cover image The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch 'em Kick Butt

The Customer Comes Second: Put Your People First and Watch 'em Kick Butt

Hal F. Rosenbluth, Diane McFerrin Peters. HarperBusiness, $26.99 (284pp) ISBN 978-0-06-052656-6

In an update to the volume they published 10 years ago, Rosenbluth, the CEO of an eponymous travel management company, and Peters, his former communications officer, remind readers that despite great changes in the business world, the need for companies ""to attract, retain, and develop astonishingly great people"" is a constant. They argue that company's employees, not its customers, should be management's top priority: managers should hire ""nice people"" and create an environment in which friendships can develop. Maybe it sounds a little wishy-washy, but it's worked for Rosenbluth International (NB: they have a 98% customer retention rate and $6.2 billion in annual sales). Tenets include: monitor company morale, keep leaders accessible, make your company ""a lifestyle,"" offer lots of opportunities for learning new things, celebrate success, be flexible. By charting the changes within their own company, Rosenbluth and Peters show how other businesses can become better places to work as well.