We are introduced to the area manager just got the position and he doesn t know a thing about customer service Tells his boss that he is striving for total quality boss says that is too narrow a focus and customer service covers all the customers needs and expectations In his office he is greeted by Charlie his fairy godmother agrees to a game of golf to learn the secrets of customer service Charlie Fairy God Mother says that customers all over are used to being treated poorly and poor service is in They drive to golf club Charlie says that a satisfied customer doesn t count these days you need to have raving fans to be successful Charlie says that the customers are only satisfied because their expectations are so low and because no one else is doing any better No worse than the competition Having satisfied customers isn t good enough you don t own the customers will move on when something better comes along VARLEY S DEPARTMENT STORE After golf they head to the mall to go to varleys department store The area manager notices that it is along a strip of major department stores Charlie tells him varleys sales per square foot are nearly double the big boys The store is very crowded and they are greeted by a man wearing neatly pressed blue pinstripe suit and a warm smile he pins a white carnation on them and greets them warmly employees wear red carnation Go to the book isle to buy wife a present the book is out of stock but the sales woman says she will go buy the book from another store and have it ready soon with free giftwrap Linda is sales woman Varleys has a play area for kids while parents shop no limit on clothing items The bathrooms are very clean and have an attendant Go to talk to Leo varleys his desk is in the center of the store with no walls around it Area manager asks how Leo can afford to do all of this Leo says how can I afford not to He lives the vision carnations and make it a joy to shop here Leo presents manager with bracelet with gold shield with first secret on it decide what you want The meeting ends and the manager goes to pick up the book it is ready and wrapped he asks Linda why she goes through the trouble store policy to make customers happy and its fun gets rewards and promotions for creating raving fans THE WORLDS BEST GROCERY STORE Sally s Market After varleys they go grocery shopping pull into sally s parking lot and they notice that the lot is clean and lined with flowers there is also free valet let us park your car No sense wasting time when you could be shopping at sally s At the valet they are greeted warmly and given the days specials strawberries Red carpet extended from the valet to the entrance inside the aisles were wide carpeted and brightly lit and the store was busy but not crowded Greeted by a store adviser area manager is taken to a desk where he gives his grocery list to the adviser The list makes shopping easier provides sale items order of location fat content alternatives Sally s also has free shoe polish to reward husbands automated billing computer will set up personal account to see customer favorites special check out method to ensure quick check out Manager asks if bar code method could possibly make people dishonest adviser says that they check but not for stealing they trust their customers and their shrinkage is far below average After done shopping they meet sally go to her office and manger notices that it is very informal not very businesslike Charlie says that business like business aren t necessary famous for their customer service Sally expands on the first secret decide what you want When you decide what you want you must create a vision of perfection centered on the customer sally Create a vision of perfection manager The secret tells you to imagine perfection centered on the customer sally Sally tells the tale of how she almost went bankrupt before she met Charlie after she sat back and created her vision Have a vision and compare it to the way things actually are Leave sally s and Charlie tells manager to think about what he learned and he would call him Manager thinks about when his customers used his company s product Now the manager knew that he has to create raving fans Satisfied customers just weren t enough He knew the first secret decide what you want Next he knew he had to create a vision of perfection centered on when the customer used the product finally to check how he was doing he knew he had to bring the vision of perfection down to the level of what was actually happening and then see where the bumps and warts were BILLS MANUFACTURING PLANT A few days later Charlie calls for a gold game and picks the manager up at noon They head straight to a manufacturing plant due to bad weather Inside the plant the area manager notes plaques and awards all from customers and customer service related The area manger meets bill the plant manager in bills office In the office bill revels the second secret to creating raving fans decide what the customer wants Bill says that all you need to do is discover the customers vision of what they really want and then alter your vision if need be Area manger asks why bother having your own vision if the customers isn t the same bill says there are 3 things to learn Three things to learn from bill 1 Unless you have your own vision how can you understand the customers Ex Hamburger a customers vision has meaning only in the context of your vision 2 When you find out what your customer wants what their vision is it will likely focus on one or two things your vision will fill the gaps 3 You have to know when to ignore what the customer wants and if necessary tell them to take their vision somewhere else Ex Sports car made minivan Those who decide to really try and give good service often aim to be everything to everybody doesn t work Bill points out the things that sally do not do that other stores do fresh fish develop film Good customer service is only within the window you ve have The customer s vision might change your window but if you don t your own vision to start with you ll never putt the necessary limits in defined place bill Charlie says that having your own vision puts you in a position where you can understand the customer s vision and also allows you to fill the gaps between your vision and their vision so you have a complete picture Area manger asks bill how they find out the customers vision Bill says We ask them Bill says we ask them and we listen …