Related topics: Amazon, Nordstrom, Apple, Netflix, Fedex
Marriott International (MAR, news) is one of the companies routinely taught in business school seminars on good customer service, as are many of the names that top the MSN Money-Zogby International customer-service survey.
Those high scorers share something else. Ask executives for the company secret to excellent customer service, and you'll often hear this: We try to treat our employees well.
Marriott, which began with a root-beer stand in 1927, was founded on this principle. "Our founder said, 'If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers, and (customers) will return again and again,'" spokeswoman Stephanie Hampton said. "It's a folksy philosophy, but it works."
This principle is diligently put into practice for each of Marriott International's 18 brands. From hiring to evaluations, workers are rewarded for courtesy. Then they're given the trust and authority to extend company courtesies to customers on the spot.
"It's little stories about individuals who go above and beyond the call of duty," said Mike Jannini, the executive vice president of brand strategy and innovation. "It's not at all unusual for an employee to say, 'I'll send someone up to get your shirt, and I'll bring it home and wash it.'"
The company ranks 10th-best in the 2010 MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Fame, a survey of 150 companies' customer service conducted by Zogby International. Of respondents who said they'd had an interaction with Marriott's service, 36% said it was "excellent."
And while the Hall of Fame is based on those "excellent" ratings, it's worth noting that only 2.2% of those surveyed marked Marriott "poor." Low "poor" numbers are typical of our Hall of Fame companies, proving they let almost no one go away mad.
No. 9: For Nordstrom, it's all about fairness
It sounds like an urban myth: that Nordstrom (JWN, news) once let someone return a set of tires, even though the department store doesn't sell tires.
The story has circulated for years, sometimes in a tone mocking Nordie's famously generous return policy.
This legend is true, according to the upscale retailer. In 1975, Nordstrom acquired Northern Commercial Alaska, a department store with an automotive department. When a customer later brought in faulty tires bought from the former occupant, a staff discussion ensued, and the store returned her money.
These days, Nordstrom is probably not going to give you a refund for tires or any other items the department store doesn't carry. But the point is that employees have always been given the latitude to do, on the spot, what they believe is best in a given situation to satisfy a customer. "Use good judgment," they're told simply.
So, faced with a customer upset by tires, a return must have seemed the best solution at that moment, Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson said.
"We've continued to approach it that way, of not having a formal return policy and really leaving it in the employee's hands to find a good solution and help the customer," Johnson said. "In return, we believe customers treat us fairly."
Nordstrom ranks ninth-best in the 2010 MSN Money-Zogby International customer-service survey. Of respondents who said they'd had an interaction with Nordstrom's customer service, 36.3% said it was "excellent."
No. 8: UPS delivers in the face of competition
Given the fierce competition between United Parcel Service (UPS, news) and FedEx, it's little wonder the companies received nearly identical marks in the MSN Money-Zogby International survey on customer service and that both made the Hall of Fame. Both deliver.
UPS, which offers overnight and ground shipping worldwide, has been adapting to market changes since its Seattle launch in 1907, when teenage owners hired other teens to deliver packages by bicycle and foot -- often to drugstore customers for whom timely delivery was key.
These days, the company spends $1 billion annually on technological development to further streamline operations (it organizes routes to reduce the number of left-hand turns, for example). It was the first shipper to go paperless, and it trains drivers down to the smallest operational details to slice time.
Unlike FedEx -- which operates under airline labor laws and hires independent contractors to drive its purple-and-white vans -- UPS drivers are Teamsters union members and receive benefits, even as part-timers, that are lauded by outside observers.
The company credits good service to the loyalty of its employees. Promotions are usually made from within, and the average worker stays with the company 16 years.
