Customer Reviews

The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America's #1 Customer Service Company

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Thinking about applying for a position at Nordstrom's, I bought this book to do a little investigating. I ended up reading the book in three days, which is quite a feat for this reader.

Understanding the history of the Nordstrom Family, how their great grandfather from Switzerland put together a small shoe shop with gold he found, was inspirational. Then hearing how humble the Nordstroms are, their democratic way of making decisions within the family, and the simple customer service philosophy, made the family very endearing to me. I'm thinking about a career change so I can help people in general, and I've found this is the store's customer service philosophy. Although they are helping people for their own profit, they still make people feel special by the attention and respect they pay to the customer. I very much recommend this book to any customer service professional, or anyone interested in public service.

Just leaving a customer service organization, I know most companies will not allow the customer service rep to have the accountability and freedom to serve the customer as Nordstroms does. But there are great ideas in this book that will allow any customer service rep to make a difference in serving and owning their customers.

A Seattle-based chain of department stores, Nordstrom is acknowledged as `best practice' in outstanding customer service and is the subject of countless MBA case studies. This book tells the Nordstrom customer service story. It reveals how Nordstrom created and maintains a culture of customer service and more importantly how to translate the Nordstrom customer service principles to your own business.

But the desire to implement these principles must come with a commitment from management to customer service and employee empowerment. Management must respect, encourage, honour and reward the people on the front lines for their creativity and ability to serve the customer. Only than will you be able to emulate Nordstrom. Nordstrom's culture encourages entrepreneurial motivated men and women to make the extra effort to give customer service that is unrivalled in American retailing.

At the end of each of the eight chapters is a useful Keys To Success section which summarises the key principles of Nordstrom success discussed in the chapter.

Robert Spector is a Seattle based freelance journalist who has covered Nordstrom since 1982 for a variety of publications. Patrick D. McCarthy of Seattle is one of the top- performing salesman in Nordstrom, where he has worked for more than 20 years. For 15 consecutive years, from 1977 through 1991, McCarthy was the number one salesperson among Nordstrom's 35,000 employees. In 1992, 1993 and 1994, he was runner-up. His journey to financial rewards and job satisfaction serves as an inspiration for every frontline employee in virtually any business.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan, Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group.

This book made a big splash when it hit the stands in 1995. If you are worried about it being outdated, don't be. I found it to be very thorough in it's study of Nordstrom's, and it is still a good lesson in what we should all strive for.

Minimal mistakes that need to be updated in the next revision:
1). Their top notch website is not addressed, however, it does describe the thinking that was held by the company in 1994 to take advantage of the new electronic media. I thought that this section spoke volumes to how far reaching Nordstrom's view of service really is.
2). Very minor changes have been made to their business plan since this book was released. Most of these changes would be evident to the keen observer after 10 minutes in their store.

All in all, I recommend this book to anyone who is studing how to change attitudes on customer service. If you are just looking for a book on sales, this is not for you.

Have you ever wondered why so many large companies have such great customer service? Where did this all start? Who started it? The Nordstrom Way tells the inside story of the store that made everyone realize the importance of good customer service. This book tells how the very first small Nordstrom store gradually expanded to become a retail powerhouse. It depicts both the personal side of the Nordstrom family and the business side.

I recommend this book to any customer service professional or anyone interested in public service. In fact, almost any profession can benefit from practicing good customer service described in this book.

My disclaimer: As with any opinion, it is only my opinion! And everyone's will vary depending on who reads the book and what the reader is looking for. I look for ways to improve businesses, sales, and my life. This book shares good ideas and gives applicable take-a-ways.

On a 1 to 5 scale, 5 being the best:

Readability 5: It wasn't a difficult read at all. Organized and well laid out. Good for a four hour plane flight.

Information and new ideas 5: If you are going to learn about being the best, then learn from the best. Processes are well described giving great ideas for application.

Applicable Ideas 5: Many ideas for innovation into processes in other businesses.

Value 5: Great value for the dollar. Getting ideas from companies like Nordstrom save big money by not having to come up with everything on your own.

Overall 5: A great job and a great book for your business library.

Thank you Robert Spector and Patrick D. McCarthy!

Rip Walker
Author: Rip's Book of Common Sense Selling: Improving Sales Through Process Implementation

Nordstrom definetly have the best customer service. I had read about this and then whoile in the USA went to one of their stores in Orlando.I must say it is all true, they are #1!

This book explains how Nordstrom get their people to super perform and fall over backwards for their customers. Reading about how they do it and the results they get is very enlightning.

For anyone who either deals with the public as a shopper, buyer, or wholesaler this is a must read. Nordstrom goes way beyond the call of duty. If all companies were to follow a fraction of the principles and ideas mentioned in this book then the marketplace would be a very dog eat dog world. I found this book very informative, also after reading the book I actually visited a Nordstrom's in Colorado to verify the priciples mentioned. True to fact they complied with all that was mentioned. Way to go NORDSTROM'S. Maybe more companies will get on track and be as success oriented for both stockholders and employees. Now if only I could get my employeer to listen to the suggestions...

This and the other Nordstrom book are amazing inspiration in the field of Customer Service. You don't need to read both of them, since they have a lot of the same info in them, but they should be read by anyone who wants to improve their Customer Service whether in their own business or as a manager looking to increase sales and CS.

The Nordstrom way gives an inside perspective of how the service at Nordstrom's really is run. It gives the perspective of desperation and attention to customers. By putting is employees livelihoods on commissions they are forced to deliver a superior product. The purchases and the sales clerks work closely together to form a bond that gives the company its edge. Overall this is an excellent book and very well done. It is written very well and can be read very quickly.

This is a good book. It doesn't really give a person any new ideas on customer service it just reminds them what good service is. The key to Nordstrom's great service is pretty basic, give your employees the authority to service the customer, do whatever it takes to make the customer happy, and perform extras for the customer that your competition doesn't like writing thank you notes. Like I said you probably won't learn a whole lot but the book is a good reminder of what you should be doing to provide excellent customer service.