliefs the Nordstrom family imparts to its employees. Helps other companies apply Nordstrom's principles to their own customer service practices Provides lessons on how to find and focus on customer needs, follow-up, and ensure customer satisfaction

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Today, many companies throughout the world aspire to become the Nordstrom of their industry. They, too, want to be known for providing the level of world-class customer service that Nordstrom, the Seattle-based specialty retailer, is famous for.

But what does it take to become the Nordstrom of your industry? What are the elements that go into creating a preeminent customer service organization?

Robert Spector, the veteran author, journalist, and speaker, gives you a step-by-step approach to adapting Nordstrom’s most valuable management principles in Lessons from the Nordstrom Way–the essential sequel to the national bestseller The Nordstrom Way, which focused on the company’s history and the achievements and philosophies of its top executives and salespeople. The Nordstrom Way artfully described the gestalt of the company’s customer service philosophy.

Lessons from the Nordstrom Way takes those lessons to the next level. Spector identifies the eight management principles that Nordstrom applies in order to create (and sustain) its culture of customer service. These principles include:

• Provide Your Customer with Choices
• Create an Inviting Place for Your Customers
• Empower Employees to Take Ownership
• And much, much more

What makes Lessons from the Nordstrom Way important is its focus on how other companies are emulating and tailoring Nordstrom principles. Spector has assembled a fascinating, eclectic group of subjects that range from Continental Airlines to a two-store chain of jewelry stores; from the W Hotel brand to USinternetworking, an applications systems provider. Whatever your business, be it service, banking, health care, retail, or real estate, you will find your own customer service strategy in Lessons from the Nordstrom Way.

If you want your company to become the Nordstrom of your industry and transform the way you do business, this book will offer you a blueprint on how to do it–making your company more responsive to your customers and, in turn, fostering long-term relationships with them.

From the Back Cover

Praise for Lessons from the Nordstrom Way

"Lessons from the Nordstrom Way is a blueprint for providing superior customer service. There are lessons here for people in every industry." –Barry Sternlicht, Chairman and CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

"Robert Spector’s book is chock-full of insights on how you can give great customer service–no matter what business you’re in. This stuff makes sense. You’ll read it and immediately ask yourself,‘now why did I never think of that?’"–Roy H. Williams, bestselling author of The Wizard of Ads

"At Continental, we learned that you must trust your people to do a good job. Robert Spector shows that entrusting and empowering your employees are essential ingredients for a corporate culture of great customer service."–Gordon Bethune, Chairman and CEO, Continental Airlines

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 226 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471355941
• ISBN-13: 978-0471355946
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #732,970 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Spector is recognized worldwide as the ultimate authority on The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence. His best-selling business classic The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America's #1 Customer Service Company is the first and only up-close and personal look at how this company became the national standard of customer service. BusinessWeek said it "bubbles with customer service insights."

In March 2012, there will be a completely new edition of the book: The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence: How to Become the Nordstrom of Your Industry. Advance copies can be purchased today.

Robert has been involved in customer service since the age of 13, when he first went to work in his mother and father's butcher shop in the farmers' market in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Working alongside his parents, he learned firsthand what it takes to take care of customers--and to keep them loyal. Those lessons inspired his latest book, The Mom & Pop Store, which features interviews with successful independent retailers from all over the world. Robert believes that the elements of world-class customer service are the same, whether they come from Spector's Meat Market, Nordstrom, or Amazon.com, the subject of his international bestseller Amazon.com: Get Big Fast.

Robert has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, among others. When he is not speaking, training and consulting internationally about customer service, he lives in Seattle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nordstrom continues to amaze me, August 18, 2004

By 

K. Berg "Artist" (Chicago, il) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lessons from the Nordstrom Way: How Companies are Emulating the #1 Customer Service Company (Hardcover)

To the person who said they should have written about other businesses as well, I ask "have you been in Nordstrom's lately?" I never get service anywhere else like I do here. This book illustrates many fine examples of that but shopping at Nordstrom illustrates even more. They altered my clothes for free, helped me carry my packages to my car, had 1 item that were out of stock on shipped to me and even found 3 pairs of shoes for my friend who has 2 different size feet. They took back a blouse my friend bought over a year ago because it shrunk when she washed it. I don't know any other store that goes out of their way as much as Nordstom (and I've been in quite a few stores). My aunt was sick once and called them to say she couldn't pick up her alterations and the salesperson dropped it off at her house that night! I even got a thank you note from my salesperson, even though I only spent $40. People can learn alot from the Nordstrom way.

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for customer service professionals, November 19, 2008

By 

Judith Siess (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lessons from the Nordstrom Way: How Companies are Emulating the #1 Customer Service Company (Hardcover)

If you provide customer service (and who doesn't?) you must read this book (and the others about Nordstrom's service philosophy). "Nordies" is famed for its can-do customer service philosophy (basically, a combination of "the customer is always right" and "just do it") and this book tells how other companies have taken those precepts and created their own customer service culture. You can do it too--and must if you are to survive.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Cringe, don't buy this one, November 25, 2003

By 

Miguel Hidalgo (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Lessons from the Nordstrom Way: How Companies are Emulating the #1 Customer Service Company (Hardcover)

Whew! I have never given a one-star rating before. This book was hastily bundled together for all the wrong reasons. Yes, there are plenty of anecdotes and stories about customer service. Yes, there is a lot of common sense listed at the end of each chapter. Unfortunately, no real beef is offered on the plate.

The chapters are repetitive and disheveled. I have never read a book about Nordstroms, and now, I am not impressed about Nordstroms! At $10/hour, the low-wage salesman has to produce executive results or get fired.

Several of the examples given by the author, such as Gordon Bethune at Continental Airlines, does not adequately cover excellent customer service. By his own admission, Bethune discriminates between the levels of his frequent flyers. OOPS!

For the 5-star rating, I am extremely impressed by Concepts Worldwide, Mike's Carwashes, and especially W Hotels. They ARE the models to follow. Once again, the coverage does not accurately reflect the title and theme of the book.

Another problem with this book is that pages 179-194 are missing! And that is why this book only deserves 1-star.