Carl Sewell: Creating Customers for Life

There are many stories of successful business leaders and dealerships using Carl Sewell's philosophies as their bible and giving copies of his best-selling book to all their staff.

“Customers for Life” is eminently readable with short chapters, plenty of anecdotes and no management science gobbledygook. Just common sense principles that work.

Here are his rules, as written by this world-class retailer.

Customers for Life: How to Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer $10.37 By Carl Sewell, Paul B. Brown Buy on Amazon

Carl Sewell's Ten Commandments of Customer Service:

1. Bring ’em back alive. Ask customers what they want and give it to them again and again.

2. Systems not smiles. Saying please and thank you doesn’t ensure you’ll do the job right the first time. Only systems guarantee you that.

3. Under promise, over deliver. Customers expect you to keep your word. Exceed it.

4. When the customer asks the answer is always “yes.”

5. Fire your inspectors and consumer relations department. Every employee who deals with clients must have the authority to handle complaints.

6. No complaints? Something’s wrong. Encourage your customers to tell you what you’re doing wrong.

7. MEASURE EVERYTHING. Professional sports teams do it. You should too.

8. Salaries are unfair. Pay people like partners.

9. Your mother was right. Show people respect. Be polite. It works.

10. Japanese them. Learn how the best do it: make their systems your own. Then improve them.